NASCAR odds: Allstate 400 at the Brickyard

By Jordan Walters
WagerWeb.com Contributing Writer

Sports Betting at WagerWeb Online Sportsbook

NASCAR’s most celebrated race outside of the Daytona 500 takes place Sunday afternoon at the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

There have been 14 editions of this race at the Brickyard and there have been nine different winners. And it’s generally been NASCAR’s biggest names who win here. The nine Brickyard victors, from Jeff Gordon to defending champ Tony Stewart, have combined to win 354 races, 18 Cup titles and 11 Daytona 500s. Six times the Brickyard winner has gone on to take the title in the same year.

That said, former Cup champs Terry Labonte, Kurt Busch and Matt Kenseth are a combined 0-for-27. Dale Earnhardt Jr., the sport's biggest star and a two-time Daytona 500 winner, has cracked the top 10 only twice in eight tries and has an average finish of 21st.

Gordon has been dominant here, leading 433 laps at the Brickyard while taking home a series-high four trophies (1994, '98, '01, and '04). In 14 races, he has 11 top 10s, eight in the top five. But his last Cup win was in October at Charlotte, 25 races ago.

Gordon (+1200 to win this week on WagerWeb.com) grew up less than 15 miles from the track and dreamed of racing there as a boy.

"We started off here just excited about being at Indianapolis," Gordon said at the Speedway. "To be able to race on the same track as A.J. (Foyt), Johnny Rutherford and Al Unser, Rick Mears, Mario Andretti, it was a dream come true. And then to win that race … it seems ever since then we put a great effort out there."

Stewart (+700) also loves Indy, as in nine starts he has never finished worse than 17th, and he has six top 10s, including two wins. But his victory drought has reached 33 races.

Another struggling driver is Jimmie Johnson (+600 at WagerWeb.com), and past history (other than one year) doesn’t bode well for him at Indy. In six starts at the famed oval, Johnson has just two top-10 finishes. Meanwhile, he's placed 36th or worse three times.

"We've struggled at Indy for some reason - it's definitely on our list of tougher tracks," said Johnson, who has led just 33 laps in his six Indy starts. "We were able to get a win there a couple years ago so we know we're a team capable of winning there. We just have to have all the pieces fall into place for us."

 

Last season, Johnson's bid for a second straight Allstate 400 win ended when he was collected in an eight-car accident on lap 45 and then cut a tire and hit the wall 16 laps later. He finished 39th.

Meanwhile, points leader Kyle Busch (+350, the favorite on WagerWeb.com) hasn’t yet won at Indy, but he has finished in the top 10 in all three of his starts at Indy, including fourth last year. And no one is hotter than he is right now as he goes for his third win in a row.

"It's awesome, just unbelievable what we've been able to accomplish so far this year," said Busch, who drives for Joe Gibbs Racing. "We've been so blessed and so fortunate to have everything click like it has.”

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