Matt Kenseth leads the pack into Race 2 for the first time in his 10 full Cup Series seasons. His victory at the Daytona 500 sets the stage for a certain shake up in the point standings when the sun sets at Fontana on Sunday.

When the season opener was called 48 laps from conclusion, several championship-hopeful teams were left in the rain at Daytona — including four-time series champion Jeff Gordon. He enters Fontana in 12th place but has high hopes that a good run on Sunday will give his team a boost in the point standings.

“Because [Daytona] is a restrictor-plate track, I don’t think last Sunday’s results have any meaning on what kind of year you’re going to have,” Gordon said. “I think you get a better understanding of how you stack up against the other teams after the races at California and Las Vegas.

“Without testing, I think the teams that were successful on the intermediate tracks last year will probably be strong again. But that’s a double-edged sword. When you’re successful, you’re afraid to change too much. Teams that weren’t strong may roll the dice and look outside the box, and they may hit on something.

“We are one of those teams that haven’t adapted to this new car as quickly as we would have liked, so we may have to change our thought process.”

Changing a thought process is something Kenseth will have to do in the wake of the Daytona 500 winner’s media tour blitz. In years past he’s been among those who have packed up and headed for the next race. This week, he’s been here, there and everywhere — except at the garage and focusing his undivided attention on the next race.

“It really doesn’t take any pressure off,” Kenseth said. “It puts, I think, a little bit of a spring in everybody’s step. It probably gives everybody a little bit more confidence.

“Daytona is a totally different race than Fontana or Atlanta or Bristol or any of these tracks that are really the bread-and-butter of the season. I mean, those are the tracks you have to run good to be a serious championship contender, but it certainly does give everybody a little confidence.”

source: nascar.com

Jimmie Johnson’s quest for a fourth consecutive Cup Series champions begins with the Daytona 500. In order to hoist the trophy again at Homestead he will have to fend off the likes of the new Stewart-Haas team, Tony Stewart and defending Daytona 500 winner Ryan Newman, and the formidable Roush Fenway stable of preseason favorite Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth, David Ragan and Jamie McMurray.

And if that isn’t enough competition to keep a driver on his toes, Johnson also will have to remain the top driver within his own Hendrick garage, which includes four-time series champion Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and newcomer Mark Martin, who has finished as the series runner-up four times.

Johnson has never finished outside the top five in points during his seven seasons. He has four top-five finishes in the Daytona 500.

Earnhardt has three top-five points finishes in nine years, and he has five top-10s in the Great American Race.

Johnson and Earnhardt will get a lot of attention during Sunday’s season opener. Both drivers are among the best at navigating the 2.5-mile tri-oval; both are previous winners of the race; and both have title aspirations.

“Truthfully, I’m so far ahead of the goals I set for myself five or six years ago, that I’m just damn happy where we’re at,” Johnson said. “And again, talking to what I said earlier, the fact that we’ve done these things is very cool and something I’m very proud of but I still have that feeling today to show up here and race Daytona as I did my rookie season.

“I mean, it’s not like we’re fat and happy and feel that we’re better than anyone.”

The No. 48 team may not feel that way, but it does have the hardware to back it up. Nonetheless, it’s a new year and there are 36 races to determine the series champion. Johnson maintains that the crew is focused on the big picture — not just the Chase.

“Those 10 [Chase] tracks really are good for us, so I think that’s a factor,” he said. “We really show up each week to do what we can to win. In ‘05 we thought we had things under control and we got cute before the Chase stated and worked on some stuff and that ended up biting us. Then ‘06 went our way and ‘07 was an interesting season and last year we were just frankly catching up.

“Thankfully, we had so much time to catch up and we got to September and we had ourselves right and were organized as a team and knew what we needed to do. It’s just I wish we could say that we were planning on just turning it on for the Chase but that’s not really the case. We’re fighting hard each week.”

