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NASCAR hits Martinsville short track Sunday
By: Brian Graham - StatFox
Published: 10/26/2014  at  2:39:00 AM
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NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Goody's Headache Relief Shot 500

Sunday, October 26 – 1:30 p.m. EDT
Martinsville Speedway – Martinsville, VA

The NASCAR circuit moves to Virginia on Sunday afternoon to the slowest track on the circuit, Martinsville Speedway. The Goody's Headache Relief Shot 500 will be the fourth-to-last race in the Chase for the Cup, which is now down to eight drivers (Jeff Gordon, Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards and Ryan Newman). This oval-shaped short track is just 0.526 miles long with 12-degree banking on the turns, and flat equidistant straights (800 feet, or 0.15 miles, each). This track hasn’t seen many winners in the past decade, as Jimmie Johnson (8 wins), Jeff Gordon (5 wins) and Denny Hamlin (4 wins) have won 17 of the past 23 races at Martinsville. Kurt Busch was the most recent winner on March 30.

Odds to Win Race

(For the latest Odds, connect to Sportsbook.com)

DriverOdds
Jeff Gordon4-to-1
Jimmie Johnson5-to-1
Brad Keselowski6-to-1
Kevin Harvick6-to-1
Denny Hamlin8-to-1
Joey Logano8-to-1
Kyle Busch12-to-1
Matt Kenseth12-to-1
Dale Earnhardt Jr.15-to-1
Clint Bowyer18-to-1
Carl Edwards30-to-1
Jamie McMurray30-to-1
Kasey Kahne30-to-1
Kurt Busch30-to-1
Kyle Larson30-to-1
Ryan Newman40-to-1
Tony Stewart40-to-1
Brian Vickers60-to-1
Greg Biffle60-to-1
A.J. Allmendinger100-to-1
Aric Almirola100-to-1
Austin Dillon100-to-1
Casey Mears100-to-1
Danica Patrick100-to-1
Justin Allgaier100-to-1
Marcos Ambrose100-to-1
Martin Truex Jr.100-to-1
Paul Menard100-to-1
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.100-to-1
FIELD (Any other driver)100-to-1

Drivers to Watch

Ryan Newman (40/1) - Newman has the most favorable odds of all the drivers still in contention for the Chase Points Championship, as his 40-to-1 price is considerably higher than his 25-to-1 odds from last year. Only seven drivers have won at Martinsville since 2005 and Newman is one of them, taking home the checkered flag in the spring of 2012. That was one of seven career top-5's at this track, where he's also won three poles. Newman has also raced extremely well late in the season with four straight top-8 finishes and placed ninth at the similar short track in Richmond. Put your largest wager on Newman this week.

Brad Keselowski (6/1) - After saving his season by winning at Talladega last week, Keselowski is looking to build on that momentum at Martinsville, where he knocked out three straight top-6 finishes before his disappointing 38th-place showing in March. Keselowski also won the most recent short-track race at Richmond, which is one of six victories and 14 top-5's on the season. The 6-to-1 price isn't going to make your year, but it still represents a worthy enough payout to drop a small wager on.

Clint Bowyer (18/1) - Bowyer, who was a 12-to-1 favorite to win this race last fall, is always a threat on the short track, finishing 3rd at Richmond and 9th at this Martinsville track this season. That marked his fifth straight top-10 finish at this venue, as he led for multiple laps in four of those five starts, and was the runner-up in Martinsville last spring. While his 2014 season has not been great, Bowyer has had some strong showings down the stretch with seven single-digit finishes in his past 15 starts.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. (15/1) - Junior might not have a championship to race for, but he represents strong value here at 15-to-1. Earnhardt Jr. finished third in the March race at this track, which gives him 11 career top-5's in Martinsville. In his past eight starts at this venue, he has finished among the top-8 drivers in six of those races.


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