Micah Roberts’ Top 10 Driver Ratings
Hollywood Casino 400
Kansas Speedway
Sunday, October 21, 2012 - 11:16 a.m. (PDT)
Rating Driver Odds Practice 1 Qualified Practice 2 Practice 3
1. Jimmie Johnson 5/1 6th 7th 21st 3rd
Two-time winner with track best 7.9 average finish; using chassis that won at Indy and Dover.
2. Greg Biffle 7/1 1st 11th 1st 13th
Two-time winner with eighth-place average finish; using a brand new chassis this week.
3. Matt Kenseth 12/1 8th 12th 4th 1st
Career best fourth-place finish in past two starts; using a brand new chassis this week.
4. Kasey Kahne 8/1 5th 1st 3rd 4th
Runner-up last fall; using chassis that has three top-three finishes, including Charlotte win.
5. Denny Hamlin 5/1 21st 9th 12th 10th
Won April 22 race, the first of two wins on 1.5-mile tracks this season; 15-points behind in Chase.
6. Mark Martin 15/1 14th 2nd 10th 7th
2005 winner; best 10-consecutive lap average in final practice; using Indy chassis.
7. Regan Smith 30/1 7th 39th 24th 2nd
Driving No. 88 car for injured Dale Earnhardt Jr.; using chassis that Junior won with at Michigan.
8. Martin Truex Jr. 15/1 20th 16th 5th 5th
Led four times for race high 173 laps in April 22 race en route to a runner-up finish.
9. Clint Bowyer 15/1 12th 3rd 13th 16th
Emporia, Kansas native with a career best runner-up in 2007; only 28-points behind in Chase.
10. Brad Keselowski 8/1 19th 25th 16th 6th
2011 winner with two wins on 1.5-mile tracks this season; using winning Chicago chassis.
Note: Kansas Speedway was recently resurfaced giving the 1.5- track a progressive banking that makes it now run similar to Homestead. Some drivers compared it to Michigan.
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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| Martin has been teasing us all season with good cars (Getty) |
The one driver that could ruin the day for the new Roush Fords is Jimmie Johnson. He finished third last week at Charlotte and is still searching for his first 1.5-mile track win of the season. He’s using a car this week that has two wins in four starts. The beast of a car won at Dover and Brickyard, as well as finishing runner-up at Chicago and fourth at Dover a few weeks ago. In the second practice session, Johnson had the best 10-consecutive lap average.
Mark Martin has been a driver teasing us all season with great qualifying and practice efforts, but still doesn’t have a win on the season. We know he’s got a strong car, but he just can’t seem to get over the hump. He looks to be capable again this week. He had the best 10-consecutive lap average in final practice.
Kasey Kahne is still only 35-points behind the leader with five Chase races left and should find himself running in the top-5 all race. He had fantastic practice sessions and is using a chassis that finished third or better three times, including winning at Charlotte in May.
Denny Hamlin has been the best on 1.5-mile tracks this season, but didn’t do anything in practice to suggest he’ll be running for the win. He’s got a top-10 car for sure, but for his sake, hopefully he doesn’t try to get too much out of it and get himself in a wreck, which would ruin his Chase chances. He’s got to take what the car gives him and make the most of it, which may be hard for a driver like Hamln to do.
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