2010 NASCAR Pepsi MAX 400 Picks & Predictions
By Anthony Rome
NASCAR heads out west this week for the fourth race in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship and the Pepsi MAX 400 Sunday afternoon at Auto Club Speedway, formally known as California Speedway.
As the chase heats up it has become evident that the best teams have risen to the challenge, while those at the bottom of the chase standings have not been able to gain ground. This week should be no different and we look for those at the top of the standings to be dominant again.
Jimmie Johnson 2/1
Normally we like to stay away from big favorites since they tend to offer little value (especially before qualifying and practice), but this week Johnson looks to have this field covered. Johnson, has won this race the last three seasons. In 15 races here, he’s finished no worse than 11th just three times and has an average finish of 5.5, which leads all drivers. Johnson ran away from the field here back in February and we look for him to continue the roll he’s been on the last few weeks.
Live Longshots
Matt Kenseth 15/1
Who would have thought Kenseth would have struggled the way he has all year? After putting together some strong races the last few weeks, California could be the track to wake this team up and get a much-needed win. In his last 10 races here, Kenseth has finished seventh or better in all but one of them and has won three times with a very good average finish of 9.1 in 17 starts. We think this could finally be the week for him to come out of his season-long slumber.
Carl Edwards 8/1
For years, tracks like Auto Club Speedway were Rousch Racing’s bread and butter tracks and most every race came down to which of his drivers would win that week. But ever since the COT came onto the scene, they lost their dominance. Edwards has been running well the last few weeks and he does have the second best average finish of 7.2 with one win and numerous other victories at tracks similar to this one.