Irwin Tools Night Race Betting Odds - 2015
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Carrie Stroup here with your Irwin Tools Night Race 2015 betting odds. This event takes place at Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol, TN.
The Sprint Cup Series heads back to Bristol, Tennessee for the famous night race this Saturday night as the season has just three races left before “The Chase.”
In the first go-around when the racers were here this year at the Food City 500, Matt Kenseth earned both the pole and the victory as he outdueled runner-up Jimmie Johnson and third-place finisher Jeff Gordon. The oval track runs 0.533 miles and has big turns that land between 26 and 30-degrees which has led to the track being dubbed “The World’s Fastest Half-Mile.”
Not too many of the entrants this week have won multiple times at this event, but once again Kenseth’s name comes up as he is a three-time winner (2005, 2006, 2013) in the night race and is joined by Carl Edwards (2007, 2008) and Kyle Busch (2009, 2010) as recent dominators of this track. Last year it was Joey Logano who took down the trophy in this race, finishing in 2:52:00, the fastest time since 2011, with an average speed of 92.965 MPH. Logano is a shoe-in for “The Chase” along with last week’s winner in Michigan, Matt Kenseth.
Currently just on the outside looking in are names like Almirola, Kahne, Biffle and Larson as they attempt to move into contention. Let’s take a look at who’s going this week and could come away with the checkered flag in Bristol.
Matt Kenseth (+600) – It is hard to ignore Kenseth in this race and that should be evident by how many times he is mentioned in the introduction above. The 43-year-old has won at this track four times in his career, adding another nine top fives and two poles. He owns a series-best average running position of 9.821 and driver rating of 104.6 while having the second-fastest green flag speed (115.981 MPH). This is not the only track he has dominated recently, though, with a win in two of the past three times out and seven consecutive finishes in the top-seven dating back to Kentucky. His chances are looking good at a run for the Sprint Cup win which he last did back in 2003 and this week should certainly help in that cause.
Jeff Gordon (+1800) – Gordon’s odds keep dropping as he goes week-to-week without getting a victory in his final season in the Sprint Cup Series. In all, he has won at this track five times over his long career, but has done it just once (2002) after the sun set. He still has shown up for some nice results recently in this particular event, getting two thirds and a seventh in the past four attempts and has 17 top-fives overall at Bristol. He also has the third-best driver rating (100.3) here and has spent 79.1% (8,234 laps) of his laps in the top-15 (2nd-best). Gordon has won three poles this year, but has failed to do much with them as he has zaeo wins and only three top-five finishes. He has four top-10s in his last seven races and is likely to win at some point before leaving the sport, and what better place than under the lights of Bristol Motor Speedway.
Kyle Larson (+1800) – Larson has visited Bristol just three times in his very young career and in that time has already put up two top-10s; including finishing with a seventh when he came to the track earlier this year. The 23-year-old did well in the night race last year as well with a 12th-place and will be looking to improve on his 99.0 driver rating (4th-best) at the venue. Larson has not exactly torn up the competition this year as he currently sits on the outside looking in at “The Chase,” but does have four straight starts with a finish of 13th or better and should be motivated to continue running well with the playoffs in sight.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. (+2000) – Earnhardt Jr. has not had the success that some of the other top names in the sport have had at this track, owning one victory (2004) with the 13th-best driver rating (87.2), but getting solid odds like this on a racer who has two wins already this year and 25 in his career is a tough opportunity to pass up. He’s finished in the top-16 at four of his last five night races here and at one time was a force on this track, tallying a top-nine finish in 7-of-8 years between 2002 and 2009. Earnhardt Jr. has been in the top-11 at four of his last five races coming into this one and has been fairly consistent in 2015 with an average finish of 10.6 and 11 top-fives. Take Earnhardt Jr. based on his abilities, not necessarily his track history.
Aric Almirola (+10000) – Just like Larson, Almirola is aiming his sights at working into “The Chase” as he currently sits a mere 23 points behind Clint Boyer for the final spot while coming at a much discounted price. Despite finishing in the top-10 just once on the year, he has an average finish of 18.3 and has improved on his pole position in each of his last three times out. Almirola’s best finish in this event is 13th back in 2008 and it would not be a surprise if he matched or improved on that mark this week.
- Carrie Stroup, Gambling911.com Senior Reporter