Monday, October 15, 2012

Five Chase Races to Go, Hamlin Now Favored

The Chase could come down to best run at Martinsville (Getty) 
By Micah Roberts
The Linemakers on Sporting News

We’re at the halfway point of NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup, and Brad Keselowski isn’t going away. He’s got a seven-point lead over Jimmie Johnson as the series heads to Kansas this week, but is listed only as the third choice to win the title at 9-4 (+225), behind Denny Hamlin (+150) and Johnson (+180).

Keselowski would have liked to finish better than 11th at Charlotte this past Saturday night, but he’s still got a couple of tracks on the schedule that are favorable to him. It’s no accident that Keselowski won five races race this season, at least if you don’t consider a couple fuel-mileage wins accidents. Two of the five wins came on 1.5-mile tracks, and we’ve got three of those remaining on the schedule.

We should expect him to fare well on those three tracks, but what about Martinsville and Phoenix, two tracks on which Johnson and Hamlin are at an elite level? Keselowski had career-best finishes this season on both, but a ninth at Martinsville and fifth at Martinsville may not be enough to hold off Johnson and Hamlin, considering what they’ve done there over their careers.

READ MORE HERE....Updated Chase odds

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