Monday, December 22, 2008

Early odds for 2009 title: Johnson at 4-1

Jimmie Johnson, at 4-1, is the favorite to win a fourth straight title.


Micah Roberts, who works for the Station casinos in Las Vegas, has sent over the opening line odds for the 2009 Sprint Cup championship, the Daytona 500 and the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona.

Jimmie Johnson, fittingly, has 4-1 odds to win a fourth straight Cup title. Carl Edwards is the next choice at 9-2 while Kyle Busch is 5-1.

Greg Biffle is 10-1 and Dale Earnhardt Jr. is 12-1. Jeff Gordon and Denny Hamlin are each 13-1 while Mark Martin and Matt Kenseth are 18-1. Jeff Burton is 20-1 and Kevin Harvick is 22-1.

Clint Bowyer, Tony Stewart, David Ragan and Kurt Busch are 30-1. Kasey Kahne, Jamie McMurray and Joey Logano are 40-1. Brian Vickers is the longest shot at 75-1. Everyone else would be part of the 30-1 "field" bet.

Kyle Busch is the favorite, at 7-2 odds, in both the 500 and the Shootout.

Earnhardt is 6-1 in the 500 while Johnson is 7-1. Gordon and Hamlin are 12-1 with Martin and Kurt Busch is 15-1. Edwards is 17-1 to win the 500. Stewart is 18-1 and defending 500 champion Ryan Newman is 40-1. Michael Waltrip is 75-1 and he's won the Daytona 500 before. Logano hadn't run a lap at Daytona until he did an Automobile Racing Club of America test there last week, but his odds to win the 500 are 25-1.

Earnhardt Jr. is the second pick at 5-1 for the Shootout. Gordon and Hamlin are 6-1.

* * *

The zMax Dragway at Lowe's Motor Speedway has set its schedule for its first full year in 2009 including a series of open tests and tunes and seven street-racing events.

The first test and tune is set for March 5, followed on March 26 by the street racing opener. Street racing events are also set for April 8, June 10, July 16, August 13, October 1 and Nov. 5.

The second annual National Hot Rod Association national event is set for Sept. 17-20. The dragway will also host the taping of an episode of Speed's "Pinks All Out" series on April 24-25.

June includes the AMA Drag Bikes on the 6th and 7th and the Super Chevy Show from the 25th through the 28th. There will be an NMCA Muscle Car event Aug. 6-8 and a nostalgia drag racing show on Oct. 30.

Here's the complete schedule:

March
5 -- Open Test & Tune; 26 -- Street Racing Opener

April
8 -- Street Racing Event #2; 17 -- Open Test & Tune; 18 -- Pro Tree Racers Association PAO Qualifying Event; 24-25 -- PINKS All Out

May
13 -- NASCAR Team Night; 28 -- Open Test & Tune

June
6 -7 -- AMA Drag Bike; 10 -- Street Racing Event #3; 25-28 -- Super Chevy Show
July
10 -- Open Test & Tune; 16 -- Street Racing Event #4; 30 -- Open Test & Tune
August
6-9 -- NMCA Muscle Car Racing; 13 -- Street Racing Event #5

September
3 -- Open Test & Tune; 9-10 -- Open Test for NHRA Teams; 17-20 -- NHRA Nationals

October
1 -- Street Racing Event #6; 21 -- NASCAR Team Night; 30 -- Good Guys Nostalgia Drag Race

November
5 -- Street Racing Event #7 Finale

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

If the NASCAR officals allow Johnson to again win the championship, like they did last year and the year before, then Nascar might as well fold their operations because they will lose most of their audience. They also need to drastically change their chase schedule because most all of the tracks are 1.5 to 2 mile tracks that seem to favor Johnson in particular and with the small track Martinsville, in which Johnson also excells at, thrown in there it is almost a "give me" for Johnson even if he was way behind coming into the chase. Also I noticed that almost every time someone was going to pass him and take the lead or put him a lap down, a fantom caution would automatically come out and allow him to retain his lead and ultimately go on to victory. I am certainly not the only one that noticed that either as alot of people that I talked to stated the exact same thing.

Anonymous said...

