Las Vegas Hilton Super Book Adjusted Brickyard 400 Odds Following Friday Practices

by Micah Roberts

After Friday's practice sessions in preparation for Saturday morning's Brickyard 400 qualifying, the Las Vegas Hilton Super Book has lowered the odds of several drivers while raising the odds for those that didn't fare so well.

Juan Pablo Montoya had the largest reduction in terms of percentage when his odds were reduced to 5 to 1 after opening two weeks ago at 10 to 1. Montoya had the quickest laps in both of Friday's sessions which were geared primarily for Saturday's qualifying. However, many teams -- including Montoya -- did use race trim for a short period of time.

Jimmie Johnson originally opened with odds of 7 to 2 based on his terrific runs the last two seasons that each resulted in wins giving the four-time Sprint Cup champion three Brickyard 400 wins. Following the practice sessions, Johnson's odds have been dropped to 9 to 4, which comes out to plus-225.

With some of the favorites being dropped so low, it's only natural that a fair book like the Hilton would dramatically raise some of the early favorites to keep their theoretic hold percentage low, and more bettor friendly. Both Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin saw their odds increase from 8/1 to 10/1 while four-time Brickyard 400 winner Jeff Gordon's odds went from 8/1 to 9/1. Kurt Busch, who is using his winning Coca-Cola 600 chassis, saw his odds increase from 12/1 to 18/1.

The perception of the practice times -- even though most of which came in qualifying trim -- is magnified because this is such a big race for the Las Vegas sports books. The Brickyard 400 typically handles the third most action of the year for Vegas books behind the Las Vegas date and the Daytona 500. Following the final two practice sessions on Saturday, more changes will be expected as the books keep up with the perception in an attempt to stay ahead of the bettors.

BRICKYARD 400--Adjusted after Friday's Practices
INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
SUNDAY, JULY 25, 2010

JIMMIE JOHNSON 9-4
KYLE BUSCH 10
JEFF GORDON 9
DENNY HAMLIN 10
JEFF BURTON 18
KEVIN HARVICK 15
MATT KENSETH 35
CARL EDWARDS 35
GREG BIFFLE 35
KURT BUSCH 18
MARK MARTIN 40
TONY STEWART 10
CLINT BOWYER 20
JUAN MONTOYA 5
KASEY KAHNE 15
JOEY LOGANO 40
RYAN NEWMAN 40
MARTIN TRUEX JR 50
JAMIE McMURRAY 20
DALE EARNHARDT JR 50
BRAD KESELOWSKI 100
DAVID REUTIMANN 50
REED SORENSON 100
DAVID RAGAN 200
AJ ALLMENDINGER 100
MARCOS AMBROSE 200
SAM HORNISH JR 200
ELLIOTT SADLER 500
REGAN SMITH 1000
PAUL MENARD 300
SCOTT SPEED 500
BOBBY LABONTE 2000
TRAVIS KVAPIL 3000
FIELD 300