It has been the Kyle Busch show in the Sprint Cup series with four victories in his last five point races including a first-place finish in last Sunday’s Brickyard 400. Joey Logano took second in the race and Kevin Harvick finished third. I took a flyer on Jeff Gordon at +1200 odds as my top-valued pick, but the pick never got off the ground with 42nd-place finish.
The following is a look at a few of the top favorites to win this Sunday’s Sprint Cup race at Pocono along with my top value pick based on betting odds provided by Bovada.
It is no big surprise that Kyle Busch is at the top of this week’s list as a +450 favorite to keep his incredible winning streak going. This has been one of the most impressive Sprint Cup runs in recent memory and, while it is always a good idea to keep riding a hot hand, the chances of a fourth-straight win in this sport actually drains some of the value in these odds. The No. 18 car with Busch behind the wheel finished ninth in the first race at Pocono. This was just his third point race of the season after recovering from an early season injury. He is still looking for his first career win at this track in a Sprint Cup race.
Kevin Harvick is also listed as a +450 favorite and he has given new meaning to the phase “close but no cigar” this season. The No. 4 car made back-to-back trips to the Winner’s Circle early in the season, but with last week’s third-place finish this team has now placed in the Top 5 in 12 of the first 20 races this season in addition to those two wins. You would have to believe that Harvick is way overdue to break through with another victory especially after finishing second in the first race at Pocono this year. He is another driver that is looking for his first Sprint Cup win at this track.
While Jimmie Johnson may have lost his momentum as NASCAR’s hottest driver this year in light of Busch’s recent success, it was not all that long ago that the Sprint Cup series most successful driver ran off a string of seven Top 3 finishes in eight races behind the wheel of the No. 48 car. This run included victories at Texas, Kansas and Dover. The team has finished outside the Top 10 in its last two runs, but Johnson has been listed as a +700 third-favorite to win this week. His last win at Pocono came in 2013 and he placed third in his first run here this season.
- Kevin Harvick No.4 +450
- Kyle Busch No.18 +450
- Jimmie Johnson No.48 +700
- Dale Earnhardt, Jr. No.88 +800
- Brad Keselowski No.2 +850
- Joey Logano No.22 +900
- Martin Truex, Jr. No.78 +900
- Kurt Busch No.41 +1000
- Matt Kenseth No.20 +1000
- Carl Edwards No.19 +1200
- Denny Hamlin No.11 +1200
- Jeff Gordon No.24 +1400
- Kasey Kahne No.5 +2500
- Jamie McMurray No.1 +5000
- Kyle Larson No.42 +5000
- Tony Stewart No.14 +6600
- Greg Biffle No.16 +7500
- Ryan Newman No.31 +7500
- A. Dillon No.3 +10000
- Clint Bowyer No.15 +10000
- David Ragan No.55 +10000
- Paul Menard No.27 +15000
- A. J. Allmendinger No.47 +30000
- Aric Almirola No.43 +30000
- Danica Patrick No.10 +30000
- Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. No.17 +30000
- Casey Mears No.13 +50000
- Justin Allgaier No.51 +50000
- Sam Hornish, Jr. No.9 +50000
- Trevor Bayne No.6 +50000
- A. Bowman No.7 +100000
- Alex Kennedy No.33 +100000
- Brett Moffitt No.34 +100000
- Cole Whitt No.35 +100000
- David Gilliland No.38 +100000
- J. J. Yeley No.23 +100000
- Landon Cassill No.40 +100000
- Matt DiBenedetto No.83 +100000
- Michael Annett No.46 +100000
- Travis Kvapil No.32 +100000
- Jeb Burton No.26 +100000
