Southern 500 Gambling Preview
The NASCAR Sprint Cup series will make its first appearance in prime time race this season with the running of Saturday night’s Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.
NASCAR Sprint Cup- Bojangles’ Southern 500 Preview and Prediction
Race: Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway
Date: Saturday April 12, 2014
Time: 7 p.m. (ET)
Broadcast: FOX
Odds By Bovada
All the action is set to get underway at 7 p.m. and the race will be broadcast nationally on FOX.
Rain delayed the running of last week’s race at Texas until this past Monday and Joey Logano made the most of the situation by posting his first Sprint Cup victory of the year.
Jeff Gordon raced his way to a second-place finish and Kyle Busch remained hot by taking third.
The following is a look at my top favorite, contender and longshot to win this Saturday night’s race based on odds provided by Sportsbook.
The Favorite (odd of less than 10/1)
When you already have six Sprint Cup titles under your belt, it makes all the sense in the world to bet on Jimmie Johnson this week at +500 even though he has been shutout in his first seven point races this season.
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The No. 48 car has come close on several occasions with two top-five finishes and two more in the top 10, but the thrill of crossing that finish line first has eluded this team so far.
The other reason I really like Johnson’s chances to get off the schneid this Saturday night is his past performance at this race track. He has an average finishing position of 8.6 that has been enhanced by a victory in 2012 and a fourth-place finish in last year’s race.
The Contender (odds from 10/1 to 19/1)
Denny Hamlin missed four races last season due to a back injury and he already had to sit out one race this season with a severe sinus infection, but I have a feeling he is going to quickly return to championship form as a +1000 contender to win this race.
The No. 11 car posted a second-place finish at Daytona and it finished sixth at Bristol earlier this season so it has been fairly competitive so far.
The main reason I like Hamlin’s chances at Darlington is a victory in this race in 2010 and back-to-back second-place finishes in his last two Sprint Cup runs around this track.
The Longshot (odds 20/1 or greater)
I went with Carl Edwards as a +2000 longshot in last week’s race and he fell all the way to 14th after starting fifth, but that has not deterred me from riding the No. 99 car again this week as my longshot at the exact same odds.
Anytime you can get longer odds like this on a race team that has already won a race and finished in the top 10 three additional times in just seven events you have to jump on it with at least a small play.
Adding even more value to Edwards’ current odds is seven top-10 finishes in 10 career Sprint Cup races at this track.
Odds from Bovada
- Jimmie Johnson 5/1
- Kyle Busch 7/1
- Brad Keselowski 7/1
- Matt Kenseth 7/1
- Kevin Harvick 8/1
- Jeff Gordon 8/1
- Denny Hamlin 10/1
- Joey Logano 12/1
- Kasey Kahne 15/1
- Dale Earnhardt Jr 15/1
- Carl Edwards 20/1
- Clint Bowyer 20/1
- Tony Stewart 25/1
- Greg Biffle 25/1
- Kurt Busch 25/1
- Kyle Larson 30/1
- Brian Vickers 30/1
- Ryan Newman 40/1
- Martin Truex Jr 60/1
- Paul Menard 75/1
- AJ Allmendinger 100/1
- Casey Mears 100/1
- Danica Patrick 100/1
- Marcos Ambrose 100/1
- Ricky Stenhouse 100/1
- Aric Almirola 100/1
- Jamie McMurray 100/1
- Austin Dillon 100/1
- Justin Allgaier 100/1
- Field (Any Other Driver) 100/1
