Las Vegas race more popular than Daytona 500 at sports books

The Daytona 500 might be considered NASCAR’s “Super Bowl,” but when it comes to betting, the Kobalt 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway generates more interest than the Great American Race.

“The Las Vegas race has surpassed Daytona, as far as betting goes, just because of the popularity of being out here,” Sunset Station sports book director Chuck Esposito said. “I go to the races a lot and it seems like everyone has a (betting) ticket in their hand.”

As is the case with the Super Bowl, Las Vegas sports books offer a wide range of wagering options, including prop bets, on the city’s annual NASCAR weekend.

The odds on each driver to win Sunday’s race remain the most popular bets, but bettors also can wager on the pole winner, manufacturer winner, stage winners, matchups between two drivers, group matchups of four drivers, finish position for different drivers, lap leaders, cautions and more.

Kevin Harvick is the 5-1 favorite at the Westgate to win the Kobalt 400. Brad Keselowski is the 6-1 second choice, and Chase Elliott, Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch and Joey Logano each opened at 7-1.

Harvick, who won the Las Vegas race in 2015, led Sunday’s Monster Energy Cup Series race at Atlanta a race-high 292 of 325 laps before a late speeding penalty cost him the victory.

Keselowski won at Atlanta Motor Speedway — which, like LVMS, is a high-banked 1½-mile track — and has won two of the last three races in Las Vegas, including last year.

Johnson, the seven-time Cup champion, has the most wins at LVMS, with four, and is the second-highest average finisher here after taking third last year.

Logano, the highest average finisher at LVMS, was runner-up in last year’s Kobalt 400 and took sixth in Atlanta.

Keselowski passed pole winner Kyle Busch late in last year’s race at LVMS en route to taking the checkered flag. Busch is the only driver to win the Las Vegas race from the pole, in 2009. Qualifying up front hasn’t been a major factor in winning at LVMS as only five of 19 winners have started in the top five. Keselowski started fourth in last year’s race but had to go to the rear of the field after speeding on pit road.

Kyle Larson and Matt Kenseth, a three-time winner in Las Vegas, are both 12-1 to win Sunday’s race. Larson, who was runner-up at Atlanta, led the final lap of the Daytona 500 before running out of gas to allow Las Vegan Kurt Busch to win.

Kurt Busch, who has never won at LVMS, is a 25-1 long shot — the same spot he was in entering the Daytona 500. He’s also a plus-110 underdog in a matchup with Dale Earnhardt Jr., a minus-130 favorite over Busch who also is looking for his first win in Las Vegas. Earnhardt is 15-1 in Sunday’s race.

Bettors looking for long shots might want to take a flier on Ryan Blaney and AJ Allmendinger. Blaney, who is 80-1, has raced twice in Las Vegas with an average finish of 12½. Allmendinger, who opened at 300-1, has averaged a 10th-place finish his last two races here and took third in the Daytona 500. Allmendinger is a member of JTG Daugherty Racing, owned by former NBA and North Carolina star Brad Daugherty, who knows a thing or two about March Madness.

Kyle Busch is the 6-5 favorite for Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series Boyd Gaming 300 at LVMS. Larson, Logano and Keselowski are each 5-1. Las Vegan Brendan Gaughan is 100-1 and Las Vegan Spencer Gallagher is 500-1.

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Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0354. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.