NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Hollywood Casino 400Sunday, October 5 – 2:00 p.m. EDT Kansas Speedway – Kansas City, KSThe Chase for the Cup shifts to Kansas City on Sunday. This intermediate track, completed in 2001, is a 1.5-mile, D-shaped oval with 15-degree turns and straights of 10.4 and 5 degrees. The frontstretch is 2,685 feet (0.51 miles) and the backstretch measures 2,207 feet, or 0.42 miles. The past three races at this track have been won by Matt Kenseth and Kevin Harvick in 2013, and Jeff Gordon five months ago. Odds to Win RaceDriver | Odds | Jeff Gordon | 4-to-1 | Kevin Harvick | 9-to-2 | Brad Keselowski | 5-to-1 | Jimmie Johnson | 6-to-1 | Joey Logano | 8-to-1 | Matt Kenseth | 10-to-1 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 10-to-1 | Kasey Kahne | 15-to-1 | Kyle Busch | 20-to-1 | Denny Hamlin | 20-to-1 | Kyle Larson | 20-to-1 | Clint Bowyer | 30-to-1 | Jamie McMurray | 30-to-1 | Tony Stewart | 30-to-1 | Kurt Busch | 40-to-1 | Ryan Newman | 40-to-1 | Carl Edwards | 40-to-1 | Brian Vickers | 60-to-1 | Greg Biffle | 60-to-1 | Paul Menard | 75-to-1 | Martin Truex Jr. | 100-to-1 | Austin Dillon | 100-to-1 | Aric Almirola | 200-to-1 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 300-to-1 | Danica Patrick | 300-to-1 | Marcos Ambrose | 300-to-1 | A.J. Allmendinger | 500-to-1 | Casey Mears | 500-to-1 | Justin Allgaier | 500-to-1 | FIELD (Any other driver) | 500-to-1 |
Drivers to WatchMatt Kenseth (10/1) – The two-time Kansas winner placed 10th in May, which actually raised his average finish at this track to 5.5 over the past eight races since 2010. During this span, he has not finished worth than 11th. Kenseth has also been tremendous down the stretch this season with top-5 finishes in six of his past 13 races. With generous double-digit odds, Kenseth is our pick to win his third Kansas race in the past five starts at this track.Brad Keselowski (5/1) - He has won three races on 1.5-mile tracks this season, making him the smartest play among the single-digit odds this week. Keselowski has been on fire to climb to the top of the points standings with four victories and a pair of runner-ups in his past 13 starts. Although his 13th-place showing at Kansas in May wasn't stellar, his 8.4 average finish over his past seven starts at this track is pretty solid. Greg Biffle (60/1) - Considering his great success at Kansas Speedway, Biffle is a quite a gift with longshot odds at 60-to-1. In his past 14 races at this track, he has six finishes in the top-3. This includes two wins (2007, 2010), one runner-up (2005) and three third-place showings (2004, 2008, 2009). Although this season has been disappointing (15th in points standings), Biffle still has 10 top-10 finishes, including three top-5's. With longshot odds for Sunday, don't be shy about placing a unit or two on the No. 16 car. Jeff Gordon (4/1) - Gordon's win in Kansas on May 10 gives him three victories at this track, so it makes sense he's billed as the favorite. He now has top-5 finishes in 10 of his 17 career starts in Kansas (59%) despite a pedestrian 13.7 average start. In his past 10 races this season, Gordon has two poles, three victories (Indianapolis, Michigan and Dover last week) and two other runner-ups (Richmond and Chicago). While his 4-to-1 price doesn't warrant a huge wager, he's still worthy of a one-unit bet on Sunday.
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