Two weeks ago on the road course at Watkins Glen, Denny Hamlin captured his second checkered flag of the season with the win. Joey Logano finished second and Brad Keselowski ended up third. Tony Stewart was my top valued pick for that race at +1200 betting odds and he turned in a solid run with a fifth-place finish.
The following is a look at a few of the top favorites to win this Saturday night’s race along with my top value pick based on betting odds provided by TopBet
Kyle Busch returns to action this week as one of the top favorites to win a second-straight Sprint Cup title and he will looking to make a strong push to the start of the Chase this Saturday as a +600 favorite to take home his fifth checkered flag of the season. His last point-race victory behind the wheel of the No. 18 Toyota was last month at Indianapolis and along with his four wins this season he has also placed in the Top 5 in another seven races. Busch’s first trip to Bristol this season did not go so well with a 38th-place finish as result of a wreck, but he does have five Sprint Cup victories at this track over the course of his racing career.
One of the other top favorites to win this week at +800 betting odds is Joey Logano. Current form has been solid for the No. 22 Ford racing team with a third-place run at New Hampshire last month to go along with his recent second-place finish at Watkins Glen the last time out. Logano only has one trip to Victory Lane on the 2016 racing resume, so the motivation level to win this week remains pretty high. The real value in his betting odds is that he comes into this race as the winner of the last two NRA Night Races at Bristol. It has been a bit of hit or miss for Logano at this track with an average finishing position here of 18.1, but he has definitely had his best moments in this event.
Another top favorite with +800 odds to win this week is Matt Kenseth. He is sitting in ninth-place in the current Sprint Cup standings with 600 total points and in excellent shape for the Chase with past victories this season at Dover and New Hampshire. The No. 20 Toyota also came close at Indianapolis as a runner-up in that race and earlier in the season the team placed fourth at Kansas. The lack of consistency over the first 22 point-race events remains a concern with quite a few poor performances also in the mix, but this could be Kenseth’s week considering some of his past success at this track. The last two trips around the short track at Bristol were forgettable, but prior to that he won this event in 2013 as well as the first race of the 2015 season.