Irwin Tools Night Race Gambling Preview
NASCAR’s Sprint Cup series makes an anticipated return to prime time racing with this week’s Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
NASCAR Sprint Cup – Irwin Tools Night Race Preview and Prediction
Race: Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway
Date: Saturday, August 23, 2014
Time: 7:45 p.m. (ET)
Broadcast: ABC
Bovada
Saturday night’s race is set to get underway at 7:45 p.m. and it will be broadcast nationally on ABC.
Jeff Gordon continues to remain one of the hottest drivers in the Sprint Cup series this season with a victory last week at Michigan. Kevin Harvick raced his way to a second-place finish and Joey Logano was right in the mix by taking third.
The following is a look at my top favorite, contender and longshot to win this Saturday night’s race based on odds provided by Sportsbook.
The Favorite (odd of less than 10/1)
Jeff Gordon has revitalized his career with three Sprint Cup victories this season in serious pursuit of his first Sprint Cup racing title since 2001. He has been opened as a Irwin Tools Night Race +700 second-favorite to make it back-to-back victories with a win at Bristol on Saturday night.
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Consistency has been the key to the No. 24 car’s success this season with 16 top-10 finishes in 23 previous point races. This is also the reason this team remains at the top of the Sprint Cup standings with 816 points. Gordon has five career Sprint Cup victories at this track, but it has been quite a while since he has made a trip to the Winner’s Circle here.
He is coming off back-to-back seventh-place finishes in his last two trips around Bristol’s short track oval.
The Contender (odds from 10/1 to 19/1)
Dale Earnhardt Jr. is another veteran driver that has found the right formula for his No. 88 racing team this season.
He is right behind Gordon in the standings with 813 points and this team has also posted three point-race victories on the year while finishing in the top 10 in 16 of 23 events.
Dale Jr. has been listed at +1200 to win this week’s Irwin Tools Night Race and the longer odds are easy to see given his recent performance at this track. He did finish 10th in last year’s race, but he has just two top-10 finishes in his last eight Sprint Cup races here. Over the course of his career, his average finishing position at Bristol is 12.0.
The Longshot (odds 20/1 or greater)
Time is running out for some fairly high-profile drivers to secure a spot in this year’s Chase, so desperation has been factored in to my longshot pick to win this week. I am going with Clint Bowyer at +2500. He finished second in the final Sprint Cup standings in 2012 and he was sixth in total points last season.
This year the No. 15 car has zero wins, three top-five finishes and 672 total points.
This has the team in a precarious 15th-place position in the current standings when only 16 drivers will qualify for the 10-race playoffs. Bowyer has placed in the top five in three of his last eight trips around this track, but he is still searching for his first Sprint Cup victory at Bristol.
