Oddsmakers at
The Greek Sportsbook opened teammates Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon as modest 5/1 co-favorites to win the 2005 NASCAR Nextel Cup Championship. The stock car racing season gets the green flag at the Budweiser Shootout, Feb. 12, the lead-up to the Daytona 500, Feb. 20, and the official start of the 40-week, 36-event campaign.
As has been the case in many other sports, the powerful twin engines of television and wagering have fueled NASCAR's growing popularity during the last decade. It probably wasn't NASCAR's intention, but the sport's governing body got extra mileage out of the latter when it instituted a formula last season in which only the top 10 drivers would be eligible to win the championship in a final 10-race sprint to the finish called the "Chase for the Nextel Cup." That spurned a new round of future book wagering.
With that formula again in place for 2005, bettors not only can make an opening set of future book wagers prior to the season but also reassess their position, perhaps by hedging or adding a value bet or two, when
The Greek Sportsbook posts another set of odds at the start of the "Chase," in September. Of course,
The Greek Sportsbook also will post odds and accept wagering on each individual race in the Nextel Cup series.
Here's a look at the leading contenders to capture the 2005 Nextel Cup Championship:
Jimmie Johnson: Won a series high eight races in 2005 and staged a dramatic comeback in which he won four of the last six events before falling just eight points short (6,506-6,498) of catching Kurt Busch for the championship.
Jeff Gordon: Based on the old system, Gordon would have won the Nextel Championship last year with five wins and a tour leading 25 top-10 finishes. Gordon, who had a mid-season stretch where he won three times in six races, ran well in the Chase, too, foiled by a 34th place finish in Atlanta and finished third, overall in the final standings.
Dale Earnhardt Jr.: "Little E" won a career high six times--including his first Daytona 500 victory--in finishing fifth in the standings last year and has been in the NASCAR top 10 for 69 consecutive weeks. But Junior also was forced to use a relief driver for the first time in his Cup career and was docked 25 points on two separate occasions by NASCAR officials. Amazingly, Earnhardt never won a pole last season.
Ryan Newman: With nine poles, Newman obviously had a fast car last year. But he translated that into only two wins, neither of which came from the No. 1 starting slot. Newman also failed to finish nine races in 2004, including four DNFs during the Chase. Newman obviously is fast but he needs to be more consistent.
Kasey Kahne: Much more is expected of Kahne after he captured Rookie of the Year honors last season. Kahne did not win but finished second in five races and wound up 13th in the 2004 points standings. One glaring weakness are road courses and short tracks where Kahne did not post a single top 10 finish last year.
Tony Stewart: Loaded with talent, Stewart sometimes has difficulty controlling his emotions, witness his black flag at Homestead. Stewart had two wins in 2004 but just 10 top-five finishes, the lowest total of his six-year career.
Kurt Busch: The Rodney Dangerfield of the circuit, Busch, the defending Nextel Cup champion, gets "no respect at all" from the oddsmakers. Maybe that's because Busch didn't score the most points during the entire 36-week season, Johnson, Gordon and Earnhardt won more races than his three and Busch had only 10 top-five finishes, the fewest of any champion in NASCAR history. But he won, didn't he?
Matt Kenseth: After winning it all in 2003 Kenseth, who won two races early in the year, fell apart, finishing with just eight top-fives. Kenseth went the last nine races of the season without a top 10 finish.
Mark Martin: Despite just one victory, Martin finished fourth in the standings, a vast improvement from his 17th place finish in 2003, proving there's still some punch in the ole boy.
Jamie McMurray: Although he didn't win a race, McMurray put it all together late in the year, reeling off eight top-10 finishes in the Cup's final 10 races to wind up 11th in the standings. He had 23 top-10 finishes, second only to Jeff Gordon on the circuit. Only six DNFs kept him from the top 10.
