Micah Roberts’ Sprint Cup Driver Ratings, April 21
STP 400
Kansas Speedway, Kansas City, Kan.
9:30 a.m. today, Fox (5); race starts at 10:16 a.m.
Rating Driver Odds Practice 1 Qualified Practice 2 Practice 3
1. Matt Kenseth 8/1 7th 1st 15th 1st 2012 fall winner; seventh or better in past five starts; won on similar track in Las Vegas
2. Martin Truex Jr. 12/1 4th 7th 6th 7th Runner-up in both 2012 races; practiced well Saturday; comes off outstanding Texas run
3. Greg Biffle 8/1 6th 11th 4th 13th Two-time winner (’07, ’12) with 9.5 average finish; using sixth-place Fontana chassis
4. Kyle Busch 7/1 17th 5th 7th 23rd Never placed in top five (11 starts), but was best in past three downforce track races
5. Carl Edwards 12/1 1st 2nd 5th 20th Runner-up in 2008 with 10.8 average finish; using fifth-place Las Vegas chassis
6. Juan Pablo Montoya 100/1 8th 19th 1st 3rd Placed fourth in 2009; both Ganassi cars look to be top Chevrolets in race
7. Jamie McMurray 75/1 13th 14th 13th 15th Hails from nearby Joplin, Mo.; best 10 consecutive lap average in both Saturday practices
8. Kasey Kahne 8/1 20th 27th 12th 5th 2011 runner-up; practiced well; led most laps in Las Vegas
9. Sam Hornish Jr. 100/1 3rd 4th 23rd 11th Might have second-best car but is downgraded because team doesn’t run each week
10. Ryan Newman 75/1 10th 9th 10th 22nd 2003 winner had good average speeds in final practices; older chassis makes season debut
*Kansas Speedway’s 1.5-mile layout at 17 to 20 degrees of variable banking is most similar to Las Vegas’ layout, making the March 10 Kobalt Tools 400 results a good reference.
Odds courtesy of LVH.
Micah Roberts, a former sports book director, has been setting NASCAR lines in Las Vegas since 1995. For more of Roberts’ insights on the race, go to The Linemakers on SportingNews.com or follow on Twitter: @MicahRoberts7.
