Kyle Busch favored at Loudon
The Chase is on, and The Shrub has a leg up on the competition.
Kyle Busch is the favorite at +650 to win the first race in NASCAR's Chase for the Cup, this Sunday's Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway in Loudon. Since joining the Nextel Cup circuit in 2004, the younger of the Busch brothers has raced at Loudon three times, most recently taking the checkered flag at the Lenox Industrial Tools 300 in July. Sweeping the season series would vault Busch up the drivers' standings - he's currently in fourth place, but just 15 points behind leader Matt Kenseth after the pre-Chase points adjustment.
Kenseth is next on the odds list at +800 after winning two of his last four races to seize the top spot in the standings from Jimmie Johnson (+1200). These short odds may not be warranted. Kenseth has yet to win at Loudon in 13 attempts; however, what he has done is crank out five Top-4 results and three other Top-10 finishes on the mile-long track. Many NASCAR observers believe Kenseth will be just as consistent during the Chase and eventually pull away from the pack.
Joining Kenseth at +800 is Kevin Harvick, arguably the driver with the most momentum on the Cup circuit after last week's big win at the Chevy Rock & Roll 400. Like Kenseth, Harvick has never won at Loudon, but he has been among the leaders, placing no worse than 13th in six of his last seven visits. That includes a fifth-place result at July's event. Harvick has also accumulated more points over the past 10 Cup races than anyone else.
The non-Chase driver with the shortest odds this Sunday is the soon-to-be former Cup champion Tony Stewart at +1000. He barely missed the Chase after having to start from 40th spot on the grid last week in Richmond, courtesy of an accident during the practice session that knocked his primary car out of qualifying. Stewart was outstanding at Loudon last year, finishing first and second for Joe Gibbs Racing, but fell to 37th in July's race after starting fifth on the grid. Stewart will be looking to atone for that result this week.
Race time is 12:30 p.m. Eastern Time, with TNT on hand for the television coverage. The folks from SPEED will broadcast the qualifying and final practice runs.
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The Chase is on, and The Shrub has a leg up on the competition.
Kyle Busch is the favorite at +650 to win the first race in NASCAR's Chase for the Cup, this Sunday's Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway in Loudon. Since joining the Nextel Cup circuit in 2004, the younger of the Busch brothers has raced at Loudon three times, most recently taking the checkered flag at the Lenox Industrial Tools 300 in July. Sweeping the season series would vault Busch up the drivers' standings - he's currently in fourth place, but just 15 points behind leader Matt Kenseth after the pre-Chase points adjustment.
Kenseth is next on the odds list at +800 after winning two of his last four races to seize the top spot in the standings from Jimmie Johnson (+1200). These short odds may not be warranted. Kenseth has yet to win at Loudon in 13 attempts; however, what he has done is crank out five Top-4 results and three other Top-10 finishes on the mile-long track. Many NASCAR observers believe Kenseth will be just as consistent during the Chase and eventually pull away from the pack.
Joining Kenseth at +800 is Kevin Harvick, arguably the driver with the most momentum on the Cup circuit after last week's big win at the Chevy Rock & Roll 400. Like Kenseth, Harvick has never won at Loudon, but he has been among the leaders, placing no worse than 13th in six of his last seven visits. That includes a fifth-place result at July's event. Harvick has also accumulated more points over the past 10 Cup races than anyone else.
The non-Chase driver with the shortest odds this Sunday is the soon-to-be former Cup champion Tony Stewart at +1000. He barely missed the Chase after having to start from 40th spot on the grid last week in Richmond, courtesy of an accident during the practice session that knocked his primary car out of qualifying. Stewart was outstanding at Loudon last year, finishing first and second for Joe Gibbs Racing, but fell to 37th in July's race after starting fifth on the grid. Stewart will be looking to atone for that result this week.
Race time is 12:30 p.m. Eastern Time, with TNT on hand for the television coverage. The folks from SPEED will broadcast the qualifying and final practice runs.
Click here for Live Lines, Cash Games and more...
