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Coming off a three-race West Coast swing, NASCAR’s Monster Energy Cup Series returns to the East Coast this week for the running of this year's STP 500 on the short track at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia. Race time on Sunday is for 2 p.m., and FOX Sports 1 will host the national broadcast.
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NASCAR Betting: Wager on who will win plus driver vs. driver match-up bets! All available at <a class="advblue" href="javascript:(Bovada)">Bovada</a>
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STP 500 Race Favorites<br />
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Martin Truex Jr. led the Cup Series in victories last year on his way to the 2017 racing title, and he posted his first win this season in last Sunday's race at Fontana. Kyle Larson finished second in that race, and Kyle Busch finished in the money for the third week in a row by taking third. I went with Chase Elliott at +1100 odds as my top-value pick, but he faded to 16th after starting ninth.
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The following is a look at a trio of the top favorites to win this Sunday’s race at Martinsville along with my top-valued pick at longer odds as provided by 5Dimes.
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K<b>yle Busch +350</b>
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The main thing that adds value to Busch’s odds to win this week is the fact that he is due. Before last Sunday’s third-place run at Auto Club, the No. 18 Toyota posted back-to-back second-place finishes at Phoenix and Las Vegas on that West Coast swing. He led 128 laps at Phoenix before adding another 62 laps at the front of the pack in Sunday’s near miss. Adding even more value to his odds, Busch has been on a tear at Martinsville in recent years. Going back to the second race at this track in 2015, he has finished in the Top 5 in all five runs with two trips to Victory Lane.
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<b>Brad Keselowski +400 </b>
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Keselowski has been one of the more consistent Cup Series drivers through the first five events with three runs of sixth or better. He guided the No. 2 Ford to a second-place finish at Atlanta, and he was fourth in the final running order in last week's race. This early effort has this racing team in sixth place in the current Cup Series standings with 183 total points. He also adds some substantial value to his odds as the defending champion in this Sunday's race. Going back to 2015, Keselowski has finished fifth or higher in five of his last six trips around the short oval at Martinsville.
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<b>Denny Hamlin +550</b>
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Hailing from Chesterfield, Hamlin would love nothing more than to win his first Cup Series race of the season in his home state. Hamlin is another driver that has been in the mix in almost every race this season with four finishes of sixth or better. He started the new season by taking third in the Daytona 500 and was in the Top 5 at fourth place in both Atlanta and Phoenix. This run has been good enough to move the No. 11 Toyota into eighth place in the standings with 176 points. However, the veteran driver knows that the only way to guarantee a spot in the 10-race playoff at the end of the season is with victories during the regular season schedule. Hamlin has had his issues in this race the past two seasons after making his way to the Winner’s Circle at Martinsville in the first race of 2015.
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