Kyle Busch will continue the search for his first win of the season when he hits the track on Wednesday night in the NASCAR Cup Series’ Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 as the +400 betting favourite at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Busch is coming off a solid performance at last weekend’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500. The 35-year-old claimed his third second-place finish of 2020, lifting him into the top ten in the NASCAR Cup Series standings going into Wednesday night’s race at Martinsville Speedway.
Overall, Busch has finished among the top four in six of his past eight outings, and despite trailing first place by 113 points in the standings he sits deadlocked with frontrunner Kevin Harvick as a +500 co-favourite to successfully defend his NASCAR Cup Series title at online betting sites. And while Busch has failed to take home the checkered flag in 10 Cup Series race appearances this season, he has been a consistent performer at this event, following up his victory in 2016 with a pair of second-place finishes and a third-place run over the past three years.
Harvick bolstered his position atop the NASCAR Cup Series standings with a victory last weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway, which marked his second trip to the winner’s circle this season. However, a shaky track record at Martinsville has left him lagging behind the favourites as a +1000 wager for Wednesday night.
Since posting his lone victory at this event in 2011, Harvick has cracked the top ten in just four of eight appearances, and has failed to tally wins in consecutive races in 70 outings since May 2018.
After turning in a disappointing ninth-place finish last weekend, Brad Keselowski will be aiming to rebound on Wednesday night as a +550 second favourite on the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 odds. Martin Truex Jr. follows at +650, ahead of Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin, who sit knotted at +700, while Joey Logano trails at +800.
Keselowski failed to maintain an early lead last weekend in his bid for a third win in four outings, but has been a steady presence at or near the top of the leaderboard with eight top-ten finishes this season, including each of the past five straight races. The 36-year-old has also taken home the checkered flag at the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 in two of the past three years.
Truex continues to enjoy solid support at the sportsbooks despite failing to earn a victory in 2020, but is coming off his best performance of the season with last weekend’s third-place run.