Tuesday, July 5, 2016

Kentucky Betting Preview: 2016 Quaker State 400

Kyle Busch is the King of Kentucky.
LAS VEGAS -- Saturday's Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway will signify the halfway point of the 2016 Sprint Cup season and it will also take us right into the middle of the 1.5-mile season. There are 11 races on 1.5-mile tracks during the season and five have been run on already.

So far we've seen Jimmie Johnson win at Atlanta, Brad Keselowski win at Las Vegas, Kyle Busch win at Texas and Kansas and Martin Truex Jr. take Charlotte. Those drivers all figure to be excellent again this week, but there's a little added twist this week.

NASCAR announced in mid-May that they would be reducing the spoiler from 3.5-inches to 2.5-inches and the splitter down to 2-inches to enhance the racing, but that the package would be on a trial period only for races at Michigan and Kentucky. After Saturday's race, that package will be shelved until being discussed again in the off-season.

Last year Kentucky was the site of reduced downforce on a trial basis and it turned out to be the best race of the season which ushered the changes into being permanent for 2016. Now they're trying to make things even better, I guess -- the racing on 1.5-mile tracks this season looked nothing like Kentucky's 2015 race.

When looking back at last month's Michigan race, the racing wasn't all that good. In fact, it was rather boring. Only eight drivers led a lap and there was only 14 lead changes -- yawn. Joey Logano led a race-high 138 of the 200 laps, including the final 47.

Let's hope Kentucky's 1.5-mile layout produces some better racing like it did last season.

What we can use Michigan for is to look at who fared well in an attempt to keep up with Logano. Chances are that they'll all be good again this weekend. Chase Elliott led 35 laps and had his best career finish with second-place. Kyle Larson was third, Brad Keselowski was fourth and Kevin Harvick fifth.

Read More Here...........Top-5 Finish Prediction on VegasInsider.com

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