Kyle Busch became the first driver to secure a spot in this year’s Cup Series Championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway in three weeks following last week’s victory at Martinsville. Martin Truex Jr. took second in the race followed by Clint Bowyer in third place. Kyle Larson was my top-valued pick to win last Sunday at +1500 betting odds but he faded to 37th in the final race results.
The following is a look at a few of the top favorites to win this Sunday’s race at Texas along with my top value pick based on betting odds provided by TopBet.
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Martin Truex Jr. has been the most dominating Cup Series driver this season with seven checkered flags and another nine runs inside the top five, but he also knows that winning this Sunday’s race would put the No. 78 Toyota in excellent shape to achieve this team’s ultimate goal of winning the 2017 racing title. He has been listed as a +250 favorite to get that eighth victory at Texas. The slight drain on those lofty odds is that Truex is still looking for his first career victory at this track in a Cup Series event. He came close in 2013 with a second-place finish here and going back to the 2015 season he has finished in the top 10 in each of his last five trips around this track.
Kyle Busch may have already clinched a spot in the championship race with last week’s victory at Martinsville, but you still know that he is not going to take his foot off the gas until he secures the second Cup Series racing title of his career after winning it all in 2015. He has been opened as a +375 second-favorite to win again this Sunday to add to the No. 18 Toyota’s five previous victories this season in a point-race event. Busch has already surpassed his career high for laps led in a season at 1,973, but none of those came at Texas earlier this year in a 15th-place finish in that first race. This was just the second time that he finished outside the top five at this track since taking third in this event back in 2012.
Another top favorite to win on Sunday is Kevin Harvick at +650 betting odds. He has been racing in the wings for most of the season with just one victory on the road course at Sonoma to his credit along with an additional 10 runs in the top 5. His best finish in the playoff was third at Charlotte and the No. 4 Ford’s fifth-place run at Martinsville was another step in the right direction. This team knows that it is close to getting back to championship form, but a victory on Sunday would confirm it. Harvick has never won a Cup Series event at Texas, but he has finished sixth or better in five of his last six races here.