NAS CAR betting Preview: The Kobalt Tools 500

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NAS CAR betting Preview: The Kobalt Tools 500

NASCAR fans start your engine as this weekend will provide some great racing as the flag drops on the Kobalt Tools 500.

The latest NASCAR odds and racing betting options can be found at Bet Phoenix, the best sportsbook to bet on racing.

Eight down and just two to go, as the Sprint Cup circuit slides into Phoenix this week for the Kobalt Tools 500. Only three points separate Carl Edwards from his nearest competitor, Tony Stewart.

Stewart, a two-time Sprint Cup Series champion, led 173 of 334 laps last week, but had to come from in the closing laps to grab the win. Jeff Burton held the lead late in the race when he opted not to pit during the final round of stops, but Burton ran out of fuel with five laps to go, allowing Stewart to take the top spot for good. Edwards finished one second behind Stewart in the runner-up spot.

Just two weeks ago, Edwards had a 14-point advantage, but Stewart has posted back-to-back wins to narrow the gap. During the Chase, Stewart has four wins, while Edwards is winless, but has seven top-10s.

All but eliminated is five-time defending Series champion Jimmie Johnson, who stands in sixth place, 55 points back.

Johnson has been the dominant driver at Phoenix lately, winning four of the last eight races here and has finished no worse than seventh in the previous 12 races at Phoenix. His average finish here is 4.8.

Johnson's three-race win streak here was stopped last season by Edwards, as he snapped a 70-race winless streak. Edwards passed Denny Hamlin for the lead with 47 laps remaining, and then conserved enough fuel to claim his first Sprint Cup win since the 2008 season-ending race at Homestead, FL. Edwards had a dominating weekend at Phoenix by winning the pole and leading the way in all three practices for the 312-mile (500 km) race. Edwards went on to win the final race of the 2010 to place fourth on the points list.

Another driver with modest success at PIR is Kevin Harvick, who has two Sprint Cup wins, as well as four Camping World Truck and one Nationwide Series victories here. Although he has struggled in the Sprint Cup races here, Harvick has not finished outside the top-10 in 18 straight Nationwide and Truck Series races. Earlier this year, Harvick was third and fourth respectively on the Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series' at Phoenix.

In 2008, Johnson became the first pole sitter to win this race, as he edged Kurt Busch by less than half a second to join Dale Earnhardt Jr, Jeff Burton and Davey Allison as the only back-to-back champions of this race. Johnson led 217 of 313 laps and held off Busch in a green-white-checkered finish.

Johnson, a 55-race winner in the Sprint Cup Series, continued the Chevrolet dominance in this race in 2007, as he posted his 33rd career title, defeating Greg Biffle by less than a second. Johnson led twice for 55 laps, including the final 24. Pole sitter Carl Edwards led the first 87 laps, but failed to finish due to engine problems and placed 42nd.

In 2006, Harvick crossed the finish line 0.250 of a second ahead of Johnson to claim his 10th career Sprint Cup title and fifth of that campaign. Harvick, who started second on the grid, led for a whopping 252 laps, including the final 30. Pole sitter Jeff Gordon was out in front for the first three laps and finished fourth.

Kyle Busch out-dueled Greg Biffle in 2005 by less than a second for his second career Sprint Cup title. Busch led for a total of 63 laps, including the final 28 in front of a crowd of 105,000. Busch, who started 15th on the grid, led on three separate occasions, while Biffle led four times for 189 laps. Pole sitter Denny Hamlin led for 23 laps and finished 13th.

This race is more important than ever in the race for the championship. With the Sprint Cup Series on the line anything can happen as the drivers go all out to make up ground.