Bristol Odds - Busch will earn Bristol sweep

Sports betting players will follow their favorite drivers to Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday night at 7:00 PM ET for the Sharpie 500, annually one of the most anticipated races of the year. Carl Edwards won last year’s race under controversial fashion, and the driver he moved out of the way got some revenge by winning the race here in March.

Bristol odds: Busch makes Chase race interesting

• Roush-Fenway has won the last four summer races at Bristol
  
• Gordon, Kurt Busch fare much better in the spring at Bristol than in the summer
  
• Earnhardt. Jr., Montoya longshots to watch

Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards are tied with Tony Stewart at +700, and Busch won the spring race here by leading 378 of the 500 laps. Edwards won last year’s race by moving Busch out of the way, and then the two tangled on the cooldown lap and pit road, which earned them probation. Edwards has two straight top-fives, which earns him the NASCAR betting edge coming into this race.

Jeff Gordon isn’t far behind at +700, and the No.24 driver battled a bad back to finish second to Brian Vickers at Michigan last week. He now has eight top-10s in his last 10 races, which includes four runner-up finishes, and he finished fourth in the March Bristol race. He won this race in 2002, and has five wins overall on the Bristol bullring.

Denny Hamlin and Mark Martin come in at +900, and Hamlin finished second to JGR teammate Busch here in March. Martin won here in 1993 and 1998, and he finished sixth in the spring races. Martin’s experience always makes him an offshore sportsbook favorite at Bristol, and this will be his 21st summer race on the half-mile track, with 10 top-10s.

Jimmie Johnson (+1000), Kurt Busch (+1200) and Greg Biffle (+1400) all offer some good value in your sports betting lines, but Busch (2003) is the only one of the trio to ever win here, although he fares much better in the spring races with four wins in March. Johnson has never done that well at Bristol, but he had a third-place run back at the spring race. Biffle’s teammates, Edwards and Matt Kenseth, have won the last four summer races at Bristol, but his 12.7 average in six races is sixth among active drivers.

Longshots to watch out for are Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Juan Pablo Montoya, who are both rated at +2800. Montoya came in ninth back in March, and although he’s been “points racing”, the No.42 team may be out for a win now. Earnhardt Jr. won this race in 2004, and he may have learned something from watching his old man at this track as the late Dale Earnhardt took this race four times, and nine times overall at Bristol. “Junior” had his first top-10 since Richmond at the end of April with a third-place run at Michigan last week, and he finished a respectable 14th in the March Bristol race.

LEE-ROY’S PICK: Kyle Busch is 70 points out of the final spot for the Chase playoffs, and if he’s going to make a run, he has to do it here. The No.18 driver has led an outlandish 793 laps in the last two Bristol races, and even though he won here in March, you can bet that last year’s summer race and his dust-up with Edwards still leaves a bad taste in his mouth. Busch has only a pair of top-10s in his last 10 races, and he’s coming off a 23rd-place run at Michigan. He needs to get his head in the game before he misses the Chase, and the close quarters on the half-mile concrete of Bristol is just the wake-up call. Take Kyle Busch when you’re betting online this weekend.

For more NASCAR betting analysis and tips, follow Lee-Roy in the Betting Edge at BetOnline.com.

Born in the betting capital of Las Vegas, Lee-Roy has grown to appreciate the likes of IndyCar and Formula 1 racing, but his first love is the high-speed ovals of NASCAR and he is a HUGE Tony Stewart fan. When it comes to motorsports handicapping, Buckles takes the checkered flag. Thoughts or questions? Email Comments@BetOnline.com.