NASCAR Rolls into Illinois - LifeLock.com 400 Preview
by Charles Jay
NASCAR betting hits the D-shaped oval in Joliet, Illinois for the LifeLock.com 400 this weekend. Chicagoland Speedway welcomes the Sprint Cup Series' 18th event of the season and with just eight races left before the Chase cuts are made, bettors can expect drivers to have the peddle to the metal on Saturday night.
Jimmie Johnson is a +400 favorite for this weekend's event. The No. 48 team is coming off a second-place finish at Daytona, moving Johnson to third in the Cup standings. He's built a solid reputation on 1.5-mile tracks like Chicagoland, but has yet to visit victory lane in Joliet. In seven career starts there Johnson has five Top-5 finishes and had to settle for second place last year when he was edged by Kyle Busch in a green-white-checkered finish.
Defending winner Busch is priced at +500 for this Saturday. He's coming off a wild finish at Daytona last weekend. Busch was spun into the wall by points leader Tony Stewart in the final lap of the Coke Zero 400 and settled for eighth place. Surprisingly, the two combustible drivers kissed and made up immediately following the race. Busch has a stellar career record at Chicagoland. In just four starts, he has one win and two Top-5 finishes there.
Fresh off the controversial win at Dayton, Tony Stewart is set at +700 for the LifeLock.com 400. Stewart added to his points lead with that victory, giving him two wins and 10 Top-5 placings on the season. Stewart has finished in the Top 10 in all but four races this year and carries an impressive record at Chicagoland into this weekend. In his eight career starts there, the No. 14 car has two wins and six Top-5 showings – including winning the 2007 USG Sheetrock 400.
Also sitting at +700 is Jeff Gordon. He had a disappointing run at Daytona and is now 180 points off the Chase lead. Gordon has one win and five Top-5 showings at Chicagoland and, according to NASCAR's data, he's the fifth fastest car over the past four races held at the oval track. The infamous No. 24 car will be using the chassis it ran at Lowe's and Bristol earlier this season. Gordon was involved in a crash at Lowe's but rolled to a fourth-place finish at Bristol in March.
Carl Edwards (+800) is still on the hunt for his first win of the season. He got back on track with a fourth-place finish at the Coke Zero 400 Saturday, after placing outside the Top 10 in back-to-back races. Despite an empty trophy case, Edwards has picked up five Top-5 placings this season and is currently fifth in the points standings. He's only made four career starts at Chicagoland, with his best showing coming as a third-place finish in 2007. Besides that race, he's finished no better than 20th place.
Greg Biffle (+800) is another driver desperately trying to break into the win column. And by the way he's driving recently, Biffle might have to wait until next year for a victory. In his past three races, the No. 16 ride has finished no better than 18th place, which bumped his average finish to 15th on the season. At Chicagoland, Biffle has placed inside the Top 10 once. He finished fourth in last year's event, which broke a string of 11th-place showings at the 1.5-mile track.
There are four drivers priced at +1,200 for this weekend's race. Denny Hamlin, Mark Martin, Kurt Busch, and Matt Kenseth are all looking for their first win at Chicagoland. Kenseth has the best average finish of the four drivers, posting an FA just under 10th in eight career runs at the track. He placed seventh in last year's event and has come in second twice in the past four races there. Kenseth is coming off an eighth-place showing at Daytona last weekend and could be finding his form with the Chase cut looming.
