2011 Quaker State 400 – Predictions – Betting Preview + Picks + Odds
Preview: Saturday night’s race at Kentucky Speedway marks a couple of firsts – it’s the first time the Cup Series has ever raced here, as well as the first new track on the Cup circuit since 2001. Kentucky is a bumpy 1.5-mile oval that Ryan Newman describes as “part of the cookie-cutter spectrum of race tracks.”
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Race: Quaker State 400 – Kentucky Speedway
Date: Saturday, July 10, 2011
Time: 7:48 PM ET (scheduled green flag)
TV: 7:30 PM ET on TNT
Although the Cup Series has not raced at Kentucky Speedway previously, most Cup teams have tested here for years. Additionally, the Nationwide Series has raced here since 2001, and the Truck Series since 2000. Qualifying was rained out Friday afternoon, placing drivers in order of their Friday practice times for the starting grid Saturday. T
hat puts Kyle Busch on the pole, with Juan Pablo Montoya, Kurt Busch, Kasey Kahne, and Jimmie Johnson rounding out the top five.
Safe Bet: (odds of 10/1 or less)
• Kyle Busch (5/1): As noted above, Kyle Busch will start the Kentucky race from the pole Saturday night after posting the fastest lap in practice Friday with a 182.803 mph lap.
Busch has two short track wins this season and has climbed to third in the standings, just 10 points behind current leader Kevin Harvick and five points behind Carl Edwards.
Mid Range: (odds between 10/1 – 20/1)
• Carl Edwards (14/1): With no previous Cup races at Kentucky to consider, I looked at which driver has the best record on 1.5-mile courses in the past 10 races (on tracks that size), and that person is none other than Carl Edwards.
Carl won earlier this year at Las Vegas, also a mile-and-a-half track, and will start 7th Saturday night.
Long Shot: (odds of 20/1 or greater)
• Joey Logano (30/1): Logano may or may not have a Cup car fast enough to win at Kentucky, but he has certainly shown an affinity for racing here in the Nationwide Series. Joey won three straight Nationwide races in KY from the pole, a feat never accomplished before in the NNS. He’ll start 15th on Saturday.
Summary:
Though I mentioned Edwards above, all of the Roush-Fenway drivers have been strong on the intermediate tracks, particularly Matt Kenseth, who won at Texas in April. Other 1.5-mile winners this season are current points leader Kevin Harvick (Charlotte) and Brad Keselowski (Kansas).
Brad won Friday’s Nationwide race at Kentucky and posted the second-best ten consecutive lap average in practice Friday (Tony Stewart had the best).
Denny Hamlin will start from the rear Saturday following an engine change.
Summary
As we’ve seen this year, and even this weekend in Friday’s Nationwide race, pretty much anything can happen on these restrictor plate tracks … and usually does.
Chances are the finish of this race will come down to the last turn of the last lap.
NASCAR – Quaker State 400 Odds To Win
Kyle Busch 7/2
Carl Edwards 5/1
Kurt Busch 7/1
Tony Stewart 8/1
Jimmie Johnson 8/1
Matt Kenseth 8/1
Jeff Gordon 12/1
Greg Biffle 15/1
Kevin Harvick 15/1
Kasey Kahne 18/1
Denny Hamlin 20/1
David Ragan 20/1
Clint Bowyer 30/1
Dale Earnhardt Jr 30/1
Joey Logano 30/1
Juan Pablo Montoya 30/1
Ryan Newman 40/1
Brad Keselowski 40/1
David Reutimann 50/1
Paul Menard 50/1
Jeff Burton 50/1
Martin Truex Jr 60/1
Mark Martin 60/1
Brian Vickers 75/1
AJ Allmendinger 75/1
Marcos Ambrose 75/1
Regan Smith 100/1
Jamie McMurray 125/1
Bobby Labonte 500/1
Field (Any Other Driver) 200/1