He may be in third place in the NASCAR Nextel Cup drivers' standings, but he's No. 1 with a bullet on the odds list.
Matt Kenseth is the +700 favorite to win this Sunday's Banquet 400 at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City – the one in the Sunflower State, that is. Handicappers have short memories, and it was just last month that Kenseth won back-to-back races on the way to taking first place in the standings leading into the Chase for the Cup. He's now just 18 points back of current leader Jeff Burton.
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Kenseth has recent history on his side at Kansas. He finished fifth last year at this 1.5-mile tri-oval, having started from the pole. And if he hadn't run out of gas on the last lap of last week's MBNA NASCAR RacePoints 400 at Dover International Speedway, Kenseth would probably be on top of the standings right now. He managed a 10th-place finish instead to stay within close range of Burton.
The man in second place has even more reason to look forward to Kansas. Jeff Gordon is second on the odds list, ties with Kasey Kahne at +800, and his track record at Kansas is stellar: two victories and an average result of sixth since the inaugural race in 2001. You can call it a comeback if you want; Gordon is a four-time Cup winner and is just six points behind Burton after missing last year's Chase.
But the buzz on the Cup circuit is still with the folks at Richard Childress Racing. The last three races have fallen into the RCR camp – Burton took the checkered flag last week at Dover, while Kevin Harvick won the two previous events. RCR is still under scrutiny after the SPEED Network report that suggested the team used modified tire rims that fell under a gray area of NASCAR's rules.
If RCR is still operating with something of an advantage, then Harvick (+900) and Burton (+1400) have to be considered worth a look for Kansas. However, between the two, only Harvick has managed a Top-10 result on this track, and that happened just once in 2003, when he finished sixth.
The action gets underway Sunday at 2:10 p.m. Eastern under expected sunny skies.
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