Micah Roberts’ Sprint Cup Driver Ratings, April 22

MICAH ROBERTS’ SPRINT CUP DRIVER RATINGS

STP 400

Kansas Speedway, Kansas City, Kan.

9:30 a.m. today, Fox (5); race begins at 10:16 a.m.

Rating Driver Odds Practice 1 Practice 2 Qualified Las Vegas*

1. Jimmie Johnson 6/1 29th 1st 15th 2nd
Two-time winner, including last fall, with 8.4 average finish in 11 starts; new chassis this week.

2. Tony Stewart 6/1 7th 13th 23rd 1st
Two-time winner; using winning California chassis, a clone of winning Las Vegas car.

3. Greg Biffle 8/1 30th 4th 17th 3rd
Two-time winner with track-best 8.3 average finish in 11 starts; using third-place Las Vegas car.

4. Matt Kenseth 8/1 13th 9th 18th 22nd
Career-best fourth-place finish last fall; using Las Vegas chassis that ran well despite result.

5. Martin Truex Jr. 30/1 26th 3rd 6th 17th
Throw out history, never had cars this fast on a weekly basis; strong final practice.

6. Kasey Kahne 12/1 3rd 24th 9th 19th
Career-best runner-up last fall; top 10 consecutive lap average in final practice using new car.

7. Carl Edwards 10/1 2nd 12th 21st 5th
Sixth or better in six of nine starts; might have been best practices of season using new chassis.

8. Jeff Gordon 10/1 10th 37th 20th 12th
Two-time winner with seven top-5 finishes in 12 starts; encouraging long runs at Texas last week.

9. Mark Martin 35/1 19th 2nd 5th 18th
2005 winner with 13.1 average finish; second-best 10 consecutive lap average in final practice.

10. Kyle Busch 10/1 1st 32nd 25th 23rd
Best finish of seventh in nine starts; signs of life in long runs near end of final practice.

* Results from Las Vegas Motor Speedway Cup race on March 11, a track that is the most similar to Kansas among races thus far.

Note: Practice 1 was almost a throwaway as far as times are concerned because several top drivers gave the appearance of sand-bagging to better position themselves for optimum starting order in qualifying.

Odds courtesy of the LVH.

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