GoBowling.com 400 Gambling Preview
NASCAR’s Sprint Cup series enters the month of August at a familiar venue with the running of the GoBowling.com 400 at Pocono Raceway.
Race: GoBowling.com 400 at Pocono Raceway
Date: Sunday, August 3, 2014
Time: 1 p.m. (ET)
Broadcast: ESPN
Bovada
Sunday’s event is set to get underway at 1 p.m. and it will be broadcast nationally on ESPN.
Veteran NASCAR diver Jeff Gordon showed that he still has what it takes to win races with a victory last week at Indianapolis. Kyle Busch was the runner-up for the second-straight point race and Denny Hamlin finished third.
The following is a look at my top favorite, contender and longshot to win this Sunday’s race based on odds provided by Bovada.
The Favorite (odd of less than 10/1)
There is actually a pair of co-favorites for this week’s race with both Brad Keselowski and Jimmie Johnson each listed at 5/1.
Both drivers have been streaky-hot this season with three previous Sprint Cup victories that all came in bunches, but I am going with the No. 2 car over the six-time Sprint Cup Champion as my top favorite for Sunday’s race.
[ad-8757089]
Keselowski’s recent form has led to two checkered flags in the last four Sprint Cup races on the schedule and he comes into this race following a strong second-place finish in the first race at Pocono this year.
The Contender (odds from 10/1 to 19/1)
As I mentioned above, Kyle Busch has come extremely close to making his second trip of the season to Victory Lane in a point race with back-to-back second-place runs at New Hampshire and Indianapolis.
He is a driver that defines the word streaky so that is why I am jumping all over the No. 18 car this week at 12/1 odds to win.
Busch has never won a Sprint Cup race at Pocono, which could help explain the longer odds, but he does boast a second-place finish in this race in 2011 and he finished a respectable eighth in last year’s event.
The Longshot (odds 20/1 or greater)
Kyle Larson is not one of the household names in the Sprint Cup series, but he is quietly having a successful season racing the No. 42 car.
He has put himself in good position to make the Chase in his first full season racing at this level with four top-five finishes, but this team knows it needs a victory to ensure itself a spot in the field.
Larson has been opened as a 20/1 longshot to get that win this week and I do like the value in those odds. He is getting close with a third-place finish at New Hampshire followed by a seventh-place finish last Sunday at Indianapolis.
Adding even more value to these odds is his fifth-place run at Pocono earlier this year.
