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2008 Pocono 500 Odds

Written by Jimmy Boyd

NASCAR heads to Pocono Raceway this week and Jimmy Boyd has your Pocono 500 odds and predictions ready to go. This 2.5-mile triangular track is the most unique track on the circuit and conquering it will be the task at hand for the best drivers in the world. This track can be dangerous with three completely different turns. This track almost has the feel of a road course. By and large, NASCAR enthusiasts love its uniqueness.

This year’s race marks the first time that we will see the Car of Tomorrow on the track. So we will proceed by handicapping this race with what we’ve seen in the past at Pocono and with what we’ve seen this year on all tracks.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to make the observation that Kyle Busch can race on just about any type of track. He has a nice 142-point cushion in the points race over Jeff Burton. With four wins in 13 races, no driver has been more feared on raceday. His dominance this year is very reminiscent of what we saw from Jeff Gordon in the late 1990’s.

It’s safe to say that Busch will be fast again this week with one of the better cars on the track. Oddsmakers couldn’t agree more by making him the 5-1 favorite this week. Still, it won’t hurt for us to take a look at how he’s done here in the past. In his 2005 rookie season for Hendrick Motorsports, Busch took fourth and was accompanied by all three of his Hendrick teammates in the top ten. The past two years have not been as successful here for him.

These past two years don’t scare us away from him however, as we expect his car to have plenty of power and it also weighs in his favor that he will have the support of two Gibbs teammates which haven’t finished outside the top seven at Pocono in the last four races. Denny Hamlin took both 2006 races at Pocono and Tony Stewart has been in contention in nearly every start of his career at the track. Stewart’s road course experience has no doubt benefited him in these races.

Last week, all the Sprint Cup teams went to Pocono Raceway to test the COT since it had never been run on the track and what we found is that the same drivers that were fast in their old cars here were also fast in the COT.

Leading the way in the test runs was two-time Pocono winner and Kyle Busch’s brother, Kurt Busch. Kurt hasn’t been able to get a win all season. It looked he might just contend for a championship this season after the Penske drivers came through with a big 1-2 performance at Daytona. What this has come to show us is that the Penske COT program has been well behind that of the other top teams. But I see the Pocono test session as a sign that Penske has made the necessary adjustment to compete with their car of tomorrow. Kurt Busch is due. He only has one top ten finish this season when he pushed teammate Ryan Newman to the Daytona 500 win and took the checkered second. He was the best in the testing and I think he’ll be the best on raceday.

Mark Martin finished just behind Busch in the testing and I expect him to be competitive also. This comes as no surprise as Martin has been one of the best Pocono drivers of all time. He has 29 top ten finishes, six seconds, and four thirds in his 42 career starts.

TOP 5 Finish Prediction:

1. #2 Kurt Busch 18-1
2. #18 Kyle Busch 5-1
3. #11 Denny Hamlin 6-1
4. #8 Mark Martin 25-1
5. #48 Jimmie Johnson 8-1

Complete Pocono 500 odds:

Bobby Labonte 100 – 1

Brian Vickers 60 – 1

Carl Edwards 6 – 1

Casey Mears 50 – 1

Clint Bowyer 25 – 1

Dale Earnhardt Jr 8 – 1

Dave Blaney 100 – 1

David Gilliland 100 – 1

David Ragan 40 – 1

David Reutimann 100 – 1

Denny Hamlin 6 – 1

Elliott Sadler 100 – 1

Greg Biffle 15 – 1

Jamie McMurray 75 – 1

Jeff Burton 30 – 1

Jeff Gordon 15 – 1

Jimmie Johnson 8 – 1

Juan Pablo Montoya 75 – 1

Kasey Kahne 20 – 1

Kevin Harvick 30 – 1

Kurt Busch 18 – 1

Kyle Busch 5 – 1

Mark Martin 25 – 1

Martin Truex Jr 20 – 1

Matt Kenseth 15 – 1

Michael Waltrip 100 – 1

Paul Menard 100 – 1

Reed Sorenson 100 – 1

Ryan Newman 35 – 1

Sam Hornish Jr 100 – 1

Scott Riggs 100 – 1

Tony Stewart 8 – 1

Travis Kvapil 100 – 1

Field (Any Other Driver) 50 – 1

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Written by Jimmy Boyd on June 8, 2008 · Filed Under NASCAR Betting Articles

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