Maximum Pain Relief 500 Betting Preview
It’s another short rest for the NASCAR Cup Series this week as they return to the track Wednesday night for the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia.
Last weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway, points leader Kevin Harvick increased his lead atop the Cup standings with his second win of the season. Despite Harvick’s two wins and season-long success, he’s a +1100 underdog at Bovada Sportsbook to win again on Wednesday at Martinsville. In his career, Harvick has one Cup Series win at Martinsville, which occurred in 2011.
Harvick considerable underdog at Martinsville
The favorite at Bovada to take the checkered flag Wednesday night is Kyle Busch at +400. Busch continues to search for his first win of the season following another second-place finish (his third of the season) last week at Atlanta. He now has six top-five finishes this season, tying him for most in the series with Harvick. Busch has been a contender at Martinsville in recent years with two wins, eight top-five finishes and five top-three finishes in his last nine races on the track.
Following Busch on the odds list at Bovada are Brad Keselowski at +550, Martin Truex Jr. at +650 and Denny Hamlin at +700.
Keselowski won this race last season and he also was first across the finish line in 2017. Keselowski’s recent success at Martinsville rivals Busch’s as he has those two wins, eight top-five finishes and five top-three finishes in his last 10 races.
Kyle Busch, Keselowski, Truex Jr. top oddsboard
Truex Jr. won last season’s other race at Martinsville, the First Data 500 in October. He finished third last week in Atlanta to post his first top-five finish of the season. In four of his last five races at Martinsville, he has finished in the top five.
Hamlin has won this race three times, and he has five career Cup Series race wins at Martinsville. However, his last win on the track was in 2015.
Odds for other recent winners at Martinsville include Joey Logano at +900, Clint Bowyer at +1800, Jimmie Johnson (who has won at Martinsville six times) at +2500 and Kurt Busch at +2800.