And we are back on the famous Talladega Superspeedway for the Geico 500 NASCAR race.
Last year’s race started 20 minutes earlier due to the threat of rain in the area. After a 50 lap opening green flag run, there was a total of eight crashes, including four Big Ones(crash with five or more cars involved). Of the forty cars in the field, only seven cars managed to finish without any damage. These included a wreck on lap 96 that saw Chris Buescher flip over three times on the back straightaway, a 17 car wreck(video below) in turn 1 on lap 162, and a 12 car wreck on lap 180 saw Matt Kenseth flip over on the back straightaway and strike the inside wall, before turning back upright.
Brad Keselowski(currently 13.00 at Bet365 to win the race this season) managed to win his second race of the year as an eight-car wreck unfolded in the tri-oval. The lead changed 37 times(between 2012 and 2016 a typical Talladega race had 38.1 lead changes) between 17 drivers. Ten NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers won their first Sprint Cup race at Talladega. Of those 10, only Davey Allison, Ken Schrader, Brad Keselowski and Brian Vickers ever won another Sprint Cup race.
Previous Winners:
2016: Brad Keselowski (13.00 at Bet365)
2015: Dale Earnhardt Jr. (9.00 at Bet365)
2014: Denny Hamlin (15.00 at Bet365)
2013: David Ragan
2012: Brad Keselowski
The current leader in the Cup Series standings is Kyle Larson with 398 points, followed by Martin Truex Jr(358 points) and Chase Elliot(346 points). Joey Logano(obtained his first place points previous race this season) is currently in fourth place with 333 points, while Brad Keselowski(last year’s champion) is in fifth place with 327 points. Dale Earnhardt Jr, bookies favourite, is currently in 24th place with 141 points.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.(bookies favourite, currently priced at the odds of 9.00 at Bet365) just announced that he is retiring from NASCAR after the current 2017 season. Dale has had great success at Talladega, as he managed to win six races here, the last one being in 2015(one of his three wins in that season). Winning again would be a big accomplishment for him.
Recommended predictions
Brad Keselowski to Win – 1 unit EachWay(4 places) – 13.00 Bet365
Joey Logano to win – 1 unit EachWay(4 places) – 13.00 Bet365
MatchUp prediction: Kevin Harvick to beat Kyle Larson – 2 units – 1.87 5Dimes
Our previous NASCAR betting preview: Hollywood Casino 400 Race Preview – NASCAR 2016
