Final AAA Texas 500 Driver Ratings Following All Practices

Micah Roberts Top 10 Driver Ratings
AAA Texas 500
Texas Motor Speedway
Sunday, November 6, 2011 - 12:16 pm (PDT)

Rating    Driver     Odds        Practice 1    Lineup    Practice 2   Practice 3

 1. Matt Kenseth 7/1                  9th            3rd            14th           7th
Two-time winner with track best 10-year average finish of 6.9; using same winning car from April.
 2. Carl Edwards 7/1                 2nd            7th             1st            8th
Three-time winner, best 10-consecutive average laps in final practice; using Charlotte chassis.
 3. Tony Stewart 7/1                  3rd            5th              8th           9th
2006 winner; last Texas top-five came five races ago; using Las Vegas-Atlanta-Kansas chassis.
 4. Kevin Harvick 12/1              23rd          21st            13th         18th
12.9 average finish in 17 starts, good average speeds in practice; using brand new chassis.
 5. Jimmie Johnson 7/1            21st          11th            12th         16th
2007 winner and runner-up in three races since; using winning Kansas chassis this week.
 6. Jeff Gordon 8/1                   28th           23rd            3rd          14th
2009 winner with no top-10s since (four starts); had a great early practice session Saturday.
 7. Kasey Kahne 20/1               14th           9th              4th           1st
2006 winner with only one top-five finish since; practiced like he was in one of the Roush cars.
 8. Greg Biffle 15/1                    1st            1st              2nd          10th
2005 Texas winner; eighth or better in five of last six starts on track. Finished fourth in spring race.
 9. Brad Keselowski 20/1          17th           8th              6th          28th
No top-10 finishes in six starts, but had fastest 10-consecutive lap average of day in practices.
10. Kurt Busch 20/1                  10th          14th            11th         24th
2009 winner, struggled in practice, but is using proven chassis from Pocono (3rd) and Dover (1st).

Note: This is the second race of the season at Texas Motor Speedway. Matt Kenseth led 169 of 334 laps to win in the first race held April 9, 2011 beating Clint Bowyer by a whopping 8.315 seconds. Kenseth’s teammates, Biffle and Edwards, came in third and fourth respectively.
 
Odds courtesy of the Las Vegas Hilton Super Book.

Micah Roberts, a former race and sports Director, has been setting NASCAR lines in Las Vegas since 1995. For more Roberts insights and post-practice analysis on the race, go to VegasInsider.com or follow MicahRoberts7 on Twitter.