NASCAR Betting: There are just four races remaining before the Chase beginning with Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400 on ESPN. Jimmie Johnson is a slight favorite to win the race with odds of 5-1. Also listed with single-digit odds are Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. All of those drivers are safely in the Chase so it is a bigger race for drivers like Matt Kenseth and Kasey Kahne who have yet to win this season. Here is a look at the race and NASCAR predictions.
Win and Get In
The new Chase format this season means that some drivers like last week’s winner A.J. Allmendinger and Aric Almirola are going to get into the Chase because they have wins while drivers like Matt Kenseth and Kasey Kahne could be in trouble. A total of 16 drivers make the Chase and getting a win basically gets a driver in regardless of how good they have done the rest of the season. Kenseth and Kahne haven’t won this season and it could be that one or both of them miss the Chase. Kenseth is in better position but if we get some more surprise winners he could still be in trouble. Kahne is not in as good of shape as he is currently outside the Top 16 in points. This is a huge week for Kahne as he is normally strong at Michigan. Kahne finished fifth at Michigan back in June and he won at Michigan in 2006.
Race Notes
In the June race it was Jimmie Johnson winning at Michigan for the first time in his career but it was Kevin Harvick who led the most laps. Harvick finished second with Keselowski third and Paul Menarrd fourth. Last year it was Joey Logano winning this race while Greg Biffle won the two races before Logano won. The top driver in terms of average finishing position among active drivers at Michigan is Carl Edwards.
NASCAR Predictions
The next four weeks are good opportunities to take drivers who are listed as longshots. Some drivers will have to go for the win to have any chance of making the Chase. We’ll go with Kasey Kahne and Kyle Larson as this week’s two longshots.
