LK, The love of the 38 has dropped dramatically since the pole grabbing speed backed up by the poor practice results. Those two combos usually not a good sign of a winner. Don't dis-respect Sadler too much though hoss he is going to a solid contender inthe seasons to come.
Win Bets:
3* Matt Kenseth 8-1 (+16*)
2* Jimmie Johnson 12-1 (+15*)
2* Sterling Marlin 12-1 (+15*)
2* Ryan Newman 9-1 (+9*)
2* Ward Burton 18-1 (+27*)
Seven of the last Nine winners at Darlington, with Jarrett being the exception, could have been easily captured by just observing Happy Hour times and betting the fastest times. Ward Burton’s 2000 win in this race paid off, as he was second in Happy Hour. Burton also won the 2001 Southern 500, where he started in 37th position. He could have been had at 30/1 in that race. Jeff Burton dominated the 1999 season at Darlington when he swept the season. In the '99 Southern 500, Jeff Burton qualified 15th but was fastest in Happy Hour. Last season, Sterling Marlin was fastest in Happy Hour and won the race. He started 11th, stayed near the front all day and then dominated for the last 63 laps.
This weekend Kenseth was fastest in HH with the 48 second, 24 third, and the 12 & 40 in the top 10 as well. The 22 has been near the front all weekend, and as I said earlier this week loves this track. With the speed chart numbers, and that fact I’ll take him at 18-1. I really battled leaving the 24 out, but for a couple of reasons I took my chances. First of all Gordon hasn’t been that dominate in some time, and second he is the favorite of the race. That usually spells death on the circuit, and the 24 has had his share of bad luck bite him. At 5-1 he cost just too much, and I hope I don’t regret saying that [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]
Using HH speeds isn't the best way to cap a race at all, but it has seem to work recently here at this track.
Match Ups:
3* Ward Burton over Rusty Wallace –115
3* Jimmy Spencer over Ricky Rudd –105
3* Joe Nemechek over Bill Elliott +115
3* Matt Kenseth over Kurt Busch –140
3* Jamie McMurray over Greg Biffle –125
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