The Chase For The Sprint Cup Continues At Banking 500

NFL News - October 16th, 2009 - Written by Scott

The championship picture is starting to become a little clearer now that the drivers are four races into the Chase for the Sprint Cup, and giving you an exciting chance to do some NASCAR Betting. This Saturday's race will take place in Charlotte at Lowe's Motor Speedway for the NASCAR Banking 500. Jimmie Johnson took the points lead after his win at Fontana last Sunday. He replaced former leader Mark Martin and is now ahead of Martin by 12 points. Martin does have four victories at Lowe's Motor Speedway, so he should fare well this weekend. Juan Pablo Montoya finished third last week and remains in third place in the point standings and is 58 points behind. He has four top 5 finishes in row, but can not seem to make up any ground.

"It's incredible," Montoya said. "We have four top-fives in a row and I've been losing points to the leader. It is what it is. You aren't going to make any points on anybody. Everybody that runs good is going to be there. You just have to make sure you don't lose any if you make a mistake."

Denny Hamlin, formerly 5th in points before last weekend, took himself out of contention after his crash at Fontana. Johnson has been on fire during the Chase but realizes it is too early to speculate on how he'll finish.

"It's way too early to start thinking of other things," Johnson said. "I mean, we love where we're at. We love we're in the points lead. We got maximum points [Sunday], but I don't want to go there. I don't want to think about those things. If we're in the hunt at Homestead or Phoenix, the thoughts, the emotions -- all of that -- will be heavy on all of our shoulders."

Jeff Gordon moved his way into 4th place after last weekend's race. Gordon has a good chance this weekend to gain some ground. He has one win and three top 10 finishes in his last four races at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Kurt Bush is holding down the 5th spot in the points standings and will need a good finish on Saturday to stay in contention.

Bookmaker Sportsbook has the odds on who will win the Banking 500. Johnson is at +300, Martin +700, Gordon +700, Montoya +900, and Tony Stewart is at +1000. The remaining drivers have their odds listed as well.

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