The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series moves from the high-speed two-mile Trail of Automobile Club Speedway into the 0.5-mile paperclip track of Martinsville for the STP 500.
Last week, Kyle Busch became the first repeat winner of this season and oddsmakers think he is primed for a third win in a row as they’ve made him the favorite at +220.
BetOnline has Busch as the favorite in +220 followed by Brad Keselowski in +500, Martin Truex Jr. in +600, Joey Logano in +750 and Denny Hamlin in +1000 to round out the top five drivers on the oddsboard.
Standout Stats
Ford cars have won three of the previous four races at Martinsville, including the two runnings there last season.
Joey Logano appears to become the first back-to-back winner at the paperclip because Jimmie Johnson won successive races there in 2012 and 2013.
The pole at Martinsville hasn’t won in the past 11 races dating back to 2013. In eight of the last 11 runnings, the winner characterized fifth or even worse.
You might be looking in Kevin Harvick as a value pick at +1600, however the California native has only one win in 35 starts at Martinsville and that success came in 2011. He has not finished better than fifth there since that succeed in 2011.
Joey Logano has qualified on the pole in four of the last eight races in the paperclip but only finished on the podium twice over that span, including the most recent running in October of last year, he won.
Clint Bowyer won the spring race this past year at Martinsville, top 215 of the 500 laps, and has finished in the top five in six of the 26 career starts at this track.
Kyle Busch has won just two of those previous six races at Martinsville and has finished fifth or better in each of the previous seven runnings there. Furthermore, he has led the most laps in three of their last six races.
My Best Option for the STP 500
Kyle Busch +220
Although it is not a long-shot choice, I think it’s the clever one. The Nevada native hasn’t finished worse than fifth in any of the previous seven races at Martinsville, including finishing first or second in four of those runnings. He’s carrying a lot of momentum into this weekend, having won the past two races on the season.
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