Ryan Blaney became another one of NASCAR’s young guns to move his race team in position for a title run with his victory last week at Pocono. Kevin Harvick almost posted his first win of the year with a second-place finish and Erik Jones was another longshot in the mix at third. Joey Logano was my top-valued pick at +1000 odds, but he faded to 23rd after starting ninth.
The following is a look at a few of the top favorites to win this Sunday’s race at Michigan along with my top value pick based on betting odds provided by 5Dimes.
Race Favorites
Kyle Larson has worked his way onto this list on almost a weekly basis as one of the most exciting and successful drivers in Cup Series racing this season. He is only in his fourth full season racing at NASCAR’s top level and so far through the first 14 point-race events on the schedule he has guided the No. 42 Chevrolet to a victory at Fontana and to five second-place finishes. The latest was at Dover two weeks ago before slipping to seventh last week at Pocono. He has been opened as a +600 favorite to add a second checkered flag to the 2017 resume this Sunday and in limited experience at this track there is some real value in those odds after taking third in this race last year before winning the second event at Michigan in 2016.
Second on the list is Martin Truex Jr. at +700 betting odds. He is another driver that is starting to become a weekly regular on the favorites list behind a pair of victories this season at Las Vegas and Kansas to go along with another three runs inside the top five. Consistency is what makes the No. 78 Toyota an attractive bet this season. This team is currently at the top of the Cup Series standings with a total of 584 points. Truex Jr. does lose some of the value in his odds for this week’s race with an average finishing position of 16.5 at Michigan.
Another two-time winner this season comes into this race at +800 betting odds to make a third trip to Victory Lane this Sunday. Brad Keselowski has basically punched his ticket to this year’s playoff with wins at Atlanta and Martinsville. He took fifth last week at Pocono behind the wheel of the No. 2 Ford to post his eighth run inside the top five this year. Keselowski is still looking for his first career win at Michigan in a Cup Series event, but he has come close on a number of occasions in recent runs with a finish of ninth or better in each of his last six trips around the oval.
