2011 GEICO 400 Picks: Betting on Underdogs for Big Payoffs

2011 Geico 400 Expert Picks: Betting on Underdogs for Big Payoffs – How to Bet on the Geico 400: The 12 drivers in the Chase will be getting all the attention this weekend at Chicagoland Speedway, but for bettors looking to hit it big, they will have to turn toward drivers that missed the playoffs instead. History says that there will be at least one race during the postseason that is won by a non-Chaser. Two candidates to pull it off an upset this weekend are David Reutimann and Brian Vickers.

At 30/1 odds to win, Reutimann clearly qualifies as an underdog. However, he is also the defending race winner at Chicagoland. He won last year’s race and wrestled the lead away from Jeff Gordon to do so. Overall, he has three straight top-15 finishes at the track, and a repeat performance is definitely within reason.  

While his record at Chicagoland is impressive in its own right, Reutiamann’s history of pulling upsets at 1.5-mile tracks is his real selling point. Both of his career victories have come at tracks with the layout, and he has won a race in each of the past two seasons. Reutimann is winless this season, but his lone top-five finish was a second-place finish at Kentucky Speedway. Just for the record, Kentucky features a 1.5-mile layout. Reutimann has proven on multiple occasions that can hit the right setup and compete with anyone at tracks like Chicagoland. Back-to-back victories this weekend would mean a big payday for bettors.

Unlike Reutimann, Vickers has never won at Chicagoland. That being said, his 8.8 average finish at the track is the second best in the Cup Series. He has never finished outside the top 15 in five career starts at Chicagoland, and he has finished seventh or better in each of his last two starts. With the exception of a victory, Vickers’ stats stack up with any driver in the series.

Despite the solid numbers, Vickers is a 35/1 longshot to win this weekend, mainly because of his struggles in 2011. He is sitting 27th in the standings, but three of his best finishes have come at 1.5-mile tracks. He finished 10th at Las Vegas, 10th at Chicagoland and 11th two weeks ago at Atlanta. Vickers missed last year’s race at Chicagoland, but given his success at similar tracks, he could match his previous numbers. If that happens, Vickers could be in the mix for a season-saving victory.

View the most current 2011 Geico 400 Odds for the Geico 400 this Sunday, September 18th at Chicagoland Speedway.