NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Goody's Headache Relief Shot 500 Sunday, October 26 – 1:30 p.m. EDT Martinsville Speedway – Martinsville, VAThe 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)Driver | Odds | Jeff Gordon | 4-to-1 | Jimmie Johnson | 5-to-1 | Brad Keselowski | 6-to-1 | Kevin Harvick | 6-to-1 | Denny Hamlin | 8-to-1 | Joey Logano | 8-to-1 | Kyle Busch | 12-to-1 | Matt Kenseth | 12-to-1 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 15-to-1 | Clint Bowyer | 18-to-1 | Carl Edwards | 30-to-1 | Jamie McMurray | 30-to-1 | Kasey Kahne | 30-to-1 | Kurt Busch | 30-to-1 | Kyle Larson | 30-to-1 | Ryan Newman | 40-to-1 | Tony Stewart | 40-to-1 | Brian Vickers | 60-to-1 | Greg Biffle | 60-to-1 | A.J. Allmendinger | 100-to-1 | Aric Almirola | 100-to-1 | Austin Dillon | 100-to-1 | Casey Mears | 100-to-1 | Danica Patrick | 100-to-1 | Justin Allgaier | 100-to-1 | Marcos Ambrose | 100-to-1 | Martin Truex Jr. | 100-to-1 | Paul Menard | 100-to-1 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | 100-to-1 | FIELD (Any other driver) | 100-to-1 |
Drivers to WatchRyan 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.
|