Bristol – Irwin Tools Night Race Predictions
The NASCAR Sprint Cup series will be racing under the prime-time lights of the Bristol Motor Speedway this Saturday night in this season’s Irwin Tools Night Race. All the action gets underway at 7:30 p.m. and the race will be broadcast nationally on ABC.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Irwin Tools Night Race Preview and Prediction
Race: Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway
Date: Saturday, August 24, 2013
Time: 7:30 p.m. (ET)
Broadcast: ABC
Odds from Bovada
Joey Logano made a rare trip to Victory Lane last Sunday with a first-place finish in the Pure Michigan 400 to keep his Chase hopes alive. Kevin Harvick raced his way to a second-place finish and Kurt Busch worked his way to third.
The following is a closer look at our favorite, contender, and longshot picks for Saturday night’s race with odds provided by Bovada.
The Favorite (odd of less than 10/1)
Kyle Busch posted his third Sprint Cup victory of the season two weeks ago at Watkins Glen and he has been opened as one of two +500 favorites to add another checkered flag to the 2013 resume with a win in this race.
The No. 18 car also has seven additional top-five finishes this year and is currently in fifth place in the Sprint Cup standings with 706 points. The real reason that Busch is one of the favorites to win this race is five career Sprint Cup titles at this track and an average finishing position here of 9.8.
Recent form at Bristol adds even more value with a sixth-place finish in last year’s race and a second-place finish in the first race here this season.
The Contender (odds from 10/1 to 19/1)
Unless you were looking at the current Sprint Cup standings you probably would not have known that Clint Bowyer is sitting in second place; just 41 points behind Jimmie Johnson for the lead. He has yet to win a point race this year, but has very quietly raced the No.15 car up the ranks on the strength of eight top-five finishes.
Bowyer is also looking for his first career victory at Bristol, but there is still some solid value in his +1000 odds to get one on Saturday night. He comes into this race with three-straight top-10 finishes at this track including a fifth-place finish in the first race here this season. [ad-8757089]
The Longshot (odds 20/1 or greater)
We nailed our longshot pick last week with Logano listed at +2500 to win that race, but anyone who bets on NASCAR on a regular basis is well aware that payoffs like that are far and few between in this sport. If you think that lightening might strike twice, then take a close look at Carl Edwards at +2500 to win this week.
He has been a forgotten man over the past several weeks but he still has the No. 99 car in third place in the standings with 762 points, which is only 51 points out of the lead. Edwards has had his issues at this track in recent runs, but he does have two Sprint Cup victories here and five other top-10 finishes over the course of his career.
Odds from Bovada
JIMMIE JOHNSON 5-1
KYLE BUSCH 5-1
MATT KENSETH 8-1
KASEY KAHNE 8-1
BRAD KESELOWSKI 8-1
CLINT BOWYER 10-1
KURT BUSCH 12-1
DALE EARNHARDT JR 15-1
JEFF GORDON 15-1
DENNY HAMLIN 15-1
KEVIN HARVICK 15-1
JOEY LOGANO 20-1
MARTIN TRUEX JR 20-1
GREG BIFFLE 25-1
CARL EDWARDS 25-1
RYAN NEWMAN 30-1
BRIAN VICKERS 30-1
MARK MARTIN 50-1
JAMIE McMURRAY 50-1
JEFF BURTON 60-1
JUAN MONTOYA 75-1
RICKY STENHOUSE JR 75-1
PAUL MENARD 75-1
ARIC ALMIROLA 100-1
MARCOS AMBROSE 200-1
RYAN TRUEX 500-1
DANICA PATRICK 500-1
FIELD 100-1
