Stewart starts up front
Tony Stewart took the top time in Friday’s qualifying for the 2010 Samsung Mobile 500 and he will lead the way in Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup event.
Even though he didn’t take the pole, Jimmie Johnson is still the favorite to win the event.
Johnson is a 4/1 favorite to win the race according to odds makers at the online sports book BroburySports.com. Other short odds to win are Stewart (8/1), Jeff Gordon (9/1), and Kyle Busch (9/1).
Johnson will start fourth on Sunday and he finished second in this race in 2009 and 2008. While he has never won this particular event, he has one career win on this track. His average finish on this track is 10.8 and his driver rating is 96.1, which ranks fifth in the series. Johnson currently leads the point standings by 36 over Matt Kenseth as he has finished in the top nine in five of his last six races, including three victories.
Stewart holds the top driver rating in the series at this track, which is 106.1 He has one win in his career in Texas with an average finish of 12.2. Stewart opened with 12/1 odds to win the event, but jumped up to 8/1 after winning the pole.
Gordon won last year’s race for his first victory at Texas. Gordon has an average finish of 15.1 on this track with a driver rating of 91.4, which ranks 10th in the series. Gordon is fifth in the standings, 125 points behind Johnson. Gordon has finished in the top three in his last two races. He qualified 12th for Sunday’s race.
Kyle Busch has never won on this track and has an average finish of 15.9 with a driver rating of 98.6, which ranks fourth in the series. Kyle Busch is 12th in the standings, 218 points behind Johnson. Busch finished eighth last week, which was just his second top 10 finish of the season. Busch will start seventh in Sunday’s race.
The Samsung Mobile 500 will take place Sunday, April 18 from Texas Motor Speedway at 3PM ET. For complete odds and track information on this year’s event, see below.
Odds to win the Samsung Mobile 500 – 2010 Samsung Mobile 500 – Texas Motor Speedway – April 18, 2010
Jimmie Johnson 4/1
Tony Stewart 8/1
Jeff Gordon 9/1
Kyle Busch 9/1
Kurt Busch 10/1
Mark Martin 12/1
Greg Biffle 12/1
Carl Edwards 12/1
Jeff Burton 15/1
Matt Kenseth 15/1
Kasey Kahne 15/1
Clint Bowyer 15/1
Denny Hamlin 15/1
Kevin Harvick 18/1
Juan Pablo Montoya 18/1
Dale Earnhardt Jr 20/1
Ryan Newman 25/1
Joey Logano 25/1
David Reutimann 50/1
Jamie McMurray 50/1
Sam Hornish Jr 60/1
Brian Vickers 60/1
Martin Truex Jr 60/1
Brad Keselowski 80/1
David Ragan 100/1
Marcos Ambrose 100/1
AJ Allmendinger 200/1
Elliott Sadler 500/1
Paul Menard 500/1
Scott Speed 500/1
Bobby Labonte 1000/1
Regan Smith 1000/1
Travis Kvapil 1000/1
Field (Any Other Driver) 100/1
Qualifying Results
1 Tony Stewart
2 Sam Hornish Jr.
3 Greg Biffle
4 Jimmie Johnson
5 Kasey Kahne
6 Jeff Burton
7 Kyle Busch
8 Clint Bowyer
9 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
10 Ryan Newman
11 Kurt Busch
12 Jeff Gordon
13 David Ragan
14 Martin Truex Jr.
15 Jamie McMurray
16 David Reutimann
17 AJ Allmendinger
18 Joey Logano
19 Kevin Harvick
20 Carl Edwards
21 Juan Pablo Montoya
22 Joe Nemechek
23 Scott Speed
24 Dave Blaney
25 Paul Menard
26 Regan Smith
27 Max Papis
28 Matt Kenseth
29 Denny Hamlin
30 Mark Martin
31 David Gilliland
32 Marcos Ambrose
33 Michael McDowell
34 Mike Bliss
35 Travis Kvapil
36 Bill Elliott
37 Brad Keselowski
38 Robby Gordon
39 Elliott Sadler
40 Kevin Conway
41 Bobby Labonte
42 Brian Vickers
43 Reed Sorenson
44 David Stremme DNQ
45 Terry Cook DNQ
46 Johnny Sauter DNQ
2010 Samsung Mobile 500 Information
Race Date: Sunday, April 18
Location: Texas Motor Speedway, Fort Worth, Texas
Pre-Race: 2PM ET
Green Flag: Approx. 3:16PM ET
TV Coverage: FOX
Radio Coverage: PRN
Track Type: Oval (334 laps)
Posted: 4/16/10 10:09PM ET
