Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Dover Betting Preview: 2015 AAA 400

Jimmie Johnson is a Dover master.
LAS VEGAS -- The greatest thing about the current Chase format unveiled last season, where we have three different elimination stages, is the drama it creates. We have storylines like we've never seen before in NASCAR at such an early stage before the championship is decided. For the first 26 races, we get to witness who might be the best equipped to handle these situations, but there's nothing quite like added pressure to create an intriguing storyline.

We've got eight races to go until a champion is crowned, but an early October race at Dover has so many title implications such as last year’s champ Kevin Harvick being on the brink of elimination. Kyle Busch wowed us all in late June and early July by winning four of five races, but he's outside looking in -- only one point outside of 12th-place. Can Harvick duplicate his feat at Phoenix last fall in a win or go-home situation and can Busch shed his trend of being a complete zero in the Chase over his career?

In Sunday's AAA 400 at Dover, we'll find out a lot of those answers as four of the 16 Chase drivers will be eliminated. Two drivers, Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth, are locked in to advance on the basis of each winning the first two races of the Chase and another will advance if winning Sunday's race.

We've got a lot of things to consider before selecting a winner for Sunday based on several circumstances. Do you go with the hot driver or team that has been running well lately? Do you go with the driver who has had the most all-time success at Dover's high banked 1-mile concrete layout? Or do you go with a few of the drivers that are in desperation mode, who have to win to advance to the next round?

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