2011 Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500 Picks: Betting on Underdogs for Big Payoffs

2011 Goody’s Fast Pain Relief 500 Picks: Betting on Underdogs for Big Payoffs – How to Bet on the 2011 Goody’s 500: Martinsville Speedway hasn’t exactly been the home to many upsets in recent years. In fact, Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin have combined to win the last nine races at the track, and if you throw in Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon, a total of four drivers have won the last 13 Martinsville events. Given the stranglehold that NASCAR’s big names have had at the track, bettors will want to limit their longshot picks this weekend to the few drivers with the best chance at pulling off a surprise win.

Sitting atop the list is Joey Logano. His 28/1 odds have a lot more to do with his rough start to the 2011 season than with his past performances at Martinsville. He has a 13.0 average finish at the track in four career starts, and that average improves to 6.7 in his last three starts. Logano has finished 12th or better in all three of those starts, including a second-place finish last April.

His near victory at Martinsville in 2010 was just part of a breakout year for Logano at the flat tracks on the schedule. He finished in the top-10 in both races at Phoenix, and he picked up top-10 finishes at Indianapolis and New Hampshire as well. His lone Cup victory came at a flat track, and there is a good chance his next one will as well. If it happens this weekend, the payoff will be well worth the investment.

Another driver that could knock of the big boys this weekend is Marcos Ambrose. The 100/1 longshot has two top-15 finishes in two starts at Martinsville, and next to the road courses, short tracks have been Ambrose’s best. There are a lot of similarities between the turns at a road course and a flat track like Martinsville, and it is no coincidence that Ambrose runs well at both.

His performance at Martinsville last fall is the real selling point for Ambrose. He finished 34th, but his end result was not indicative of how well his car ran. Ambrose qualified front and led 40 laps early in race, but contact from Jimmie Johnson cut a tire and sent Ambrose into the wall. Without the incident, Ambrose was well on his way to a top-five finish and possibly a win.

View the current vegas lines to win the 2011 Goody’s Fast Relief 500 scheduled for this Sunday, April 3rd at Martinsville Speedway at 1PM EST on FOX TV.