Micah Roberts’ Top 10 Driver Ratings
Federated Auto Parts 400
Richmond International Raceway
Saturday, September 8, 2012 - 4:46 p.m. (PDT)
Rating Driver Odds Practice 1 Practice 2 Qualified Richmond*
1. Kyle Busch 9/2 21st 8th 15th 1st
Four-time winner, including this season, with a 4.7 career average finish in 15 starts.
2. Kevin Harvick 12/1 5th 6th 13th 19th
Two-time winner, including last fall; fast on long runs in practice; using New Hampshire car.
3. Carl Edwards 20/1 17th 1st 16th 10th
Using same car that led 206 laps in spring race; best 10-consecutive lap average in practice2.
4. Denny Hamlin 9/2 6th 25th 7th 4th
Native Virginian has won two of last three fall races; going for third straight win (Bristol, Atlanta).
5. Jimmie Johnson 8/1 18th 2nd 5th 6th
Three-time winner, the last coming in 2008; one of worst statistical tracks for him on circuit.
6. Jeff Gordon 8/1 10th 4th 2nd 23rd
Two-time winner, the last coming in 2000; has to win or gain 13 points on Busch to make Chase.
7. Kasey Kahne 10/1 15th 22nd 21st 5th
2005 winner; very mediocre in practice, but using winning New Hampshire chassis from July.
8. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 10/1 2nd 16th 1st 2nd
Three-time winner; good practices deceiving; using runner-up Richmond chassis from April.
9. Brad Keselowski 10/1 12th 28th 10th 9th
Best 10-consecutive lap average in Practice1; using winning Kentucky chassis this week.
10. Jeff Burton 100/1 1st 3rd 20th 31st
1998 winner, and native Virginian, was just as good as teammate Harvick during practices.
* Results from the April 28 race at Richmond. Phoenix and New Hampshire can also be used as a good barometer for Richmond because of similar banking and short distances.
Odds courtesy of the LVH Super Book.
Micah Roberts, a former sports book director, has been setting NASCAR lines in Las Vegas since 1995. For more Roberts insights on the race, go to The Linemakers on SportingNews.com or follow on Twitter: MicahRoberts7.
Betting Notes
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| Harvick has lots of value (Getty) |
I liked Denny Hamlin a lot coming into this race, but he showed nothing in practice, and that’s never good for him because when he’s good to go, he usually shows it the day before.
Tony Stewart was awful in both sessions, but would be a driver I would look to bet on in matchups just because he’ll be undervalued due to those poor times. Kasey Kahne may be in the same boat after a poor run last week and bad practices, but I like the car he’s using this week.
Kyle Busch will be points racing, watching his rearview mirror for Jeff Gordon, so I think he takes himself out of the betting equation.
Go Harvick, Go!
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