NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Quaker State 400

Odds to Win Race

Brad Keselowski will be looking to build upon last week’s win with a top finish at the Quaker State 400 in Kentucky on Saturday. The race will take place at Kentucky Speedway, which is a 1.5-mile course with a standard four turns. One thing worth noting is that this is a relatively new event, as it was established in 2011. There are, however, already two multiple winners, as Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch have both won this race twice. Busch won it in 2011 and then again last year, and Keselowski won in both 2012 and 2014. With Matt Kenseth having won in 2013, Joe Gibbs Racing now has three of the five victories at this event. All three of those wins came in a car manufactured by Toyota, and Keselowski actually won driving a Dodge in 2012 and a Ford in 2014. With that information out of the way, let’s now take a look at which driver might be heading to victory lane Saturday night:

Kyle Busch (9-to-2) - Busch is the favorite to win this race and it’s for good reason. As previously mentioned, he has already won this race twice in his career and he also happens to be the defending champion coming into this year’s installment. Busch has been dominant in Kentucky in his career, as he has racked up an average finish of 3.8. He also wrecked in a non-Sprint Cup race on Thursday and that should fuel him coming into this one. While the odds are not very favorable for Busch, it’s worth putting a few units on him and then taking another guy with a higher upside to pair him up with on Saturday.

Brad Keselowski (7-to-1) - If you’re looking for another driver that has thrived in Kentucky then look no further. Keselowski, like Busch, has been excellent at this event, winning in both 2012 and 2014. He also happens to be entering this weekend in tremendous form. Keselowski won the Coke Zero 400 last week and has finished outside the top-10 just once in the past eight races. With three victories on the year, this is shaping up to be one of his best Sprint Cup seasons and he will certainly be hoping to win his fourth race on Saturday. He has been just as good as Busch on this track and is receiving better odds at 7-to-1. He’s worth putting a few units on as well this weekend.

Denny Hamlin (14-to-1) - Denny Hamlin won the first even of the year, but that was his only victory on the season. He has, however, been pretty good this year, finishing in the top-five on five separate occasions. The main reason to look into taking Hamlin this race is that he is coming into it with some serious momentum. Last year, Hamlin finished third at this event and it was his second time doing so. He’ll definitely be hoping to improve upon that finish and that just might be exactly what he does on Saturday. Hamlin had the fastest lap of any driver in the second practice session for this tournament and has looked good while preparing this week. He’s a very good value at 14-to-1, and he’ll just need to avoid the major mistake in this one.

Tony Stewart (40-to-1) - There are not many good dark horse candidates this week, but one guy to keep an eye on is Tony Stewart. Stewart is getting some ridiculously favorable odds at 40-to-1 and that is unheard of for a driver with his body of work. Stewart also happens to be having a good season for a guy that is retiring after the year. He has three top-10 finishes on the season and won the Toyota/Save Mart 350 two races ago. With this being one of the only races he has never won, expect a motivated Stewart on Saturday. It may not be enough for him to get the win, but he’s worthy of a half-unit or so.