Martin Truex Jr. a Prohibitive Favorite to Win Sprint Showdown

Martin Truex Jr. finished second at Texas, the sister track of Charlotte. 

LAS VEGAS -- The LVH SuperBook has installed Martin Truex Jr. as the overwhelming 9-to-5 favorite to win Saturday's Sprint Showdown at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The Showdown is a 40-lap qualifying event that gives the top two finishers a chance to compete for $1 million in the Sprint All-Star Race that follows.

The runner-up advances to the big race, but does not cash at the sports books; only the winner gets the money.

You could make a good argument that Truex Jr. should be listed as one of the favorites to win the All-Star race should he advance. Charlotte's 1.5-mile high-banked track is similar to Texas, where Truex Jr. finished second to Kyle Busch in April. You can throw the other 1.5-mile tracks into the equation as well and see that he finished eighth in Las Vegas and fourth at Kansas. Only Truex Jr. and Jimmie Johnson have finished eighth or better on all three 1.5-mile tracks run on this season.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Jamie McMurray and Juan Pablo Montoya are all listed next at 9-to-2, followed by Paul Menard at 5-to-1 and Aric Almirola at 8-to-1.

The Earnhardt-Ganassi duo of McMurray and Montoya seems to have made major strides in the Gen-6 car over the past four races. They have found some speed, and it's showing not only in practice, but on race day as well. Menard finished 10th at both Las Vegas and Kansas, while Almirola was seventh at Texas.

An interesting look at 20-to-1 is Jeff Burton. He doesn't have a quality finish in any of the three 1.5-mile tracks this season, but he does have the Richard Childress resources backing him. Burton's teammates, Menard and Kevin Harvick, have run very consistently on this type of track this year. Burton also has three wins at Charlotte over his career, the last coming in the 2008 Coca-Cola 600.

Read More Here.......Sprint Showdown Odds