5-Hour Energy 500: NASCAR Sprint Cup Betting Preview

The NASCAR Sprint Cup series was in Kansas City last week at the Kansas Speedway for the running of the STP 400 . For the second week in-a-row Dale Earnhardt Jr. was in prime position to win his first Sprint Cup race in almost three years but had to settle for second as Brad Keselowski passed him the take the checkered flag for just his second career victory on the Sprint Cup circuit. Our value pick for this race was Denny Hamlin at 11/1. He finished third after starting 11 in the Sprint Cup standings with 381 points after back-to-back top 10 finishes the past two weeks. 

Jimmie Johnson, the second favorite to win this week at 6/1, has also had his share of success at Pocono with 12 top ten finishes including seven in this race. He has not won this race since 2005, but finished fifth here last year after starting 25 . His average finishing position at this track is 9.6. Johnson is currently second in the standings with 445 points, just 40 points off the lead. He has four top five finished this season including a win at Talladega. He finished seventh last week at Kansas. 

The Sprint Cup point leader Carl Edwards is the third favorite at 7/1. He is coming off a fifth-place finish at Kansas to add to his seven top five finishes this season. His lone point-race victory this season came at Las Vegas, but he also won the $1 million All-Star race at Charlotte. Edwards finished 12 and was second in 2009. He won this race in 2005 and has six top 10 finishes at this track. His average finishing position at Pocono is 12.4. 

It has been a rough couple of weeks for Kyle Busch. Two weeks ago he was stopped for driving 128 mph in a 45 mph zone and last Saturday he was allegedly punched in the face by team owner Richard Childress after a Truck Series race. All this commotion has appeared to affect his performance on the track with a 32 -place finish last week. Despite the turmoil, Busch is the fourth favorite to win on Sunday at 10/1. He finished second in this race last year after starting on the pole, but has just one other top five finish at this track. 

Our value pick for NASCAR bettors this week’s race is Greg Biffle at 14/1.

2011 Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400 Odds, Tips and Predictions ...

2011 Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400 Odds, Predictions, Betting Tips and Free Picks – Favorites and Lines to Win Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400: NASCAR betting odds to win the 2011 Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400 this Sunday, June 19th aat the Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan have been posted at all the major Las Vegas and best online sportsbooks and the online bookies at WagerWeb and Carl Edwards has been installed as the +500 favorite to win the 2011 Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400.

A trip to Michigan International Speedway should have bettors smiling for a couple of reasons. For starters, the track’s wide racing surface makes passing relatively easy, allowing the drivers with the fastest cars to work their way to the front. As a result, the favorites heading into the race tend to run very well. In addition, the Michigan is known to have a fuel mileage race every now and then, allowing for some upset winners. As recently as 2009, both races at MIS were decided by fuel mileage with the leader with three laps to go running out of gas before the finish. In short the track offers a healthy mixture of predictability and surprises.

Last June, the race quickly became a showdown between two-time Michigan winner Kurt Busch and Denny Hamlin. The two combined to lead 183 of the 200 laps with Hamlin leading 123 on his way to the win. After swapping the lead with Busch early, Hamlin enjoyed massive leads throughout the second half of the race, and even a late restart couldn’t derail him. He cruised to his first career win at the track.

When the series returned to the track in August, Hamlin had his eyes on a season sweep. He used a two-tire stop to grab the lead on the final restart, but Kevin Harvick was able to catch and pass him in the closing laps to secure his first win at the track. Greg Biffle and Tony Stewart were the other major contenders throughout the afternoon, and Biffle actually led a race-high 66 laps.

2011 Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400: The Favorites

No active driver has a better average finish at Michigan than Carl Edwards . His 6.3 mark is more than three positions better than the next closest driver, and in 13 career starts at the track, he has 11 top-10 finishes. More importantly, Edwards is a two-time winner at MIS, and he has finished fourth or better in four of his last five starts.

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