Earnhardt, who is entering his second season with Hendrick, said making the 2008 Chase was a good first impression but work remains to be done.

“I feel a little more comfortable and a little less concerned,” Earnhardt said. “Going to a race season with a new team, you have not had any laps with, man; you really wonder how it is going to work out.

“We kind of have an idea that we are a pretty good team. We make a few adjustments, do some things right, catch a few breaks and we are a great team. We are going to try and make that happen this year. I feel pretty comfortable though, no real worries.”

On Sunday, Johnson and Earnhardt — and 41 other drivers — will start at zero. How they roll out of Daytona will not make or break their season (Stewart finished 43rd at Daytona in 2002 and rebounded to win his first series title), but it could be a springboard to greater heights. Eight drivers have won the Daytona 500 and the Cup Series championship in the same season — most recently in 2006, when Johnson began his streak of consecutive title seasons.

source: nascar.com

Nascar betting is almost over for 2008, there are only 4 races left and unless some miracle happens, Jimmie Johnson will win his third NASCAR Cup in a row.  It’s amazingly impressive considering how difficult it is to win a single NASCAR race much less the championship three years in a row.  That makes him one of the single most dominating athlete in all of sports right now.  The nearest competitor, Greg Biffle, is 149 points behind. Jeff Burton (-152) is the only other driver within a race’s worth of points of Johnson.

All this scenario makes 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship Odds not too interesting, because we have only one big favorite, it really doesn’t worth to take the chance for almost nothing.  Instead Nascar fans still could place a bet on a single Nascar race.  Therefore we bring you a Nascar betting preview for this weekend Pep Boys 500 race betting.

Here are your Nascar PepBoys 500 betting picks.

Jimmie Johnson – nascar betting odds + 450 – This is an easy one, he is the favorite again this week: three wins, eight top-five finishes and nine top-10s in 14 starts with a series-best 9.6 average finish among active drivers.

Carl Edwards – nascar betting odds + 450 – Won the 2007 NASCAR Busch Series championship and is in contention to win the title again this year; ran second at Atlanta last year.  He could win this, though, which would definitely take some of the sting away.

Jeff Gordon – nascar betting odds + 1000 – Gordon has had a good Cup chase. Although Gordon has yet to win this season, ran fourth last week at Martinsville to move up to seventh in the standings. He has 11 top-fives and 16 top 10s; has five DNFs this season after posting just one last year;

Hot Nascar PepBoys 500 pick

Bobby Labonte – nascar betting odds 100-1 – Has six career Cup wins at Atlanta (most recently in 2003), in 31 starts with 12 top-fives and 13 top-10s.  It is a good chance to take, it pays really well.

We invite you to review all Nascar PepBoys 500 odds.

Remember you could bet on Nascar at anytime, sign up with BetUS and get a $50 Free Welcome Bonus

 Kyle Busch racing year in 2008 Sprint Cup Series Racing week after week is beginning to remind of a young Bill Elliott who won 11 races on the major NASCAR circuit, then called Winston Cup, in 1985. Busch needs five more wins in 2008 to equal Elliott’s 1985 accomplishments, and has plenty of time to do it with 17 races to go.

 This week at AllState 400 at the Brickyard Busch is installed by oddsmakers at online sportsbook as +450 odds favorite for Sunday’s Allstate 400 at Indianapolis International Speedway and +125 odds to win the 2008 Sprint Cup Championship.  Checkout a complete review of AllState 400 Odds.

 The online nascar betting odds are just too low on the kid. There are other better online wagering opportunities out there on a number of drivers who still have a shot at winning this year’s Sprint Cup.
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 You could take a shot for any of these drivers,
   Carl Edwards - online odds + 700
   Jeff Gordon  - online odds + 1200
   Jimmie Johnson - online odds + 650

 There are plenty of updated information on 2008 Nascar Betting.

 Start betting at BetUS on 2008 Nascar Sprint Cup right away, and earn $50 free with your first deposit.

