After a rare weekend off, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series boys are in Richmond this week for Saturday night?s uniquely named Crown Royal presents the Matthew and Daniel Hanson 400.
Kyle Busch certainly has to be considered the betting favorite this week on Bodog?s NASCAR odd and he is such at 9/2. Busch has won the past two spring races at the famous ?-mile Richmond International Raceway oval. He also has four runner-up finishes at RIR and a whopping 10 top-fives in just 12 career Sprint Cup starts at Richmond. The Las Vegas native has an average finishing position of 5.2, tops among active drivers at Richmond. Busch has completed all 4,810 laps available to him. Of those laps completed, Busch has run in the Top 15 for 4,253 laps (88.4 percent), second-most among active drivers.
Jimmie Johnson (7/1) comes off a wild victory at Talladega for his first win of the new season. But Johnson?s average finish at RIR is 16.9, his second worst among active tracks despite being a three-time winner in 18 starts. He also hasn't finished worse than 11th in his past three races, including top-10s in both events last year.
RIR is one of only three active Cup tracks measuring less than a mile in length, which insures that drivers are never completely clear of traffic. The past three races there have been won by the leader of the most laps has won ? all three winners led more than 225 laps: Denny Hamlin (299 in September 2009); Busch (226 in May 2010); and Hamlin (251 in September 2010). In the previous seven races, the leader of the most laps failed to win.
Hamlin (6/1) is a native of Chesterfield County, Va., which is basically just down the block. As you can see he won the last two fall races at the track and has six Top-10 finishes in his 10 Cup starts there. However, Hamlin has just one Top-10 finish in eight starts so far in 2011.
Get the best NASCAR odds and props at Bodog
Kyle Busch certainly has to be considered the betting favorite this week on Bodog?s NASCAR odd and he is such at 9/2. Busch has won the past two spring races at the famous ?-mile Richmond International Raceway oval. He also has four runner-up finishes at RIR and a whopping 10 top-fives in just 12 career Sprint Cup starts at Richmond. The Las Vegas native has an average finishing position of 5.2, tops among active drivers at Richmond. Busch has completed all 4,810 laps available to him. Of those laps completed, Busch has run in the Top 15 for 4,253 laps (88.4 percent), second-most among active drivers.
Jimmie Johnson (7/1) comes off a wild victory at Talladega for his first win of the new season. But Johnson?s average finish at RIR is 16.9, his second worst among active tracks despite being a three-time winner in 18 starts. He also hasn't finished worse than 11th in his past three races, including top-10s in both events last year.
RIR is one of only three active Cup tracks measuring less than a mile in length, which insures that drivers are never completely clear of traffic. The past three races there have been won by the leader of the most laps has won ? all three winners led more than 225 laps: Denny Hamlin (299 in September 2009); Busch (226 in May 2010); and Hamlin (251 in September 2010). In the previous seven races, the leader of the most laps failed to win.
Hamlin (6/1) is a native of Chesterfield County, Va., which is basically just down the block. As you can see he won the last two fall races at the track and has six Top-10 finishes in his 10 Cup starts there. However, Hamlin has just one Top-10 finish in eight starts so far in 2011.
Get the best NASCAR odds and props at Bodog
