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NASCAR heads to Las Vegas Sunday
By: Freddy Wander - StatFox
Published: 3/6/2015  at  5:05:00 AM
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NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Kobolt Tools 400

Sunday, March 8 – 3:30 p.m. EDT
Las Vegas Motor Speedway – Las Vegas, NV

Odds to Win Race

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

The 1.5-mile, tri-oval superspeedway at Las Vegas Motor Speedway will be the host of this week’s NASCAR event as the drivers hit the 20-degree banks in an early season race. Last year it was Brad Keselowski that took home the belt at this race with a time of just over two hours and 35 minutes; the best mark in the history of the race. In the 17 years that this annual event has taken place in Vegas, four drivers, Jimmie Johnson (4), Matt Kenseth (3), Jeff Burton (2) and Carl Edwards (2), have combined to win 11 times. With the season now in full swing, let’s take a look at a few drivers who could take the checkered flag after the 400-mile drive.

Jimmie Johnson (6/1) - Johnson has had more success on this track than anyone else; winning for times in the past, but has not done so since 2010. He is one of the best racers of all-time and should be able to take the momentum from his win last week at the Folds of Honor 500 to put him right in position to take his 72nd career victory. His driver rating of 113.6 is by far and away the best on this track and it would be a surprise if he didn’t do better than his average finish of 9.2; a number that ties him with Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth for the best since the race began in 1998.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. (8/1) - Dale Jr. has failed to get a win here in the past, but has eight top-10s in his 15 races and had the victory in his grasp last year before running out of gas on the final lap. He has an average green flag speed of 170.610 MPH at this track, which ranks him as the sixth fastest and he has spent 69% of his time within the top-15 (6th most). His two third-place finishes already this year suggest that he is ready to have another big season and he could keep it going with a trip to victory lane this weekend.

Carl Edwards (10/1) - As mentioned earlier, Edwards has equaled Johnson with an average finish of 9.2 at this track and has a solid driving rating of 97.8. He hasn’t had the greatest start to the 2015 season, starting in the top-six in each of the first two races and eventually ending in 23rd at the Daytona 500 and 12th last week in Atlanta. It was 2011 when he last won at this track and in the three years since he has placed fifth each time, so there is a little more work he needs to do to improve and become the third racer to win at least three times here on Sunday.

Ryan Newman (30/1) - Newman has 17 career wins under his belt, but he has never been able to conquer the Las Vegas Speedway despite having seven career top-10s and three top-5s. Last year he managed to finish a solid seventh when he traveled here and should have some confidence after a top-10 placing in Atlanta last week. The odds have him as the 12th-best racer in the field, but his past performances here suggest otherwise and he could surprise a few with a big performance.

Casey Mears (500/1) - Mears is last in the field with these huge odds, but it seems a little out of place since he has managed to improve on his pole in each of the past two races and really performed well at the Daytona 500 after starting at 41st and ending in sixth. He has three top-10s at this track in his 11 starts and seems to be much better than his odds would suggest.


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