2008 Nascar cup betting continues this week at Illinois with the 2008 LIfeLock.com 400 at Chicagoland Speedway on Sunday July 12th. The race at Chicagoland hasn’t been going on for too long, the first race was held in 2001. In the 7 races here only 2 drivers have been able to walk away win twice on this track, Kevin Harvick who won the first 2 races at this event, and defending champion Tony Stewart. Both Stewart and Harvick are battling it out for the 12 spot.

Read 2008 Nascar LifeLock.com odds and analysis about who could win this race.

Kyle Busch 6/1 odds.
There is no question that this guy has been the best driver this season. As it looks right now this guy is going to run away with this thing and be crowned your 2008 Sprint Cup Points Champion. Busch has yet to win here, and if he does it will be win number 7 on the season.

Start Betting on 2008 Nascar now!

Carl Edwards 7/1 odds.
Edwards is a real threat this weekend, as he is not only coming off a 3rd place finish here at Chicagoland a year ago, he is coming off a great 2nd place finish last weekend at the Coke Zero 400. Edwards looks safe at the 4th spot in the point standings and we wouldn’t be surprised if he gets even closer to the top this weekend.

Jimmie Johnson 7/1 odds.
Johnson always race well here at Chicagoland in his career, as he hadn’t finished worse than 6th since first racing here in 2002. Johnson still wound up leading the 2nd most laps that weekend, and its only a matter of time before this guy wins this race. Johnson has yet to really get it going this season, and a win here could be the start of his run at a 3rd straight championship season.

Start Betting on 2008 Nascar now!

Always check back for more NASCAR odds, preview and predictions.

Not often can Jeff Gordon be considered a dark-horse in online NASCAR betting, but with consistent struggles, no wins in 2008 NASCAR and being listed at +1000 in the Online NASCAR odds to win Sunday’s Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, he’s certainly a sleeper that’s going to wake up and make a lot of money for the online NASCAR betting public investing in the ”No. 24 due factor.”

As the NASCAR online betting co-favorite at Sonoma last week, Gordon was unable to end a 21-race winless streak but his solid third-place finish moved him up three spots in the standings to sixth. It was Gordon’s seventh top-5 finish this season.

Busch and the rest of NASCAR betting’s best head back to the oval at New Hampshire Motor Speedway this weekend for the Lenox Industrial Tools 301, with NASCAR gambling fans wondering if Busch’s wild ride will continue.

Another driver with an excellent chance is two-time defending Sprint Cup champion, the driver of the No. 48 car, Jimmie Johnson. While he hasn’t done much since winning the Subway 500 back in April he has stayed on course and managed to remain in fifth place, 326 points behind Busch.

Online NASCAR Betting Free Picks: Jeff Gordon to win +1000

Click here to start betting on 2008 NASCAR now!!

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This weekend the NASCAR Sprint Cup stars will celebrate the sport’s best teams and drivers with the 2008 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race.

The festivities begin on Friday which is NASCAR Day. NASCAR fans will be able to show their NASCAR pride and their hearts by participating in NASCAR Day fundraising events. Friday night brings qualifying for the All-Star Race and the Craftsman Truck Series race. Saturday’s activities include the Pennzoil Victory Challenge, the Sprint Showdown last-chance qualifying race and finally the Sprint All-Star Race.

Kyle Busch, who leads NASCAR’s standings for the Sprint Cup championship, is finally getting respect from Las Vegas oddsmakers. The 23-year-old Busch is listed as a 6-1 favorite to win Saturday night’s Sprint All-Star Race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C. Jimmie Johnson and Carl Edwards also are listed at 6-1, according to Linesmaker.com.

Busch leads the standings with 1,690 points, 79 ahead of Jeff Burton, 134 ahead of Earnhardt and 190 ahead of Hamlin. But this week’s All-Star Race will not count toward the Sprint Cup standings.

This is a great weekend to be a NASCAR fan!