The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series revs back up this Sunday for the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 with Kyle Larson and Kevin Harvick sharing the top spot at +550 as the betting favorites to take the checkered flag.
Online sportsbook Sportsbook is offering odds for the second race of the NASCAR season with drivers ready to burn rubber at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Behind Larson and Harvick on the oddsboard are Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott and Martin Truex Jr. at +650, Jimmie Johnson at +850, Brad Keselowski at +1200, Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano at +1600 and Erik Jones at +2200 rounding out the top 10.
Are Kyle Larson and Kevin Harvick’s odds worth betting on?
Kyle Larson has finished in the top 10 of the NASCAR standings for the last two seasons. He finished second in last year’s edition of this race and won four races overall in 2017 while posting 15 top-five finishes. However, Kevin Harvick may hold the betting edge as he won this race in 2014 and finished again on the podium at second in 2015. What’s most impressive is that since 2008, Harvick has finished in the top 10 at this track in eight of the last 10 years.
Can last year’s Sportsbook repeat?
Brad Keselowski won this race in 2017 and has finished in the top 10 at the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 each year since 2012. However, repeat Sportsbooks are not routine at this track as only two drivers since 1996 have won it in back-to-back years (Bobby Labonte and Jimmie Johnson). With Keselowski at +1200, you would be better served to look at some value lower on the board.
Are there any sleepers with decent odds?
Two drivers who could be decent value for bettors are Ryan Newman at +8000 and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. at +10000. Newman only won one race last season but has top-10 finishes at this track in 2014 and 2015.
Stenhouse wasn’t great last season with only nine top-10 finishes but he still managed to take the checkered flag at two tracks. At the value he is offering, it could lead to a huge payday for bettors if he was to get the third win of his career.
If Austin Dillon catches your eye at +10000, there's a reason he's listed that at those odds. Only one driver in the last 20 years has won the Daytona 500 and then won the subsequent race and that was Matt Kenseth in 2009.