Jeeze that's a stupid response...why would NASCAR want Johnson to win? He sends most fans to sleep and must be the most dull champion out there. So if anything I would expect NASCAR to do what they can to stop him winning.

Anonymous said...

anon@2:48.

You are so right. The response from anon@ 1:34 is absolutely STUPID!!

We have 4 types of tracks. Short tracks are 1 mile or less. We have Inremediate tracks that are more than 1 mile, but less than 2. We have Superspeedways that are 2 or more miles. And the last are the Road Courses.

Anon@1:34 - The 3 drivers that won the most races are Carl, Kyle, and Jimmie.

Carl Edwards won 8 of his races in the Intermediate/Superspeedways. Kyle won 5 in those same tracks. And Jimmie Johnson only won 3, that's THREE, races in those tracks.

You can have your own opinion, but you cannot have your own FACTS!!

Anonymous said...

If NASCAR wanted to fill the stands, they would have figured out a way to make Dale Jr win the championship. At least they would have changed the rules so he'd have a table in NYC.

wbillips48 said...

Find a new sport anonymous.48 will win the fourth consecutive title.

Anonymous said...

Las Vegas does not make it's bet pool on sentimental opinions. They are in it to make money. I'm with Vegas, the 48 will win #4.

Anonymous said...

Poole
Your on top of the latest blip.(Ha Ha) We all know maximum compensation for minimum work

Anonymous said...

J.J. #4 bad for the sport. Brain France doesn't think it would be good at all. His statements in New York will tell you that.
Anon @ 1:34 I think that 12 races for the Chase was about the same before the Chase. And you are right they are J.J. strong tracks.
I would like to see the old system back with more points given to the winner of a race and points to the one that wins the most races and stop point racing make it about the wins.
One more thing I read a store about Nascar having 10 less offical partner (ie) offical rent-a-car, Home improvment and so on. It said it had 38 offical sponsors. Just think if NASCAR would get out of the offical sponsor business we would have fully funded teams and this would not be a 1 or 3 horse show and noone would worry about J.J. winning #4.

Anonymous said...

Hear we go, talking championship and points already. This is killing the sport. How about we wait until next Sept. or so before we worry about championships? But, if the season ended right now . . .

Anonymous said...

Go Jimmie, Chad, and Team 48 and win 4 straight!

Thanks for the odds David!

Anonymous said...

Don't you wonder if qualifying hadn't been rained out as much during the Chase if Johnson would have won the championship? Nascar needs to go back to the two day qualifying rule so that EVERYONE gets a fair chance to get into the race. Don't make it a "no-brainer" by letting the Hendrick teams dominate because of their driver points. I would have loved to see Joey Logano get into a few more races as well as a lot of the other guys who show up week after week, pay the big bucks to get there, only to get shot down because of the weather. In other words - make it a level playing field. I miss the days of the old Nascar where everybody had a chance.

Anonymous said...

Jimmie earned more polls than any other driver. He earned 6 and Carl 1, and Kyle 2. What makes anyone think that the 5 he was awarded he would not have earned anyway? Kyle was also awareded 5 polls.

Lifetime Carl only has 4 polls, Kyle only has 4 and Jimmie has 19.

No one "gave" Jimmie the championship. He just had more points than the rest. Carl would have won if he had not come in 29 in Talladega after he took out his 2 teammates. He lost over 100 points to the winner.

In the chase:

Jimmie= 3 wins, 6 top 5s, 8 top 10s

Carl= 3 wins, 8 top 5s, 8 top 10s

Carl's problem was Talladega, not Jimmie.

Anonymous said...

What the 35 rule does is protect the so-so teams--like Petty. Jimmie Johnson and Jeff always want the pole. So removing the top 35 would never eliminate them. That's why Jeff is number one in poles of the active drivers, Ryan Newman in 2nd.

Jimmie has been quoted as saying that he has learned that track position is important, so he will come to the race track in qualifying mode. Many come in race trim--like Carl, and that's why he has never been the best qualifier. Not because he's not good, because he is, but he just has not put forth the effort.

Anonymous said...

