The Dragon Energy NASCAR Cup Series moves from the high-speed two-mile Trail of Automobile Club Speedway into the 0.5-mile paperclip Trail of Martinsville for Its STP 500.
Last week, Kyle Busch became the first repeat winner of this season and oddsmakers think he is primed for a third win in a row since they’ve left him the favorite in +220.
BetOnline has Busch as the favored at +220 followed closely by Brad Keselowski in +500, Martin Truex Jr. in +600, Joey Logano at +750 and Denny Hamlin in +1000 to round out the top five drivers around the oddsboard.
Standout Stats
Ford cars have won three of those previous four races at Martinsville, including both runnings there last season.
Joey Logano looks to become the initial back-to-back winner in the paperclip because Jimmie Johnson won successive races there in 2012 and 2013.
The pole sitter at Martinsville has not won at the last 11 races dating back to 2013. In eight of the last 11 runnings, the winner qualified fifth or even worse.
You might be looking in Kevin Harvick as a value pick at +1600, but the California native has only one win in 35 starts at Martinsville and that victory came in 2011. He hasn’t finished better than fifth there since that triumph in 2011.
Joey Logano has qualified on the pole in four of the last eight races at the paperclip but just finished on the podium twice over that interval, including the most recent running in October of last year, which he won.
Clint Bowyer won the spring race last year at Martinsville, leading 215 of the 500 laps, and has finished in the top five of his 26 career starts at this track.
Kyle Busch has won two of those previous six races at Martinsville and has finished fifth or better in each of the previous seven runnings there. Furthermore, he’s led the most laps in three of the last six races.
My Best Bet for the STP 500
Kyle Busch +220
Though it’s not a long-shot choice, I think that it’s the clever one. The Nevada native has not finished worse than fifth in any of the previous seven races at Martinsville, including finishing first or second in four of those runnings. He is carrying a lot of momentum into this weekend, having won the last two races on the season.
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