Thursday, June 2, 2016

Odds to win Pocono Axalta 400: Truex Jr. a heavy favorite

Chevy had won six straight at Pocono until last fall.
LAS VEGAS -- The 14th race of the NASCAR Sprint Cup season takes us to Pocono Raceway's 2.5-mile "Tricky Triangle," where each of the three turns get progressively flatter. The uniqueness of the track could be just what the rest of the series needs as a change-up after watching a Joe Gibbs Racing powered Toyota win seven of the past eight races on the schedule and eight of 13 overall.

However, JGR won the fall race last season with Matt Kenseth and last week's winner Martin Truex Jr. won the spring race while driving a Chevrolet powered by Richard Childress Racing. Prior to Kenseth's win, a Chevrolet had won six straight at Pocono.

Let's take a look at the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook's odds to win Sunday's Axalta 400 and how each driver stacks up:

Odds to win Axalta 400 at Pocono Raceway
Sunday, 1:20 p.m. ET


Martin TRUEX JR 9/2 - Between thoroughly dominating the Coca-Cola 600, leading 588 of the 600 miles, and crushing this race at Pocono last season, he comes in as the big favorite to repeat. It's hard to argue with the price because he's led a series-high 809 laps this season (611 in the last three).

Last June he led 65 of the final 66 laps and a race-high 97 of the 160. Get out front and stay out front is usually the theme at Pocono where there isn't much passing (only six laps leaders last June) and that's what Truex Jr. has been doing all season. The main thing we can look at as a reason why he won't win this week is that he's blown more races than won over his career. It's hard to believe Sunday's win was only the fourth of his career (382 starts).

Kevin HARVICK 6/1
- He's never won at Pocono in 30 starts and has led only 52 laps, but did finish second in this race last year and he was also second in the fall of 2014. He should be considered a strong candidate to slow the JGR win parties.

Jimmie JOHNSON 7/1 - Another guy in a bow-tie out to slow JGR and he's looking for his fourth Pocono win. His last came in 2014 during Chevrolet's six race win streak. He has a series leading 738 laps led over his career and his 9.5 average finish is best among all active drivers with at least five starts.

Read More Here...complete list of odds on TheLinemakers.com

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