At long last the NASCAR season is getting down to the nitty-gritty and just one final Sprint Cup betting race, the Air Guard 400, remains until the de facto stock car playoffs begin.
For racing fans not in the know, the NASCAR Sprint Cup series season begins in February of year and drivers compete to compile the most points during the season’s 26 races with the top 12 drivers qualifying for the Chase. The Chase is NASCAR’s version of a playoff. The top 12 point getters during the regular racing season (Feb-Sep) compete in a 10-race free for all. The point standings are wiped clean and it’s a ten-race post season where the winner takes all.
Heading into the Final Sprint Cup odds event before the start of the Chase the positions in the Chase are but sewn up. After Tony Stewart’s victory in Atlanta he’s safely through to the Chase and needn’t worry about points in the upcoming race. Neither do the other nine drivers at the top of the point standings heading into the final Spring Cup betting event of the year before the Chase begins.
Driver Kevin Harvick leads the pack with 3,585 points and has had his spot in the Chase clinched for some time. Four-time champion Jeff Gordon is second on the board and will likely use the final Sprint Cup odds race in Richmond, VA as a tune up for the Chase. Kyle Busch, who’s positioned well for top finish in the Chase, rounds out the top three.
The drivers to watch in the final Sprint Cup betting event before the Chase begins are Greg Biffle (3,110 points) and Clint Bowyer (3,006 points) who rank 11th and 12th, respectively in the point standings. These guys are going to have drive the race of their lives if they want to hold on to their final spots in the NASCAR Air Guard 400 postseason. With the other ten spots in the Chase already wrapped up there will be a pack of drivers competing like crazy to grab one of the last two remaining spots away from Biffle and Bowyer. Chief on that list of would-be spoilers are Ryan Newman (-117 points), Jamie McMurray (-128 points) and Mark Martin (-147 points).