How did the top 35 get in to this? And everytime it does come up it is to help the so-so teams like the Pettys. They had the 43 in the top 25 in qualifying more then out. If you will note it is there to help the big name sponsors in the race.
Nascar is the only sport that has molagans (If you have a bad day you can still play if you are in the safe zone top 35)what a joke!
Mike Bagly said on the Morning Drive last April "what would happen if Jeff Gordon or Jr did not make a race and to the fan that spent all this money to see them and there not in the race. The fans would be so upset" I say what about the MWR fans they spent money and waltrip missed races and noone cared what about the guys that were faster than the top 35 and went home what about there fans. And people say it can't be fixed. Simple fix if you are fast you stay if you are slow you go home. I hate the top 35 I hate the Chase. All it would take if for Burton Smith to start his own Nascar and this stupid stuff that the fans allow the teams allow would stop. No cars no drivers no sponsors no more Nascar the IRL did it so can Smith.

Anonymous said...

Bruton is a smart guy. That's why he is a billionaire. He keeps getting richer, has fun, and does not have to put up with some of the headaches that NASCAR (the France family) has. He would never start his own series. He loves to buy old tracks, take their races away and give the races to his NEW tracks. If he owned a series, he would probably put 3 races in Texas and 3 in Las Vegas.

Anonymous said...

Here is my new comment for every blog that Davis writes, no matter what the topic:

This is all Brian Frances fault. He keeps shutting out the longtime fan and killing the sport. NA$CAR only cares about the money and pretty soon there will be nobody in the stands. Jimmy Johnson won 3 championships because NA$CAR wanted him to and only because of the phantom yellows and their ability to control the weather to give him a bunch of poles during the Chase, which also sucks because 100% of the fans hate it which is why there are so many empty seats; that and the stupid top 35 rule. If it wasnt for Brian France, the death of Dale Earnhardt and Toyota coming into the sport, the economy would be fine and there would be no need for the new car. David, go back to the buffet table.

Have I missed anything?

Anonymous said...

to nh fan

You must live in a parallel universe. What a bunch of huey. Go and be happy or sad in your world of make-believe.

Gee, why don't you start your own racing series?

Anonymous said...

Anonymous...

Its called sarcasm. In short, I am summarizing what people write as a response to every single David Poole blog regardless of the topic.

Anonymous said...

nh fan,

You need to brush up on effective use of sarcasm. Your is not working, makes you look a little foolish.

Often many others and I also disagree with this site, we just don't make ourselves look like bafoons.

Anonymous said...

nh_nascarfan said...

Its called sarcasm. In short, I am summarizing what people write as a response to every single David Poole blog regardless of the topic.

12/23/2008 1:53 PM

-----------------------

DON'T QUIT YOUR DAY JOB!!

Anonymous said...

I think David's writing deserves some real credit - he always sparks a reaction!

Anonymous said...

Taking a look at the stands this year, there were a lot of empty seats. With ticket prices as high as they are and unemployment or low-employment as it is, there will be a lot more empty seats this year. Nascar tracks need to drop their prices back to where the real fans can afford to go to a race. When my daughter and I went to Michigan in August the tickets alone cost us nearly $500. If it hadn't been that I promised her that trip for her birthday - we wouldn't have gone.

Anonymous said...

anon@8:32

Just because you cannog afford to attend a race is not a reason why track owners should lower their prices, any more than meat companies should lower the price of steaks because you cannot afford to buy them.

As long as they are making money, track owners might tinker with prices, but there is no way they will do huge cuts. They are still making tons of money. They get 65% of the tv revenues. That's about $390,000,000per year.

Track/stadium owners have a diffeent mentality than the avrage joe. Texas is now adding 75(?) or so luxury coach spaces for next year. They will cost $15,000 per weekend. Yankees have seats that now will cost $2,5000 per game.

Sure many folks are having a hard time, but this counrty still has millions who have lots of disposible income who love sports.

Racing will be just fine. I will still go/watch the races.

Anonymous said...

Look Poole, these "fans" are crying already! Waaaah!

Go Jimmie and Team 48! Take it to them again! You guys are the only REAL team out there on the track.

To all the other drivers just turning circles...Stop complaining and JUST DRIVE FASTER!

WWED? What Would Earnhardt Do?

Anonymous said...

I give Jimmie odds in winning 8 cup championships!! Maybe not in a row, but he'll do it.

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