NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Good Sam Roadside Assistance 500Sunday, October 7 – 1:00 p.m. EDT
Talladega Superspeedway – Talladega, ALTalladega takes center stage for the NASCAR circuit on Sunday afternoon. This tri-oval superspeedway is 2.66 miles long with 33-degree banking on the turns, 16.5 degrees on the frontstretch (4,300 feet) and 2-degree banking on the 4,000-foot backstretch. This is arguably the most unpredictable track on the circuit, with eight different winners in the past 10 races, leading to favorable odds for all the drivers. Odds to Win Race(For the latest Odds, connect to Sportsbook.com)| Driver | Odds | | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 10-to-1 | | Matt Kenseth | 10-to-1 | | Kyle Busch | 10-to-1 | | Jimmie Johnson | 12-to-1 | | Kevin Harvick | 12-to-1 | | Brad Keselowski | 12-to-1 | | Denny Hamlin | 12-to-1 | | Greg Biffle | 15-to-1 | | Carl Edwards | 15-to-1 | | Clint Bowyer | 15-to-1 | | Tony Stewart | 15-to-1 | | Jeff Gordon | 15-to-1 | | Kasey Kahne | 15-to-1 | | Martin Truex Jr. | 18-to-1 | | Joey Logano | 20-to-1 | | Jeff Burton | 25-to-1 | | Jamie McMurray | 30-to-1 | | FIELD (Any other driver) | 30-to-1 | | Marcos Ambrose | 40-to-1 | | Paul Menard | 40-to-1 | | Michael Waltrip | 40-to-1 | | Trevor Bayne | 50-to-1 | | Juan Montoya | 50-to-1 | | Ryan Newman | 50-to-1 | | Kurt Busch | 50-to-1 | | Sam Hornish Jr. | 60-to-1 | | Regan Smith | 75-to-1 | | Aric Almirola | 75-to-1 | | Bobby Labonte | 100-to-1 | | David Ragan | 100-to-1 | | Dave Blaney | 100-to-1 | | David Gilliland | 100-to-1 |
Drivers to WatchJeff Gordon (15/1) - With 16 career wins (and 37 top-5’s) in his career at superspeedways, Gordon is our pick to bring home the checkered flag in Sunday’s race. No. 24 has six of those victories at Talladega and placed third at this track in April 2011 after winning the pole. He also won the pole in the May race, but was derailed by an accident during the race and finished 33rd. If you discount his accident three weeks ago, Gordon’s past five completed races this season have resulted in five straight top-3 finishes. Expect him to get over the hump on Sunday, and enjoy the favorable 15-to-1 odds that will come with a victory here.Clint Bowyer (15/1) - Based on his recent success at Talladega, Bowyer represents the best value on the board here at 15-to-1. In his past five races at this track, he has two victories, a runner-up, a 6th-place finish and a 7th-place finish. He’s also in the midst of a monster season with 18 top-10’s, seven top-5’s and a pair of victories. He was in 10th place in the Cup Standings after The Brickyard, but has rolled to top-10 finishes in eight of his past nine starts to move into fourth place. Ride the hot streak before his odds start dipping into the single-digits. Jimmie Johnson (12/1) - You don’t see double-digit odds for Johnson very often, and for good reason, since he’s usually the clear-cut race favorite. He has done very well at Talladega in the past six races, with four top-2 starts and three top-7 finishes. Johnson, as he usually does this time of year, is consistently racing at the front of the pack, tallying five top-4 finishes in his past eight starts, with a runner-up, runner-up and 4th-place finish in the first three races of the Chase. With seven career victories at superspeedways, Johnson is certainly worth a small wager with these 12-to-1 odds. Matt Kenseth (10/1) – The restrictor plate king has finished no worse than third in his three plate races this season. That includes coming in third in the May race at Talladega Superspeedway. And although he has lost ground during the Chase, he cranked out a pair of top-10 finishes heading into the final chapter of the season. The odds aren’t very favorable, but Kenseth has as good a chance to win on Sunday as anybody. Trevor Bayne (50/1) - With the new restrictor plate rules implemented this year, the Ford fusion cars appear to have a significant advantage over the other models, as they are able to keep their engines cooler. This advantage helped Bayne finish eighth at the Talladega race in May. He’s made only 11 starts this year with an average finish of 22.8, but remember that it was less than 20 months ago that Bayne made big headlines on a superspeedway, winning the Daytona 500. He’s certainly worth of a one-unit wager on Sunday.
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