Posted on 3/13/2008 7:36:36 PM

NASCAR Wagering - Preview Ford City 500

By D.S. Williamson

Last week Joe Gibbs Racing and the Toyota cars shined like love beads under the hot Atlanta sun. Yes, that is a horrible simile, but it correctly announces the arrival of Toyota into big-time NASCAR Racing. Maybe Toyota’s issues last year did have something to do with the lack of great crews and great drivers.

By finishing one-two in Atlanta, Kyle Busch and Tony Stewart proved that there is a new top-team in NASCAR, Joe Gibbs Racing, and that Toyota is going to have a say as to who wins this years’ Sprint Cup Championship. I might be getting ahead of myself here, but if it weren’t for some bad race riding between the two, Kyle Busch might have won the Daytona 500. The younger Busch has also finished in the top 5 in every race this season.

So, what will happen this weekend? Well, hot-shot Carl Edwards, who might have been on his way to a third consecutive victory in Atlanta if it weren’t for some trouble he encountered towards the end of the race, will be back with a vengeance. Then there’s the triple-threat Hendrick Motor Sports team of Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Let’s take a look!

Ford City 500

Tony Stewart - - BetUS odds + 1000 - - Smoke is definitely on the verge of a win. He drove great last weekend in Atlanta, has a terrific car, and he has to be smarting at the fact that after four races, he hasn’t found the winner circle. He’s had his chances, but bad luck has sort of ended his best runs. No worries. I think Smoke comes out on fire this Sunday. He’s getting great odds. The play.

Carl Edwards - - BetUS odds + 600 - - Edwards won on this track last year, and should have won in Atlanta last week. He’s a great driver with an equally great crew. Roush Racing, that’s who Edwards’ drives for, really wants to win the Cup this year. Edwards is their man. He should bounce back and put in a good run. Odds are low, but nobody is driving better than Edwards right now.

Kyle Busch - - BetUS odds + 650 - - It’s absolutely impossible to discount Kyle Busch in this race. He won the Ford 500 last year, won last weekend, and has placed in the Top 5 in each of the four Sprint Cup Championship races this year. Kyle’s en fuego.

Clint Bowyer - - BetUS odds + 1800 - - I’m sticking with Clint even though, from where I was watching, he had no excuses last weekend. I though Clint had the race wrapped up. His odds are lower this week, but they are still high enough for me to say - - another swing, right?

Jimmie Johnson - - BetUS odds + 1000 - - 10 to 1 on the defending Cup champion are awfully good odds in any race. Jimmie hated the track in Atlanta last weekend. Maybe, he will find Bristol more to his liking. In any case, Jimmie’s going to start winning races. He has to.

Juan Pablo Montoya - - BetUS odds + 9000 - - Sure, Juan Pablo hasn’t looked good in any race this year, but I still think this guy can drive. When’s he going to break-out? At 90 to 1 he’s at least worth 10 of my bucks.

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