NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Quaker State 400 Presented by Advance Auto PartsSaturday, June 28 – 7:30 p.m. EDT
Kentucky Speedway – Sparta, KYAfter tackling the Sonoma road course last week, the NASCAR circuit moves to the more traditional “cookie cutter” track at Kentucky on Saturday night for the Quaker State 400 Presented by Advance Auto Parts. The Kentucky Speedway opened in 2000 in a 1.5-mile tri-oval shape. All the turns have an identical banking of 14°, making it one of the flattest of the six other similar tracks (Atlanta, Charlotte, Texas, Las Vegas, Kansas and Chicagoland). The frontstretch, which measures 1,662 feet is banked at just 18° while the backstretch measures a similar 1,600 feet, but with only half the banking (4°) of the frontstretch. There have been only three all-time NASCAR races at Kentucky Speedway. Kyle Busch took the checkered flag in the first race in 2011, and Brad Keselowski won at Kentucky in 2012, and Matt Kenseth conquered the field last year. Odds to Win Race(For the latest Odds, connect to Sportsbook.ag)| Driver | Odds | | Jimmie Johnson | 4-to-1 | | Kevin Harvick | 9-to-2 | | Joey Logano | 8-to-1 | | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 8-to-1 | | Jeff Gordon | 8-to-1 | | Brad Keselowski | 8-to-1 | | Kyle Busch | 12-to-1 | | Matt Kenseth | 12-to-1 | | Kasey Kahne | 12-to-1 | | Tony Stewart | 20-to-1 | | Kyle Larson | 25-to-1 | | Carl Edwards | 25-to-1 | | Kurt Busch | 25-to-1 | | Denny Hamlin | 25-to-1 | | Clint Bowyer | 30-to-1 | | Brian Vickers | 40-to-1 | | Jamie McMurray | 40-to-1 | | Greg Biffle | 50-to-1 | | Ryan Newman | 50-to-1 | | Paul Menard | 60-to-1 | | Martin Truex Jr. | 60-to-1 | | Austin Dillon | 100-to-1 | | FIELD (Any other driver) | 100-to-1 | | Marcos Ambrose | 300-to-1 | | Aric Almirola | 300-to-1 | | Justin Allgaier | 300-to-1 | | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 300-to-1 | | A.J. Allmendinger | 300-to-1 | | Casey Mears | 300-to-1 | | Danica Patrick | 300-to-1 |
Drivers to WatchKyle Busch (12/1) - This is a driver who consistently receives unfavorable odds, but for Saturday night, Busch's Kentucky odds drop to 12-to-1, which is exactly double his 6-to-1 price last year. He has dominated this venue with top-10 showings in all three of its NASCAR races, winning the inaugural pole and race in 2011 before coming in 10th place in 2012 (in a race he led for 118 laps) and placing fifth in 2013. Busch has really dropped since he suffered a crash in Dover with an average finish of 30.0 over his past four starts, but he has raced well at similar venues, such as a 3rd-place showing at Fort Worth before coming in 9th place in Charlotte. Expect Busch to find his Kentucky magic and get back into the top-10 in the Chase Cup Standings after a win.Brad Keselowski (8/1) - Last year's winner at Kentucky also finished 7th at this track in 2011, as he led for a total of 147 laps in those two races. Keselowski has always been an intermediate track monster, and this year is no different, winning at Las Vegas, starting 3rd at Kansas and 2nd at both Fort Worth and Charlotte. He's also raced consistently well enough all season to remain among the top-5 drivers in the standings after all 16 starts, banging out seven top-5's and an average finish of 13.2. At 8-to-1, the Keselowski is not a bargain, but he's the lone single-digit-odds driver that stands out. Kasey Kahne (12/1) - Kahne has more favorable odds than the 8-to-1 price he went off at last year. Not only was he the 2012 runner-up at Kentucky, but he has always thrived on 1.5-mile tracks. In the past four such races this season (Charlotte, Kansas, Fort Worth and Las Vegas), he's either started or finished 11th or better. After crashing in Pocono three weeks ago, Kahne looked strong at Michigan (5th) and also at Sonoma last week with a 6th-place finish. This marked his sixth top-8 showing this season. With double-digit odds, Kahne provides some excellent value for Saturday night. Tony Stewart (20/1) - Stewart is in the midst of tough stretch of races, placing 10th or worse in seven of his past eight starts. Three years ago at this Kentucky race, Stewart was getting 8-to-1 odds, so this looks like an undervalued driver on Saturday. Stewart has also been decent on intermediate tracks, including winning the pole during an 10th-place showing at Fort Worth. At this time of year when "Smoke" usually goes on a flag-checkering run, consider him the best darkhorse on the board and thus worthy of a small wager. Martin Truex Jr. (60/1) - The longshot pick of the week is Truex, whose odds at this track have quadrupled in the past year from 15-to-1 to 60-to-1. But each time at Kentucky, his result has improved from the previous race, as he finished 18th in 2011, 8th in 2012 and 7th last year. Although he's still looking for his first top-5 of the year, this past history makes him worthy of a one-unit play on Saturday night.
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