Bojangles’ Southern 500 Predictions
The NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series waves the green flag for the Bojangles’ Southern 500 later tonight. Here are some of the drivers we like to contend for the victory.
According to the latest oddsmakers, Kevin Harvick is favored to win this race, as he is getting odds of +250 to prevail. Other short odds to win are Kyle Busch (+325), Martin Truex Jr. (+350) and Denny Hamlin (+600). The Bojangles’ Southern 500 takes place Sunday night at 6PM ET from Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina. The race will air live on the NBC Sports Network.
53013 Kyle Busch +325
Busch is coming off a 20th-place finish in the last race two weeks ago, but I think he bounces back nicely tonight. Busch already has six wins on the year and 11 other top-5 finishes. He has been the top driver in the series this year based on average performance and consistency. Today he comes to Darlington, where is a former winner. Busch has an average finish of 12.0 at this track and a driver rating of 105.1. That rating is second in today’s field.
53007 Denny Hamlin +600
Denny Hamlin has far too good of numbers at Darlington to ignore tonight. Along with winning the Xfinity Series race at this track five times, he is a two-time winner of this Cup race and the defending champion. Over 12 races at this track in his career, Hamlin has an average finish of 5.8 and a driver rating of 110.3. Both are tops in tonight’s field. Hamlin is winless on the year and this seems like a great chance for him to get on the scoreboard before the playoffs.
53027 Jimmie Johnson +6600
If you really want to roll the dice tonight, Johnson may be worth considering. He is a two-time winner of this race, last picking up the victory in 2012. Overall, he has won three times at Darlington and has nine top-5 finishes out of 19 races. His average finish at this track is 10.5 and his driver rating is 100.8. Both rank amongst the best in today’s field. This year hasn’t been great for JJ, but he is coming off a top-10 finish in the last race and I think he can use that as momentum for today. With such long odds, it’s hard to not consider placing a little money on one of the all-time greats in NASCAR.
