2010 Air Guard 400 Predictions – Betting Preview + Picks + Odds
Preview: Here we are at race number 26 in the 36-race Sprint Cup season. It’s the final race of the “regular season,” with NASCAR’s playoff session, known as the Chase, kicking off next week in Loudon.
Race: Air Guard 400 at Richmond International Raceway
Date: Saturday, September 11, 2010
Time: 7:43 PM EST (scheduled Green Flag)
TV: 7:30 PM EST on ABC
After last week’s race at Atlanta, 10 of the 12 Chase drivers have locked in their spots, leaving just two openings left to be decided. Heading into Saturday night’s race, Greg Biffle is in 11th-place and Clint Bowyer is in 12th, while Ryan Newman, Jamie McMurray and Mark Martin still have a mathematical (though improbable) chance to make it into the top 12 before the night is over. Kyle Busch won the last two spring races at Richmond, while Virginia-native Denny Hamlin prevailed here last fall.
Safe Bets:
1. Denny Hamlin (6/1): Hamlin won this race last September and has the second-best average finish overall. In nine Richmond starts, Denny only has one finish below 15th. He qualified 14th for Saturday’s race and ran the fastest 10-lap average in Happy Hour practice Friday. 
2. Tony Stewart (8/1): Tony unequivocally cites this ¾-mile track as his very favorite, combining the best qualities of a short track and a slightly larger one. Stewart has three wins at Richmond, including his first-ever Cup win in 1999, and is coming off a win last week at Atlanta. He qualified 15th and had the second-fastest 10-lap average in final practice.
Dark Horse:
1. Dale Earnhardt Jr. (25/1): Dale Jr. has three wins at Richmond, most recently in 2006, and qualified ninth for Saturday’s race – his first top-10 start in 12 races. As one of the non-Chase drivers, Junior is free to lay it all on the line and go for a win if he has the car underneath him to do so.
Summary: With double-file restarts on a track this size and several drivers vying for the final Chase spots, anything can happen toward the end of this race — and probably will.
Race: Air Guard 400
Odds to win the Air Guard 400 –
Richmond Motor Speedway – Sept. 11, 2010
Denny Hamlin +550
Kyle Busch +700
Carl Edwards +700
Jimmie Johnson +700
Juan Pablo Montoya +900
Kevin Harvick +1000
Clint Bowyer +1000
Tony Stewart +1000
Jeff Gordon +1200
Dale Earnhardt Jr. +2000
Jeff Burton +2200
Kurt Busch +2200
David Reutimann +2200
Kasey Kahne +2500
Matt Kenseth +3000
A.J. Allmendinger +3000
Joey Logano +3000
Greg Biffle +3000
Ryan Newman +4000
Mark Martin +4500
Brad Keselowski +5000
Jamie McMurray +5000
Martin Truex Jr. +5000
Paul Menard +6000
Marcos Ambrose +10000
David Ragan +20000
Sam Hornish Jr. +25000
Elliott Sadler +30000
Casey Mears +30000
Scott Speed +40000
Regan Smith +40000
Jason Leffler +50000
Travis Kvapil +50000
Mattias Ekstrm +50000
David Gilliland +50000
Landon Cassill +50000
Jeff Green +50000
Mike Bliss +50000
Bobby Labonte +75000
Kevin Conway +100000
The 2010 Air Guard 400 Gambling! Open A Nascar Betting Acct. @ Betus – Get up to 145% in bonuses, + qualify for yearly Nascar Contests – CLICK HERE!…
Becca Gladden is a freelance writer and race handicapper specializing in NASCAR.
