2013 Sprint Cup Series Odds: Sprint Cup Championship Favorites, Dark Horses and Sleepers

2013 Sprint Cup Series Odds: Sprint Cup Championship Favorites, Dark Horses and Sleepers Teams are already testing at Daytona, and the 2013 Sprint Cup season is less than a month away. While a Daytona 500 victory is the first order of business for drivers and teams, the long-term prize is the 2013 Sprint Cup. Driver movement and crew chief changes that occur during the offseason always cloud the picture, and the debut of the Generation 6 car is another curveball. That being said, the recipe for winning a championship remains the same. Drivers have to survive the 26-race regular season and make the Chase, and after that, 10 strong races are all that stand between them and a title.

Last year, Brad Keselowski got hot a few months into the year and never slowed down. He won five races and finished in the top 15 week after week, eventually landing himself the Sprint Cup title. Along the way, he outlasted big names like Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth, proving that any driver that gets into the Chase can walk away with the championship. With that in mind, here is a look at the drivers that have the talent and the teams behind them to hoist the Sprint Cup in 2013.

Sprint Cup Championship Favorites, Dark Horses and Sleepers

The Favorites

He has now gone two years without winning a title after reeling off five straight, but Jimmie Johnson is still a lock to be a serious contender for a championship in 2013. After all, he is coming off a year when he led the series in wins, poles, top-five finishes, top-10s, laps led, fastest laps run, laps in the top 15 and driver rating among other things, and he has never finished worse than sixth in points in his 11-year career. If he doesn’t suffer back-to-back mechanical issues in the final two races of 2012, he would probably be the defending champ this season. As it stands, he will have to settle for being one of the frontrunners to claim the title in 2013.

In two of the past three seasons, Denny Hamlin was in the thick of the title hunt. He gave away the title in the season finale in 2010, and last year, his title hopes were taken from him when a mechanical issue brought his car to a stop at Martinsville. That being said, he was one of just three drivers to lead more than 1,000 laps and post a driver rating of more than 100 last year. More importantly, Hamlin also tied for the series lead with five wins and ranked second with 14 top-five finishes. He showed immediate chemistry with crew chief Darian Grubb, and with the duo together again in 2013, he is primed to make another run at a Cup Series title.

The Dark Horses

Repeating as champ has been hard for drivers not named Jimmie Johnson, but 2012 champ Brad Keselowski definitely has a shot. For one, he will be entering just his fourth season at the Cup level, meaning his best days could actually be ahead of him. Not to mention the fact that he has shown the blend of dominance and consistency that it takes to be a fixture among the elite drivers in the series. Keselowski has won eight races over the past two years, and last season, he finished in the top 15 in 27 of the final 29 races. If his reign as champ does end in 2013, it probably won’t end without a serious fight.

Six races into the 2012 season, Kasey Kahne was sitting 31st in points. However, he righted the ship and finished in the top 15 in 25 of the final 30 races, climbing all the way to fourth in points at the end of the year and winning a pair of races. Big things were expected of Kahne when he signed with Hendrick Motorsports, and after the rough start, he showed the type of muscle that it takes to win a title. He should only be better in his second year at HMS, and a championship-caliber season could be in the cards for Kahne.

Although he tends to run hot and cold, at his best, Kyle Busch is arguably the most-talented driver in the series. Last year was a perfect example, and after failing to even qualify for the Chase, he went on to score the second-most points in the final 10 races and had more top-five finishes than any other driver. More importantly, Busch was one of just three drivers to lead more than 1,000 laps and post a driver rating of more than 100 in 2012, and he managed those numbers in a down year by his standards. Busch is never a lock to be consistent, but if he manages to make the Chase, he is more than capable of reeling of 10 great races at capturing a title.

He is in the middle of the best three-year stretch of his career, and Matt Kenseth could keep the momentum going with his new Joe Gibbs Racing team. His consistency on the track and calm demeanor of it should form a perfect balance with the more explosive personalities of his JGR teammates Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch, and more importantly, Kenseth will be behind the wheel of the same equipment that Hamlin and Busch both put out front for more than 1,000 laps last year. Owner Joe Gibbs has assembled himself quite a super team, and while Kenseth may be the quietest of the three teammates, the 2003 champ could make the most noise on the track in 2013.

Sleeper Special

His temper and attitude nearly cost him his Cup career, but Kurt Busch behaved himself just enough with Phoenix Racing last year to land a ride with Furniture Row Racing for the final six races of 2012. The upgrade in equipment had an immediate impact on Busch, and he closed last year with four straight top-15s, including three straight top-10s. Granted, wins are still going to be very hard to come by for Busch with a single-care team. However, he has shown he can string together top-10s in the No. 78, and he could sneak into the Chase. From there, Busch already knows from his 2004 championship that anything can happen in the final 10 races. He is a longshot for sure, but a full year with Furniture Row Racing could make Busch relevant again.

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