Micah Roberts’ Top-10 Driver Ratings Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500, Phoenix International Raceway  

Rating. Driver Odds Practice 1, Qualified, Practice 2, Practice 3

  1. Kurt Busch 12/1 3rd, 2nd, 1st, 1st  2005 winner; best 10-consecutive lap average in Practice 2; using winning Richmond chassis.

  2. Kevin Harvick 9/4 6th, 8th, 4th, 5th  Seven-time winner, including last four; using winning chassis from March race that led 224 laps.

  3. Jimmie Johnson 10/1 1st, 1st, 6th, 2nd  Four-time winner, track best 7.8 average finish; best 10-consecutive lap average in Practice 3. 

  4. Carl Edwards 12/1 4th, 4th, 2nd, 8th  Two-time winner, the last in 2013. He’s only seven points out of the fourth and final Chase position. 

  5. Martin Truex Jr. 18/1 8th, 5th, 8th, 7th  Career-best, fifth-place in 2009; 17.1 average finish, but might have his best PIR car ever this week.

  6. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 20/1 9th, 3rd, 5th, 3rd  Two-time winner, but none since the track’s 2011 repave; looked very fast in Saturday’s practices.

  7. Kyle Busch 8/1 10th, 10th, 13th, 12th   2005 winner with 14.3 average finish; can clinch Championship position by finishing third or better.

  8. Joey Logano 6/1 11th, 14th, 9th, 13th  Career-best third in 2010; must win to advance to Championship – disappointing practices. 

  9. Kasey Kahne 30/1 7th, 9th, 11th, 10th  2011 winner with 17.3 average finish; fourth in March race – one of only three top-five’s in 2015.

  10. Erik Jones 30/1 19th, 7th, 16th, 6th  Driving Kenseth’s No. 20 that won last two on similar tracks; won at Phoenix twice in trucks.

Note: Phoenix’s relatively flat one-mile layout requires a similar set-up as Richmond and New Hampshire. Drivers who do well on one usually fare well on the others during a season. 

Rest of the field:

BRAD KESELOWSKI 7/1         KYLE BUSCH 8/1 CARL EDWARDS 10/1  DENNY HAMLIN 15/1       JEFF GORDON 25/1              KYLE LARSON 30/1 JAMIE McMURRAY 30/1             RYAN NEWMAN 100/1 AUSTIN DILLON 100/1    CLINT BOWYER 200/1 GREG BIFFLE 200/1 PAUL MENARD 200/1        TONY STEWART 300/1     ARIC ALMIROLA 300/1 DAVID RAGAN 300/1 RICKY STENHOUSE JR 500/1   AJ ALLMENDINGER 500/1    DANICA PATRICK 500/1 CASEY MEARS 500/1 TREVOR BAYNE 500/1       SAM HORNISH JR 500/1 FIELD 500/1

Odds courtesy of Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook.

Micah Roberts is a former Las Vegas sports book director who has been setting NASCAR odds since 1994. Follow him on Twitter: MicahRoberts7

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