NASCAR’s two week stint at Charlotte started with last Saturday’s All-Star Race as the featured non-point event. Kyle Busch came through as one of the top favorites to win that race followed by Kyle Larson and Jimmie Johnson. My top-valued pick was Matt Kenseth at +1500, but he proved me dead wrong by finishing dead last.
The following is a look at a few of the top favorites to win this Sunday night’s race at Charlotte along with my top value pick based on betting odds provided by 5Dimes.
Race Favorites
In what is expected to be a highly competitive race, a group of four drivers have been opened as +600 favorites to win led by Kyle Busch given the momentum he brings into Sunday night’s main event at this track. Another big motivating factor is that he is still looking for his first point-race victory of the season behind the wheel of the No. 18 Toyota. Busch is no stranger to the Winner’s Circle with nine Cup Series victories in his last two seasons, but he has been shutout so far this year despite four runs inside the top five. The big drain on these odds is his inability to win a point race at this track during the course of his Cup Series career.
Another driver at the top of the list to win on Saturday night at +600 odds is Brad Keselowski. He has already made his way to Victory Lane twice this season driving the No. 2 Ford with wins at Atlanta and Martinsville and this has his team sitting in third place in the current Cup Series standings with 408 total points. He has also posted an additional five runs inside the top five through the first 11 events. Keselowski’s first career victory at Charlotte in a Cup Series event was in the second race at this track in 2013 and since that point he has managed to finish inside the top 10 in five of his last six races here.
Along with Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Larson rounds out the group of +600 favorites to win this race and there is quite a bit of value in his odds given his current form. Larson has been able to guide his No. 42 Chevrolet to an earlier victory at Fontana to go along with four second-place finishes in his first 11 events. This strong performance has him at the top of the current standings with 475 total points. This is Larson’s fourth full-time season racing in the Cup Series and his best finish at Charlotte was fifth in the second race here last season.
