NASCAR odds: Coca-Cola 600

The hottest driver in NASCAR is on the pole for Sunday's Sprint Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway outside Charlotte, so it might be hard to bet against Kyle Busch, the betting favorite on WagerWeb.com.

Busch turned a lap of 185.4 mph on the 1.5-mile, high-banked oval to earn the first starting spot for Joe Gibbs Racing in NASCAR's longest race. The 23-year-old has already won three of the series' 11 points races this season, including the most recent event at Darlington Raceway two weeks ago. Busch, who leads Jeff Burton by 79 points in the series standings, has finished no worse than 10th in the last five races.

"I hope it doesn't wear off. I just hope this isn't a one-year thing - (that next year) I'm 24 years old and washed up," said Busch, who has won three poles in a row.

However, Busch's record in the 600 isn't good: finishes of 32nd, 25th, 38th and 30th.

Burton finished 24th last year at this race but sixth in 2006. He won the race in 1999 and 2001.

Jimmie Johnson, who called Lowe's Motor Speedway his "house" after winning five times in his first nine starts there, is ready to return to victory lane after a four-race drought at the track that carries his sponsor's name.

"We've learned a lot, really, over the last two weeks," Johnson said. "We learned a lot at Darlington that carried over to the all-star race (in which Johnson finished fourth). We need to get some more rear grip with the car, and I feel that we know how to do that now after the all-star race."

Hendrick Chevrolets have won seven of the past 10 races at Lowe's, including four of the past five 600s, so that bodes well for Johnson and perhaps Dale Earnhardt Jr., who in 17 races at Lowe's has eight top 10s but no wins.

Kasey Kahne knows how to win on this track: he took last week's All-Star Challenge here and qualified No. 2 this week. Kahne swept both races at Lowe's 2006 and finished 23rd and eighth last season.

Denny Hamlin has finished ninth in the 600-milers in each of the last two seasons and has seven top-10 finishes in 11 starts this season.

Then there's David Ragan, who has climbed to No. 12 in the points standings. He finished fifth at Darlington, his second top-5 of the season and second in three races.Ragan says his recent success has given him and his team a big boost.

"We've had a lot of confidence on our team that we can be a Chase contender and this shows everybody that we are pretty serious and that we can make good things happen," Ragan said. "I think that just by getting there to that 12th position that everybody will realize that we are a Chase contender and that we can ... contend for top-fives and top-10s, whether it be a superspeedway, short track or a high-speed downforce track"

Race lineup

1. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 185.433 mph.
2. (9) Kasey Kahne, Dodge, 185.300.
3. (83) Brian Vickers, Toyota, 185.249.
4. (16) Greg Biffle, Ford, 184.970.
5. (6) David Ragan, Ford, 184.470.
6. (88) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 184.439.
7. (8) Mark Martin, Chevrolet, 184.181.
8. (2) Kurt Busch, Dodge, 184.106.
9. (19) Elliott Sadler, Dodge, 183.974.
10. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 183.924.
11. (22) Dave Blaney, Toyota, 183.842.
12. (17) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 183.780.
13. (66) Scott Riggs, Chevrolet, 183.673.
14. (31) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 183.617.
15. (26) Jamie McMurray, Ford, 183.580.
16. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 183.455.
17. (41) Reed Sorenson, Dodge, 183.443.
18. (24) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 183.436.
19. (29) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 183.430.
20. (77) Sam Hornish Jr., Dodge, 183.349.
21. (5) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 183.275.
22. (7) Robby Gordon, Dodge, 183.212.
23. (43) Bobby Labonte, Dodge, 183.200.
24. (1) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 183.169.
25. (15) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 183.132.
26. (40) Sterling Marlin, Dodge, 183.057.
27. (84) A.J. Allmendinger, Toyota, 182.852.
28. (44) David Reutimann, Toyota, 182.729.
29. (55) Michael Waltrip, Toyota, 182.692.
30. (99) Carl Edwards, Ford, 182.168.
31. (20) Tony Stewart, Toyota, 182.113.
32. (38) David Gilliland, Ford, 182.020.
33. (33) Ken Schrader, Chevrolet, 181.984.
34. (10) Patrick Carpentier, Dodge, 181.867.
35. (96) J.J. Yeley, Toyota, 181.726.
36. (45) Kyle Petty, Dodge, 181.714.
37. (01) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 181.702.
38. (12) Ryan Newman, Dodge, 181.531.
39. (07) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 181.482.
40. (00) Michael McDowell, Toyota, 181.464.
41. (28) Travis Kvapil, Ford, owner points.
42. (42) Juan Pablo Montoya, Dodge, owner points.
43. (70) Johnny Sauter, Chevrolet, 181.446

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