Denny Hamlin was the big winner at last week’s Overton’s 301. Hamlin captured his first victory of the season at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway. While Hamlin improved his stock with the victory, there was also some notable shuffling at the top with Kyle Larson moving past Jimmie Johnson among the sports betting favorites to win the Monster Energy Cup Series title this season. There is also a new entry among the top-five favorites to win a championship this week. Here is a look at the NASCAR weekly top-five power rankings.
1. Martin Truex Jr.
Last Week: 1
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Odds: +500
Truex moved on step closer to a championship when he placed third in the Overton’s 301 last weekend. Truex won the first stage at New Hampshire and gained additional provisional points when Larson was handed an inspection penalty. The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series point leader is now sitting on a possible 44 playoff-points with seven races to go. It will be very interesting to see if he can extend his lead at Indianapolis this weekend.
2. Kyle Larson
Last Week: 3
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Odds: +550
Larson’s team was penalized in the inspection process last week. However, it might be a good thing that his team is pushing the envelope to see how far they can go without getting in trouble. Larson placed second in the Overton’s 301 and added another 13 playoff-points in the process. He is now considered the most likely to contend with Truex for a championship this season after the sportsbooks moved him past Johnson this week in terms of his betting odds to win an outright title.
3. Jimmie Johnson
Last Week: 2
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Odds: +600
Johnson disappointed again last week despite registering his seventh top-10 finish of the season. The driver of the No. 48 Chevrolet hasn’t finished higher than 10th in any of his last six starts. Some think the Hendrick Motorsports team is using this time to test his car and figure out what the best strategy will be come playoff time. However, the sportsbooks have taken notice of Johnson’s struggles as he falls to third on this list behind Larson this week.
4. Kyle Busch
Last Week: –
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Odds: +700
A couple of speeding penalties on pit road cost Busch a chance to win the Overton’s 301 last week. That said, the sportsbooks took notice of another strong performance by moving him in to the top-five among the sports betting favorites to win a championship this season. Busch is still looking for his first win of the year but he has registered 10 top-10 finishes in 19 starts. Busch has also been outstanding at Indianapolis throughout his career, which makes him worth keeping a close eye on this week as the two-time defending champion at the Brickyard 400.
Busch enters this week with 650 points, which puts him 108 back of the leader Martin Truex Jr.
5. Brad Keselowski
Last Week: 5
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Odds: +750
A faulty pit stop resulted in Keselowski placing ninth in last week’s Overton’s 301. However, it wasn’t enough to bump him out of the top-five according to the sports betting odds to win an outright championship this season. Keselowski has 12 top-10 finishes this season, but he has also finished outside of the top-30 in four of his last eight starts overall. Keselowski will need to improve his consistency moving forward in order to remain in the top-five NASCAR power rankings.
Taking a look at the updated standings, Keselowski is actually in eighth place overall with 564 points. He is 164 points back. Even so, the odds makers aren’t too worried about where he is right now as they value his skill. He just needs to make the chase to be a threat. He has two wins on the year; five drivers who are ahead of him in the standings have less wins than that.
2017 Odds To Win The Monster Energy Cup
Kevin Harvick +800
Jimmie Johnson +500
Kyle Busch +600
Joey Logano +2000
Martin Truex Jr +300
Brad Keselowski +800
Chase Elliott +1800
Matt Kenseth +2500
Dale Earnhardt Jr +10000
Denny Hamlin +1200
Daniel Suarez +10000
Clint Bowyer +4000
Kyle Larson +500
Erik Jones +10000
Kurt Busch +6000
Kasey Kahne +10000
Austin Dillon +10000
Ryan Blaney +4000
Ryan Newman +10000
Field +2000
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