NASCAR Betting – Johnson could finally win at Chicagoland

By Mark Bolyard on Jul 09, 2009 with Comments 0

Saturday night is big, as MMA betting players prepare for UFC 100, while NASCAR betting players can bet on who will take the checkered flag at the LifeLock.com 400 at Chicagoland Speedway. Kyle Busch is the defending race-winner at this event, but it’s the three-time defending series champion that is getting all the props from betting services.

Chicagoland Odds – Saturday, July 11, 8:00 PM ET

Jimmie Johnson is the favorite at +500, and he’s done everything but win at Chicagoland, where he finished second to Busch. The No.48 driver has five top-fives in seven races here, and he has finished in the top five in two of his last three races.

Points leader Tony Stewart is next at +600, and the No.14 driver has won twice at Chicagoland in 2004 and 2007. Stewart is coming off an exciting win at Daytona in which he turned Busch into the wall heading into the final turn, but it was just a product of restrictor-plate racing.

Busch comes in at +650, and he dominated last year’s race, leading 165 of the 267 laps on the 1.5 mile track. The No.18 also romped over the competition in the Nationwide race in 2008, so we know he is able to get around at Chicagoland. If he can keep his head about him, he’ll definitely be a threat to repeat.

Jeff Gordon is coming off a disappointing 28^th-place run at Daytona, but he’s good at Chicagoland, where he won in 2006 and has four top-fives in eight races here. The smart money is on the No.24 team to bounce back, as they’re too good to be down for long.

If you’re looking for a couple of drivers to take risks on for your sports picks, check out Kevin Harvick at +1800 and Brian Vickers at +2000. Harvick won the first two races here in 2001 and 2002, and his 7.4 average in eight races is just ahead of Busch’s 7.8. Vickers is right behind Johnson with an average of 9.2, and he came in sixth in last year’s race. Neither is having a particularly good season, especially Harvick, but it usually pays to come to a track where you’ve had success before. As far as online betting value goes, these are the drivers to check out in your offshore sportsbook.