GoBowling.com 400 Race Picks
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Betting Preview
Date and Time: Sunday August 3rd, 2014. 1:19PM Eastern
Where: Pocono Raceway
TV: ESPN
By: NASCAR Wagers, NASCAR Handicapping Service
Tomorrow afternoon Sprint Cup Series drivers will faceoff with the ‘Tricky Triangle’ for the 2nd time this season in the GoBowling.com 400 at Pocono Raceway. Back in June, Dale Earnhardt Jr wheeled his way to his 2nd victory of 2014 by winning the Pocono 400. Earnhardt became the 4th different driver from the Hendrick Motorsports stable to win in the last 4 races at Pocono. Hendrick Motorsports has hit their summer groove by winning 6 of the last 10 races including Jeff Gordon’s victory last week in the Brickyard 400. Tomorrow Hendrick Motorsports’ drivers look to remain hot as they seek their 5th straight victory at Pocono Raceway. Find out if we think Hendrick drivers can make it 5 in a row or if there are other drivers more worthy of our attention. Take a look at our GoBowling.com 400 race picks!
So far this weekend, all of the Hendrick Motorsports drivers have shown speed at some point in the weekend. Dale Earnhardt Jr finished 5th in final practice while Jimmie Johnson finished inside the top 10 in both of Saturday’s practices. Perhaps the most consistent car this weekend from the Hendrick Motorsports brigade has been the #24 of Jeff Gordon. Gordon is coming off a huge win last week at the Brickyard and has been impressive thus far throughout the weekend. Gordon finished 2nd in final practice and qualified in the 5th position. While a back to back scenario seems unlikely, Gordon and the #24 team have been in Championship form in recent weeks so it would not be surprising to see that car in contention again tomorrow.
Outside of the Hendrick Motorsports camp, several drivers are ready to contend tomorrow. Kyle Larson earned his first career pole for tomorrow’s GoBowling.com 400. Back in June, Larson earned a top 5 finish in his first trip to Pocono Raceway which drew a lot of praise from his peers. Larson has done really well at the high speed race tracks in his rookie season and many feel like the youngster will be a contender tomorrow afternoon. Another guy a lot of people need to keep their eye on tomorrow is the driver of the #41 car, Kurt Busch. Busch was our newsletter pick at 20 to 1 odds after an impressive performance at Pocono back in June. The #41 team brought the same chassis back this week and Busch has been incredibly fast since that car was pulled of the hauler. Busch qualified in the 4th position and it appears he should be a force on Sunday. Busch’s teammate Kevin Harvick has been very strong this weekend as well. Harvick’s car has shown the smallest amount of drop off in practices in consecutive lap runs. Harvick finished with the best 10 lap average in final practice and will start 6th. Perhaps the biggest downside to the case for the #4 car is that Harvick has never won at Pocono Raceway and only has a 4th best career finish.
Perhaps you have noticed but all the drivers that we have mentioned thus far are drivers of Chevrolets. We have consistently pointed out the power of Chevrolet engines at these big horsepower tracks like Pocono this season. Chevrolet engines dominated again last week at Indianapolis and they have an undeniable advantage in terms of horsepower. However, there are a few drivers that could upset the Chevrolet bunch tomorrow. Most notably is the driver of the #2 car in Brad Keselowski. As we all know, Keselowski dominated this race back in June and lost the lead with 5 laps to go as his car started overheating from a piece of trash on the grill. Keselowski made a move to remove the trash from his grill by pulling up on the back of the lap car of Danica Patrick. However, that move actually cost the #2 team the race as it allowed Dale Earnhardt Jr to get around him in the final laps of the race. Keselowski has openly stated that he would like to make up for that mistake this week and that #2 has been very strong throughout the week.
Keselowski may be one of the best choices to win tomorrow’s race. However Pocono is all about getting out front and playing the strategy card to perfection. When a driver gets out front at Pocono, they are really tough to beat and that levels the playing field quite a bit. As a result, several drivers could easily win this race tomorrow afternoon. One guy that really needs a victory is Denny Hamlin. Hamlin’s team was hammered with penalties this week resulting from illegal racing parts found on his #11 FedEx Toyota following the Brickyard 400. Hamlin lost 75 driver points, 75 owner points, and crew chief Darian Grubb was suspended for 6 races. Pocono has actually been one of Hamlin’s best tracks throughout his Sprint Cup career. Hamlin owns 4 victories with 9 top 5 finishes in 17 career starts at Pocono. Hamlin has shown that he has a fast car this weekend but it will be interesting to see if they can get the job done without Grubb on top of the box. Keep an eye on Hamlin tomorrow and also his teammate Kyle Busch who has been sneakily fast this weekend.
GoBowling.com 400 Race Picks
Kurt Busch +2000 (1 unit): two time winner, 3rd best driver rating at Pocono, finished 3rd in Pocono 400, running same chassis from Pocono 400 and starting 4th.
Kyle Busch +1700 (1 unit): 2nd last week at Indianapolis, 3rd in final practice, starting 7th.
Jeff Gordon +700 (1 unit): leads all drivers with 6 Pocono wins, 2nd in final practice, 3rd in best 10 lap average, and starting 5th.
Kasey Kahne +1450 (1 unit): two time winner, defending GoBowling.com 400 winner, led most laps last week at Indianapolis, starting 12th
Winning Parlay
Brad Keselowski/Kevin Harvick wins GoBowling.com 400 (+215)
Ryan Newman finishes Top 10 (+200)
Jamie McMurray -170 over Paul Menard
To Win: +1400
H2H Matchups and Props
Kyle Larson -130 finishes under 10.5 (2 units)
Kyle Busch +140 over Dale Earnhardt Jr (2 units)
Tony Stewart +160 over Kasey Kahne (2 units)
Jamie McMurray -170 over Paul Menard (2 units)
