NASCAR Ford 400 Betting Preview, Odds
Carrie Stroup here with your NASCAR Ford 400 betting preview and odds, courtesy of our friends at Sportsbook.com.
A new Sprint Cup Champion will be crowned on Sunday, either Carl Edwards or Tony Stewart, when the NASCAR season concludes at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday. This 1.5-mile, oval intermediate track was completed in 1995 with 18-20 degrees of banking on the turns, but just four degrees of banking on the straights. The frontstretch and backstretch both measure 1,760 feet (one-third of a mile).
Drivers to Watch
Tony Stewart (4/1) - Stewart continues his impressive run towards Cup glory, notching his third straight top-3 finish last week. He also has two career wins at Homestead, but those occurred in 1999 and 2000. Since then, he’s placed no better than 4th, while finishing 15th or worse in six of 10 races. Stewart has four wins this season, compared to only one for Carl Edwards, and is a slight underdog (+120) in terms of winning the championship. Because he has been driving so well this entire Chase, the pick here is Stewart to not only finish atop the points standings, but to do so in thrilling fashion with a checkered flag in the season finale.
Carl Edwards (9/2) - Edwards is not only the leader in the Points Standings, but he’s also the defending champion at Homestead. He also won in Miami in 2008 and has an outstanding 5.7 average finish at this track. Edwards has been remarkably consistent all year, riding a streak of 12 straight top-11 finishes, including back-to-back runner-ups. Edwards hasn’t entered victory lane since the third race of the season (Kobalt Tools 400), and the lack of wins will ultimately cost him on Sunday when Stewart dashes his Cup title hopes.
Jeff Burton (50/1) - The longshot pick of the week is clearly Jeff Burton. Although he has only two top-5’s this season, Burton has an impressive four top-5’s in the 12-year history of this track. This includes a runner-up finish in 2009. He’s also finishing the 2011 campaign on a high note with finishes of 2nd, 6th, 27th and 4th in the past four weeks. At 50-to-1, Burton could certainly boost your bankroll to cap off the NASCAR season.
Denny Hamlin (20/1) - Hamlin provides a strong value bet at 20-to-1 odds, since this is more than double what his odds have been over the past three races (6-to-1, 10-to-1 and 12-to-1). His one top-5 finish in his past 16 races signify why this number has climbed up to 20-to-1. But considering Hamlin has three top-3’s in Miami in the six times he’s raced at Homestead, including winning in 2009, he’s a smart play for a small wager.
Jimmie Johnson (8/1) - Although Johnson will relinquish his title for the first time since 2005, he still has a great chance of keeping his nine-year streak intact of finishing the season as one of the circuit’s top-5 drivers. He has yet to win at Miami, but has been awfully close as the runner-up last year and in 2004. He has top-10 finishes in seven of his 10 career starts at Homestead. Johnson does have top-2 finishes in three of his past seven races this year, but he’s also finished 34th, 26th, 14th and 14th in this span. His odds are pretty favorable though, as far as Johnson is concerned, and he’s sure to be in contention on Sunday.
Greg Biffle (15/1) - He is a three-time champion at Homestead, taking the checkered flag in 2004, 2005 and 2006. Biffle hasn’t finished better than 10th in the four Miami races since his three-peat, but his 5th-place finish from the pole position two weeks ago in Texas shows he’s still racing hard during a lackluster season. The 15-to-1 odds are a little thin, but Biffle is certainly worthy of betting consideration this Sunday.
- Carrie Stroup, Gambling911.com Senior Reporter
