All-Star Race Picks
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Betting Preview
Date and Time: Saturday May 17th, 2014. 9:26PM Eastern
Where: Charlotte Motor Speedway
TV: FS1
By: NASCAR Wagers, NASCAR Handicapping Service
All of NASCAR’s biggest stars will be on display tonight when the lights shine on Charlotte Motor Speedway for the 30th running of the Sprint All-Star Race. In a different twist to this year’s format, qualifying for tonight’s All-Star Race will take place immediately before the actual All-Star event. Qualifying is scheduled to start shortly after 7:00pm (EST) with the green flag dropping on the Sprint All-Star Race at approximately 9:26pm (EST).
Tonight’s Sprint All-Star Race will feature 4 different 20 lap segments with optional pit opportunities between each segment. Drivers must put a strong effort towards those early 20 lap dashes because at the end of the 4th segment the running order will be repositioned based on the average finish of the first 4 segments. After the running order is repositioned, teams will have to make a mandatory 4 tire pit stop before the final 10 lap segment to determine the winner of the Sprint All-Star Race. So while the first 4 segments will set the order of the way the cars enter pit road for the 4 tire mandatory stop, pit crews must be flawless as the starting order of the final 10 lap segment will be based on the order drivers exit pit road.
Unfortunately bettors do not have the privilege of knowing the starting order a day in advance like in previous years which is a slight disadvantage considering tonight’s All-Star Race is composed of several short segments. Obviously track positional will be extremely important throughout the night and surely there will be plenty of strategy between segments for drivers trying to make up track position as well. Needless to say there should be plenty of variables to keep tonight’s race as exciting as ever and hopefully the All-Star Race lives up to its enormous reputation for delivering an exciting Saturday night shootout amongst the best drivers in the world.
As far as the task at hand which is delivering a winning ticket for tonight’s All-Star Race, we have limited information to review from this weekend’s activities. Brad Keselowski was the fastest car in both 5 and 10 lap consecutive averages on Friday. As a result, Keselowski has been bet down from 8-1 to his current position at 5.5-1 odds. However, we do think bettors should get too caught up in practice results especially considering Friday’s practice was in the middle of the day with the sun beaming down on Charlotte’s 1.5 mile surface. When the green flag drops tonight for the All-Star Race, the track will be much different under the lights.
Instead of basing our picks on a single session of practice, we are going to dive a little deeper. Our picks tonight are a combination of parameters such as chassis selections, tire codes, similar track performances, momentum and of course past performances at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Hopefully our work pays off with a nice paycheck once the checker flag waves on tonight’s winner of the Sprint All-Star Race. Take a look at our Sprint All-Star race picks and some of the important reasons behind those picks below:
Sprint All-Star Race Picks
Kyle Busch +1300 (1 unit): Our Newsletter pick this week. Rowdy’s driving style fits the All-Star Race format very well with a balance of aggressiveness and strong restart potential. Busch has been strong on similar surfaces this year.
Jeff Gordon+900 (1 unit): Last week’s winner at Kansas, most consistent front-runner all season especially on 1.5 tracks, running 2nd place chassis from Texas.
H2H Bets
Brian Vickers +100 over Ryan Newman (3 units)
Dale Earnhardt Jr -105 over Matt Kenseth (2 units)
Brad Keselowski -130 over Joey Logano (3 units)
Carl Edwards -140 over Tony Stewart (1 unit)
