If you're a betting man (or woman), then don't put too much money on Martin Truex Jr. winning this weekend's race at Martinsville Speedway.
Micah Roberts of VegasInsider.com recently shared his predictions for the Cup Series event at Martinsville and he has Truex finishing outside of the top-5 despite having the points lead. According to Roberts, the No. 11 Toyota driven by Denny Hamlin (6/1) will win the First Data 500, with second going to Kyle Busch (5/1) and third to Brad Keselowski (6/1). Moreover, Roberts picked Jimmie Johnson (7/1) and Chase Elliott (8/1) to round out the top-5.
If you don't put much stake in these picks, just consider that Roberts has successfully picked the winner of each of the past four races dating back to Kyle Busch's victory at Dover.
Don't sweat though if you're a Treux fan. He's still the favorite to win the 2017 NASCAR Energy Cup Series Championship with 7/5 odds, according to Vegas Insider. In fact, the driver with the next best odds at taking the title is Kyle Busch at 2/1.
Truex does have one major advantage over the competition this weekend. With NASCAR's qualifying scheduled to take place only hours before the start of Sunday's race, the drivers selected their pit stalls based on Kansas qualifying results. It wasn't much of a surprise that Truex chose the very first pit stall, which gives him a quick release of pit road.
The First Data 500 at Martinsville Speedway is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. this Sunday. Fans can watch the race on NBCSN.
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