Saturday, November 13, 2010

Final Phoenix Driver Ratings Following All Practice Sessions

Micah Roberts Top 10 Driver Ratings
Kobalt Tools 500K
Phoenix International Raceway
Sunday, November 14, 2010 - 12:19 pm (PDT)
Rating    Driver     Odds   Practice 1  Qualifying   Practice 2   Practice 3
  1. Carl Edwards 20/1         1st               1st               1st                1st
Career average finish of 12.8 in 12 starts with a best of fourth-place three times.
 2. Jeff Gordon 15/1           18th             22nd             2nd               3rd
2007 winner; average finish of 10.4 in 23 starts. Best average speed during happy hour.
 3. Kevin Harvick 12/1         9th              29th             10th               5th
Swept both 2006 races; finished 13th in spring. Using third-place Martinsville chassis.
 4. Denny Hamlin 9/2          27th             17th             14th              4th
Third-place finisher in four Phoenix races; using winning Richmond chassis from September.
 5. Jimmie Johnson 7/2      12th             21st             17th               7th
Four-time winner; using chassis that won this race last season and New Hampshire in June.
 6. Kurt Busch 15/1              7th              3rd                3rd              34th
2005 winner; 13.5 average finish in 15 starts. Using winning Atlanta chassis from March.
 7. Matt Kenseth 25/1         16th             15th              4th               24th
2002 winner finished sixth in the spring; using car that led 26 laps to finish seventh at Kansas.
 8. Greg Biffle 20/1             26th              4th               9th               10th
Two-time runner-up, last top five finish in spring of 2009. Using winning chassis from Kansas.
 9. Kyle Busch 4/1               4th                7th              20th             32nd
2005 winner, his only Phoenix top five in 11 starts. Using runner-up Charlotte car from October.
10. Dale Earnhardt Jr 60/1  22nd            31st              7th               2nd       
Two-time winner; great practices using fourth-place New Hampshire chassis from September.
Note: The September races at Richmond and New Hampshire are great barometers to use for Phoenix this week because of the similarities in distance and banking at each. The set-up notes from those teams that were successful are relatively fresh and still applicable.
Odds courtesy of the Las Vegas Hilton Super Book.
Micah Roberts, a former Race and Sports Book Director, has been setting NASCAR lines in Las Vegas since 1995. He currently writes for multiple publications covering all sports. He can be reached at MM.Roberts7Gmail.com.

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