2009 Crown Royal Russell Friedman 400 Predictions

Written April 30, 2009 by Jason Lowry

The lights will be shining bright this Saturday night, when the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to Richmond International Speedway for the 2009 running of the Russell Friedman 400 presented by Crown Royal. It was an interesting week at Talladega last week, as Brad Keselowski won his first ever Sprint Cup race at the Aarron’s 499. While it might not be a surprise to see a Busch leading the point standings, it is a little bit if a surprise that its Kurt not Kyle Busch at the top. Busch’s stay at the top might not last to long, as he has finished in the top 5 just twice in 16 career starts at Richmond. I think a good indicator of who is going to do well this weekend is the race a couple weeks ago at Phoenix International Speedway, as the two tracks are very similar in their setup. With the race just a couple days away, here are the 3 drivers I feel have the best shot of winning this weekend, plus their odds to take home the checkered flag.

Jimmie Johnson +450 to win at Sportsbook.com: It has been a pretty good start to the 2009 season for Johnson, as he currently sits in 3rd place in the point standings, just 64 points behind the leader Busch. Johnson had a rough go at Talladega finishing 30th due to an accident, but he had really been racing good the previous weeks leading up to the race, as he had 4 straight top 5 finishes, including a win at the Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500. Johnson finished 4th at Pheonix, so thats a good sign he will be running well this weekend, but the thing that really makes him a strong pick this weekend, is he has won 3 of his last 4 starts on this race track, including a clean sweep in both races here in 2007. With a win here Johnson could be the next driver to take over the points standings, but he will have plenty of competition from his Hendrick’s Motor Sports team this weekend. I look for Johnson to have a great race on Saturday, and he is my overall favorite to win this race.

Kyle Busch +600 to win at Sportsbook.com: It hasn’t been anywhere near the season for Kyle Busch had expected after his outstanding run during last season, but he is still sitting in 6th place in the point cup standings, and there is plenty of racing left to do this season. Busch might be a bit of a stretch, as he has never won at Richmond, but he has 6 top 5 finishes in 7 career starts, so its only a matter of time before he wins this race. After winning two races in 3 starts earlier this season, Busch has really struggle to get it going, finishing no better than 17th since winning the Food City 500. I say forget all that and expect another great showing at Richmond for this driver, and I still think this guy is going to win a lot of races and be right in the thick of things to win it all again this year.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. +2000 to win at Sportsbook.com: It hasn’t been a very good start to the 2009 season for Dale Earnhardt Jr, as he currently sits in 15th in the point standings, and everyone is still waiting for this guy to take off since joining Hendrick Motorsports. The reason I like Earnhardt this weekend, is he is coming off his first top 5 finish of the season, as he was runner-up last week at the Aaron’s 499, and he has really faired well at Richmond over his career, with 3 wins and 10 top 10 finishes. So if anything is going to get this guy going, it has to be Richmond. Another thing is while the season is still in the early stages, Earnhardt Jr needs to get back in the top 12, or he is going to be racing for his life at the end of the season.

For those of you looking for a complete list of the odds for the race, head over to Sportsbook.com today.

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