in NASCAR Betting Trends

Jimmie Johnson won the 2006 Nextel Cup Championship after last weekend’s Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, while Spaniard Fernando Alonso edged out German Michael Schumacher for the 2006 Formula One Drivers Championship earlier in the fall. So which of those two drivers has the best shot of repeating as a champion next year?

According to the oddsmakers at BetUS.com, Johnson isn’t the favorite to take home the Nextel Cup again in 2007. That honor right now goes to Tony Stewart, who, surprisingly, didn’t even make it into the Chase for the Nextel Cup this season. Stewart had an up-and-down year, and ended up in 11th place in the standings (the highest finish among non-Chase drivers). Stewart is listed at +400 right now, with Johnson pegged at +500.

Last year’s runner-up to Johnson, Matt Kenseth, is third on the current list at +700 odds, while Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon are tied for fourth at +800 odds. Earnhardt Jr. wound up in fifth place in 2006, while Gordon ended up in sixth place in the standings.

Here are all of the listed drivers and their current odds to win the 2007 Nextel Cup:

Tony Stewart +400
Jimmie Johnson +500
Matt Kenseth +700
Dale Earnhardt Jr. +800
Jeff Gordon +800
Denny Hamlin +1000
Greg Biffle +1200
Carl Edwards +1200
Kevin Harvick +1200
Kasey Kahne +1200
Kyle Busch +1600
Kurt Busch +1800
Jeff Burton +2200
Casey Mears +2200
Clint Bowyer +2700
Juan Pablo Montoya +3700
Ryan Newman +3700
Martin Truex Jr. +3700
Scott Riggs +4500
Jamie McMurray +5500
Reed Sorenson +5500

So, while defending NASCAR champion Johnson isn’t the favorite to repeat in 2007, defending F1 champion Alonso is in fact the oddsmakers’ title choice right now. However, even with Schumacher’s retirement at the end of 2006, Alonso isn’t a huge favorite to win it all next season. That’s because Alonso is switching from Renault to McLaren-Mercedes for 2007 while Kimi Raikkonen is switching from McLaren-Mercedes to the Ferrari team.

So, the oddsmakers have Alonso listed at +120 title odds right now, with Raikkonen right behind him at +150. The Spaniard finished 13 points ahead of Schumacher in the final standings this season, and well ahead of fifth-place Raikkonen, who had 65 points to Alonso’s 134. Ferrari’s Felipe Massa is third at +450 odds, while new Renault driver Heikki Kovalainen is fourth on the list at +1500 odds, and Jenson Button is fifth at +1700.

Here are all of the listed drivers and their current odds to win the 2007 Championship:

Odds to Win 2007 F1 Drivers Championship

Fernando Alonso (McLaren) +120
Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) +150
Felipe Massa (Ferrari) +450
Heikki Kovalainen (Renault) +1500
Jenson Button (Honda) +1700
Giancarlo Fisichella (Renault) +2100            
Rubens Barrichello (Honda) +2500
Nick Heidfeld (BMW-Sauber) +4200
Robert Kubica (BMW-Sauber) +4200
Ralf Schumacher (Toyota) +4200
Jarno Trulli (Toyota) +4200
David Coulthard (Red Bull) +7000
Mark Webber (Red Bull) +7000
Nico Rosberg (Williams) +8500
Alexander Wurz (Williams) +8500

Here are all of the listed teams and their current odds to win the 2007 Championship:

Odds to Win 2007 F1 Constructors Championship

Ferrari -120
McLaren-Mercedes +160
Renault +500
Honda +1500
Toyota +1500
BMW-Sauber +4500
Red Bull +6000
Williams +7000

The 2007 Formula One season gets underway on March 18, with the Australian Grand Prix at Melbourne. The first event on the 2007 Nextel Cup schedule is the Budweiser Shootout on February 10, while the Daytona 500 will start awarding points on February 18.