2008 Sharpie 500 Predictions & NASCAR Odds

Written by Jimmy Boyd on August 19, 2008

NASCAR takes center stage under the lights at Bristol Motor Speedway this week, and Jimmy Boyd is ready to rock and roll with his Sharpie 500 odds and predictions. Many call the Bristol night race the most sought after ticket of any NASCAR event throughout the season. It’s always sold out with 170,000 lucky fans in attendance. If you’re not one of those lucky fans, you can add to the racing excitement by betting Jimmy Boyd’s NASCAR predictions.

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Usually the day race at Bristol, run in March, is a much tamer event, but this year’s edition actually got pretty heated. That has us expecting much, much more drama in the night version.

The night race at Bristol has traditionally seen battles and fights between bitter rivals who will never lift their grudges. The track’s layout can be the considered the cause of some of this drama. Because of the banking, it is considered the fastest half-mile track in the world. When you get drivers traveling bumper to bumper at these speeds, making it very difficult to pass, it is only a matter of time before road rage takes over.

The fact that the race is at night only seems to add fuel to the fire. Drivers are used to racing in the afternoon, so I suppose waiting until night has many of these guys very overanxious to get out on the track. Or maybe they just want to put on a good show for the primetime audience.

We’ll take a quick look at what transpired back in the March race to help us handicap this night cap. In March, all three of the Childress cars finished in the top three with Jeff Burton taking the checkered flag. Six overtime laps essentially cost Denny Hamlin the race. Burton had the fresher tires and was able to take him on the re-start. The drama I was talking about earlier occurred when Kevin Harvick, who finished second, punted Tony Stewart with just two laps remaining to cause the caution and to cost Hamlin the checkered.

The Gibbs tandem of Stewart and Hamlin led 365 of the 506 laps run. Burton led just two laps, but that was enough to get the “W”. It is very likely that we will see the same group of drivers competing for a win again this time around at Bristol. I think Tony Stewart has it in him to get his first win of the season here and I won’t be surprised one bit if he’s the one causing the havoc on the track.

Harvick and Stewart call themselves friends and both took the blame after their mix up in the first Bristol go-around. But Stewart has changed his tune since seeing the race replay. Harvick has been good throughout his career at Bristol and will likely be in a position for Stewart to get his revenge.

Clint Bowyer is another driver to take a look at. He led 81 laps in the March race and finished in the third position for the second straight Bristol affair.

TOP 5 Bristol Finish Prediction:

#20 Tony Stewart +800
2- #29 Kevin Harvick +1000
3-#11 Denny Hamlin +800
4- #18 Kyle Busch +500
5- #88 Dale Earnhardt Jr +800

Complete list of odds to win Sharpie 500 at BetUS

AJ Allmendinger +10000

Aric Almirola +10000

Bobby Labonte +10000

Brian Vickers +5000

Carl Edwards +500

Casey Mears +10000

Clint Bowyer +3000

Dale Earnhardt Jr +800

Dave Blaney +10000