posted March 10, 2006 at 13:21 EST in NASCAR Betting Trends

Johnson a favorite

The good old boys are pulling into Sin City this weekend to try their luck in the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 (Sunday, 4 p.m. ET, FOX).

The race will take place at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Nicknamed the “Diamond in the Desert”, the racetrack is a 1.5-mile tri-oval located in the northeast portion of the Las Vegas Valley. The winner of the race last year was Jimmie Johnson.

Johnson, a 30-year-old California native, is off to a roaring start this season. Driving his Chevrolet Lowe's for Hendrick Motorsports, Johnson won the season-opening Daytona 500 last month.

However, the win came amid some controversy. Johnson won the race despite not having his long-time crew chief Chad Knaus,

Knaus was suspended prior to the race by NASCAR officials for making an illegal modification to Johnson’s car during qualifying for the 500. Following Daytona, he was subsequently suspended for three more races.

Yet, even without his crew chief, Johnson followed up his Daytona victory with a second-place finish in the Auto Club 500 at the California Speedway a week later.

Heading into the third race of the season, Johnson tops the Nextel Cup Driver Standings with 355 points. He is followed by Casey Mears (316) and former Nextel Cup champion Matt Kenseth (308).

Not surprisingly, Johnson is the favorite to repeat at Las Vegas this weekend. Currently, he is listed at +500.

Interestingly, after Johnson won last year’s race in Vegas, his car failed inspection and his crew chief was suspended for two races (Knaus appealed the suspension and it was reduced to probation).

Following Johnson, defending Nextel Cup Champion Tony Stewart has the best odds to win in Las Vegas at +600.

At Daytona, the notoriously hot-headed Stewart was given an aggressive-driving penalty after he knocked Matt Kenseth through the infield.

Despite the penalty, Stewart finished fifth at the 500. He followed that up with a last-place finish at Auto Club 500 as a result of engine problems.

Also at +600 is Kenseth, who captured the checkered flag in California. Kenseth was poised for a strong finish at Daytona before being clipped by Stewart. He finished 15th.

Along with Kenseth and Stewart, Greg Biffle is listed at +600. Carl Edwards is next at +700 followed by Kyle Busch and Jeff Gordon at +900.

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