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It took an extra day due to last Sunday’s rainout, but Jimmie Johnson did not mind the wait with his second-straight trip to the Winner’s Circle in a point-race event with Monday’s victory at Bristol. Clint Bowyer turned in another strong run this season by taking second and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top three in that race. I went with Denny Hamlin at +1400 odds to win as my top-valued pick, but he faded to 10th in the final running order.
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The following is a look at a few of the top favorites to win this Sunday’s race at Richmond along with my top value pick based on betting odds provided by 5Dimes.
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Race Favorites<br />
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Kyle Busch is still in the midst of his slower-than-expected start this season with just two finishes inside the top five through the first eight point-race events on the schedule. This has the No. 18 Toyota racing team sitting in 11th-place in the current standings with a total of 214 points. One encouraging sign was a second-place run at Martinsville a few weeks back and Busch has led 418 laps so far. The real value in his +600 betting odds to win on Sunday is Busch’s track record at Richmond over the course of his Cup Series racing career. His average finishing position stands at a lofty 7.0 aided by four victories and he came very close to adding a fifth in last year’s second-place run in this race.
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Another veteran driver with a recent Cup Series title (2014) to his credit is Kevin Harvick. He is still looking for his point-race victory this season and his betting odds to get it done this week have been set at +700. Last week’s third-place finish at Bristol was only the No. 4 Chevrolet’s second run inside the top five this year, but this car has led a solid 433 laps this season including 292 in a race at Atlanta that Harvick should have won earlier in the year. As far as his recent form at Richmond, he has been able to finish fifth or better in four of his last five Cup Series events at this track including a fifth-place finish in both races here last season.
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When you are hot you are hot and following an uncharacteristic slow start to the new season, Jimmie Johnson has once again regained his spot as one of the top drivers in the 2017 Cup Series standings with back-to-back victories at Texas and Bristol. This makes it easy to see why he is one of the top favorites to make it three in a row this Sunday at +800 betting odds. Johnson and his No. 48 Chevrolet have raced fairly well at Richmond recently with four runs inside the top 10 in the last three point-race events including a third-place finish in this race last year. However, would have to go back to the 2008 season to find the last time he won here.
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