Kyle Busch became the first three-time winner in the Sprint Cup series this season with his victory at Kansas last Saturday night. Kevin Harvick posted a second-place finish as one of the top favorites to win and Kurt Busch made it a family affair by taking third. My top value pick for that race at +1500 betting odds was Denny Hamlin, but he a long night at the track in 37th place.
The following is a look at a few of the top favorites to win this Sunday’s race along with my top value pick based on betting odds provided by TopBet.
Jimmie Johnson also had his fair share of troubles at Kansas last week with a 17th-place finish, but he comes into the Monster Mile as a +375 favorite to get back to the winning ways that accounted for a checkered flag at both Atlanta and Fontana this season. The No. 48 Chevrolet is currently fourth in the Sprint Cup point standings following finishes outside the Top 10 in its last two runs, but that could all change this week given his recent performance at Dover. He won this event last season to post his ninth career victory on this track in a Sprint Cup race. Johnson’s average finishing position here is a healthy 9.1.
Last week’s champ Kyle Busch comes in as a +450 second favorite to win again this Sunday. He is as good a bet as anyone given everything he has accomplished so far in the first 11 point-race events of the year. Last season he sat out the first 11 races due to injury and still won the 2015 Sprint Cup title. The No. 18 Toyota has already led 679 laps this year in nine Top 5 runs that includes those three trips to Victory Lane. Dover has not been one of Busch’s favorite venues in his Sprint Cup career with an average finishing position of 14.6, but he did take second in the second race at this track in 2015.
Rounding out the top three drivers on TopBet’s list is Kevin Harvick at +550. It has been a fairly slow start for the No. 4 Chevrolet as compared to last season with six finishes outside the Top 5. However, this team appears to be on the right track to getting back to the Winner’s Circle with last week’s effort after posting it only victory of the season at Phoenix earlier in the year. When it comes to racing at the Monster Mile, Harvick had a breakthrough season last year with a second-place finish in this event followed by a key victory in the second race here in the fall.
- Jimmie Johnson No. 48 +400
- Kyle Busch No. 18 +500
- Kevin Harvick No. 4 +550
- Carl Edwards No. 19 +800
- Martin Truex, Jr. No. 78 +800
- Matt Kenseth No. 20 +850
- Joey Logano No. 22 +1000
- Denny Hamlin No. 11 +1100
- Brad Keselowski No. 2 +1200
- Kurt Busch No. 41 +1200
- Dale Earnhardt, Jr. No. 88 +1600
- Chase Elliott No. 24 +2800
- Kasey Kahne No. 5 +3300
- Kyle Larson No. 42 +3300
- Austin Dillon No. 3 +5000
- Brian Scott No. 44 +5000
- Jamie McMurray No. 1 +5000
- Ryan Newman No. 31 +6600
- Tony Stewart No. 14 +6600
- Clint Bowyer No. 15 +7500
- Greg Biffle No. 16 +10000
- Paul Menard No. 27 +10000
- Ryan Blaney No. 21 +15000
- A. J. Allmendinger No. 47 +25000
- Aric Almirola No. 43 +25000
- Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. No. 17 +25000
- Trevor Bayne No. 6 +25000
- David Ragan No. 23 +30000
- Regan Smith No. 7 +30000
- Casey Mears No. 13 +50000
- Danica Patrick No. 10 +50000
- Chris Buescher No. 34 +100000
- Cole Whitt No. 98 +100000
- Jeffrey Earnhardt No. 32 +100000
- Josh Wise No. 30 +100000
- Landon Cassill No. 38 +100000
- Matt DiBenedetto No. 93 +100000
- Michael Annett No. 46 +100000
- Michael McDowell No. 95 +100000