The second half of NASCAR’s Monster Energy Cup Series 2018 schedule gets underway this week with a trip to Kentucky Speedway for the 19th point race of the year. Saturday night’s Quaker State 400 is slated to start at 7:30 p.m. on NBC Sports Network.
Wrecks at Daytona have a way of upending the finishing order in dramatic fashion, and last Saturday night Erik Jones took full advantage of the situation to become just the seventh driver to win a Cup Series point race this season. My top-valued pick for that race was Martin Truex Jr. at +1600 odds, and he took second followed by AJ Allmendinger in third.
The following is a look at a trio of the top favorites to win this Saturday night’s race in Kentucky along with my top-valued pick to win at longer odds as provided by 5Dimes
Quaker State 400 Race Favorites
Kevin Harvick +275
Harvick’s 19th-place finish last week at Daytona due to a wreck was the first time in the previous five events that the No. 4 Ford failed to finish in the top five. His last victory was at Kansas in mid-May so it would be safe to say that he is due given that he has already won five times this season. Harvick is second in the current Cup Series standings with a total of 692 points on the strength of those five previous victories along with another eight runs in the top five. Harvick’s best career finish at Kentucky is seventh in seven earlier runs around this track.
Martin Truex Jr. +365
My top-valued pick in last week’s race came very close to posting his fourth victory of the season. Instead, his second-place finish raised his total to 12 runs inside the top five through the first 18 Cup Series events this season. The defending champ has his No. 78 Toyota in third-place in the standings with 629 total points. The real value in his odds to win on this Saturday night is a victory in this event last season. He led 152 laps of the 274 total laps run in that race.
Kyle Busch +365
Busch rounds out NASCAR’s big three this season in search of his sixth win of the year. He is not only tied with Harvick for the most point-race victories this year at five, but he also has the No. 18 Toyota at the top of the standings with 749 total points. Heading into this race, he has led a total of 948 laps with 12 runs inside the top five. Last Saturday at Daytona, his night ended early in a wreck that dropped him all the way to 33rd. This was Busch’s first finish outside the top five in his last six events. He finished fifth last season at Kentucky as part of a stellar 5.1 average finishing position at this track.
Get more details: NASCAR Driver vs Driver Matchup
