NASCAR Odds – Best Qualifying Matchup Bets for the Showtime Southern 500

Kyle Busch won the pole in last week’s Crown Royal 400 and then went on to win the race.

Jeff Gordon, who finished second to Busch in the race, started 4th.

The 3rd place finisher in the Crown Royal, Kevin Harvick, started 7th. It makes sense to want to grab a Top 10 starting position so that you can increase your chances of winning the race.

This is particularly true at Darlington Raceway, the site of this Saturday’s NASCAR race.

Darlington is a unique track where recovering from mistakes is much harder to do than at other tracks. That’s why the drivers below will be fighting hard during the qualifying round.

NASCAR:Qualifying Matchups for the Showtime Southern 500

NASCAR odds are current in the sportsbook as of this writing

• Jeff Gordon -130 vs. Ryan Newman Ev – - Jeff started 2nd at Darlington in 2009 and 8th at the track in 2008. Newman did start 3rd on the track in 2009 after starting 32nd in 2008. He also started 2nd in both 2005 and 2006. That makes him a good bet to outshine Jeff during qualifying.

  Pick: Ryan Newman

• Kurt Busch -125 vs. Kasey Kahne -105 – - Busch started 5th in 2008 and 8th in 2009 at Darlington Raceway. Kahne has historically been much better at Darlington during qualifying than Kurt, however, winning the pole in 2005 and 2006, starting 5th in 2007 and 7th in 2009. He blew the qualifying round in 2008 when he garnered the 42nd place start, but that appears to be an anomaly. Kahne all the way in this matchup.

  Pick: Kasey Kahne

• Jimmie Johnson -125 vs. Mark Martin -105 – - Jimmie started 42nd last year but then went on to finish 2nd in the race. That’s amazing. He did drive fast enough during qualifying to secure the 3rd place start in 2008. Mark Martin’s best start at Darlington in the last 5 years was a 12th in 2009. He went on to out duel Jimmie and win the race, but Jimmie’s been going better so far in 2010.

  Pick: Jimmie Johnson

• Kevin Harvick -120 vs. Clint Bowyer -110 – - I’m throwing past history out the window in regards to this matchup. Clint Bowyer was one of only 3 drivers, the other two were Marcose Ambrose and Elliot Sadler, who were part of a Goodyear tire performance test at Darlington Raceway earlier this week. That should give Team Bowyer the edge during qualifying.

  Pick: Clint Bowyer

• Juan Pablo Montoya -125 vs. Denny Hamlin -105 – - In his 3 years on the Sprint Cup Circuit, Juan Pablo has started 41st, 19th and 25th at Darlington. Hamlin has started 7th, 21st and 23rd in those three years. Denny’s the NASCAR bet.

  Pick: Denny Hamlin

• Greg Biffle -145 vs. Carl Edwards +115 – - Biff has been about as solid during qualifying at Darlington as any driver on the circuit. He started 3rd in 2005, 9th in 2006, 2nd in 2007, 1st in 2008 and 11th in 2009. Edwards hasn’t been bad himself, though, with a Top 10 start in every year in the past 5 years save for 2008 when he started 36th. Because of the betting odds differential, Edwards is the play in this matchup.

  Pick: Carl Edwards

Why wait until race day? Start betting on NASCAR right now by picking the driver you like in the Showtime Southern 500 Qualifying Matchups!

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