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2008 Dodge Challenger 500 Odds & Predictions
NASCAR gets down and dirty with the
"Lady in Black" this week. I'm referring to Darlington
Raceway, of course, where the Dodge Challenger 500 will be
bringing the heat the day before Mother's Day. With a new
driver-friendly surface replacing the old gritty asphalt, we
will have to look to new criteria to decide who has the best
shot at winning this week. Find out who
Jimmy Boyd likes to take the
winner's circle in his 2008 Dodge Challenger odds and
predictions preview from the odds posted at
Sportsbook.com.
I'm not sure we can look at Darlington as "the
great equalizer" anymore. A brand new smooth
asphalt has replaced the gritty sandpaper
asphalt which had become one of the tracks
staples. The change in surface will allow tires
to last longer and in essence will change the
entire complexion of the race. In the past, it
seemed as if Darlington was a track that drivers
either got how to run on it or they didn't, but
now it figures to be similar to other smooth
surface tracks.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. is one of those drivers which
never got it at Darlington Raceway. It takes
patience to run on a track that wears out tires
faster than about any other and Junior never had
it. He would run very fast in the beginning of
the race and then fall off the pace terribly in
the last half. Rusty Wallace is another guy
which never figured out the "Lady in Black". He
ran 43 times at Darlington and went winless
because be could not be patient enough to stock.
But now that it appears that none of the old
strategies mean anything anymore how will we
determine who has the edge this week? I think we
have to look at the Car of Tomorrow as one
factor since it was used in this race last year.
Jeff Gordon raced to his 7th win at Darlington
last season. Denny Hamlin led the most laps and
finished runner up. And two-time winner, Jimmie
Johnson led the most laps in the last 100 miles.
It's more likely that the top finishers this
week will resemble what we have been seeing when
he take a look at the racing season as a whole,
minus the plate races, instead of the past
history at Darlington. This means that Carl
Edwards, Denny Hamlin, and Kyle Busch are the
guys to be reckoned with yet again. Dale
Earnhardt Jr. should also have a great chance at
besting his 4th place career-best at Darlington.
I can't count out Jeff Gordon either as he has
certainly been a force on this track, and I'm
sure he will have another winning race plan in
the works this Sunday.
While oddsmakers are still feeding off of
Johnson's recent success at this track and his
Cup Championship a season ago, he has not been
the same force this season. Taking him as the
odds on favorite would be a sucker bet in my
opinion.
We'll take Carl Edwards, winning of 3 races
already this season, to take the checkered flag.
Boyd's Race Day Top 5 Predictions:
1. Carl Edwards (6/1)
2. Denny Hamlin (7/1)
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr (8/1)
4. Jeff Gordon (8/1)
5. Kyle Busch (7/1)
Dodge Challeger 500 odds at
Sportsbook.com
Bobby Labonte 100 - 1
Brian Vickers 100 - 1
Carl Edwards 6 - 1
Casey Mears 60 - 1
Clint Bowyer 20 - 1
Dale Earnhardt Jr 8 - 1
David Gilliland 100 - 1
David Ragan 50 - 1
David Reutimann 100 - 1
Denny Hamlin 7 - 1
Elliott Sadler 100 - 1
Greg Biffle 15 - 1
Jamie McMurray 100 - 1
Jeff Burton 25 - 1
Jeff Gordon 8 - 1
Jimmie Johnson 5 - 1
Juan Pablo Montoya 100 - 1
Kasey Kahne 30 - 1
Kevin Harvick 20 - 1
Kurt Busch 30 - 1
Kyle Busch 7 - 1
Mark Martin 20 - 1
Martin Truex Jr 25 - 1
Matt Kenseth 15 - 1
Michael Waltrip 100 - 1
Paul Menard 100 - 1
Reed Sorenson 100 - 1
Robby Gordon 100 - 1
Ryan Newman 30 - 1
Sam Hornish Jr 100 - 1
Scott Riggs 100 - 1
Tony Stewart 10 - 1
Travis Kvapil 100 - 1
Field (Any Other Driver) 50 - 1
May 8th, 2008
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