Martin Truex Jr. is hardly a familiar name when it comes to winning Sprint Cup races, but that all changed with last Sunday’s stunning victory at Pocono. NASCAR’s dynamic duo of Kevin Harvick and Jimmie Johnson continued to tear-up the track this season with a second and third-place finish. My top valued pick for that race was Jeff Gordon, but he stumbled to 14th after starting fourth.
The following is a look at a few of the top favorites to win this Sunday’s Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan along with my top value pick based on betting odds provided by Sportsbook.ag.
Kevin Harvick holds down the top spot on the list at +400 betting odds to finally break through with a win on Sunday after four-straight close calls at this track. Going back over the past two seasons, the No. 4 car has finished second at Michigan in its last four Sprint Cup runs. Add in another eight second-place finishes in the first 14 point races on this year’s schedule and that adds-up to quite a few golden opportunities to win a race. You would have to think that Harvick is long overdue for a return trip to the Winner’s Circle since posting back-to-back victories at Las Vegas and Phoenix earlier this season.
Right on Harvick’s heels again is Jimmie Johnson as a +500 second-favorite to pick-up his fifth point-race victory this season. Despite lapping the field in victories, the No. 48 car is still third in the current Sprint Cup standings with 481 total points, but this team’s spot in the Chase has long since been sealed. Johnson won four races last season and what adds value to this week’s odds is that one of those victories was in this week’s event. It was his first and only career win at this track in a Sprint Cup race. He followed that win up with a ninth-place finish in the second race at Michigan last season.
Once again Kurt Busch is near the top of Sportsbook’s list as a +800 third-favorite. He is coming off a solid fifth-place run at Pocono after securing the pole position for that race. The No. 41 car made its way to victory lane at Richmond, which should be enough to secure the team a spot in this season’s Chase, but I am still not sold that there is all that much value in these odds when you look at the big picture. This is especially true when you look at Busch’s recent performance at this track. Other than a third-place finish in the second race of the 2013 season, he has not cracked the top-10 in his last eight Sprint Cup races at Michigan.
- Kevin Harvick No.4 – 7/2
- Jimmie Johnson No.48 – 11/2
- Kurt Busch No.41 – 8/1
- Dale Earnhardt Jr. No.88 – 9/1
- Joey Logano No.22 – 9/1
- Martin Truex Jr. No.78 – 9/1
- Jeff Gordon No.24 – 10/1
- Brad Keselowski No.2 – 12/1
- Denny Hamlin No.11 – 14/1
- Kasey Kahne No.5 – 14/1
- Kyle Busch No.18 – 14/1
- Matt Kenseth No.20 – 14/1
- Carl Edwards No.19 – 16/1
- Kyle Larson No.42 – 25/1
- Greg Biffle No.16 – 33/1
- Jamie McMurray No.1 – 33/1
- Paul Menard No.27 – 40/1
- Ryan Newman No.31 – 50/1
- Tony Stewart No.14 – 50/1
- Clint Bowyer No.15 – 75/1
- Ryan Blaney No.21 – 100/1
