Martin Truex Jr. Still Trails Harvick in Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Championship Odds Despite Passing Him in Standings After Win at Dover

• Martin Truex Jr. has won two of his last three starts
• Truex Jr. has led at least 10 laps in four of his last five races
• Although Kevin Harvick has yet to win this season, he has finished fourth five times already

As the NASCAR drivers make their turn for Kansas this week, there’s an oddity in the Monster Energy Cup Championship Odds: Martin Truex Jr., who has won two of the last three races and is only 19 points behind Kevin Harvick, finds himself behind him on the odds board.

Let’s take a closer look at the two drivers and determine who is the better futures bet.

2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Championship Odds

*Odds taken 05/08/19

Truex Jr. is on a Roll

Some people might look at Martin Truex Jr.’s season and say that he’s been a little inconsistent. Sure, when you compare him to Kyle Busch, who made NASCAR history with the most consecutive top 10 results, we might agree. However, Truex Jr. has been fantastic this season and is clearly flying under the radar.

The move that won Martin Truex Jr. Stage 2 pic.twitter.com/s3z3ihjue4

— Matt Mayer (@MatthewMayerCBS) May 6, 2019

Truex Jr. has now won two of the last three events. The detractors will point to the fact that he sandwiched a 20th-place result in between and also placed 17th and 12th prior to that, but on the whole, he’s had a great campaign. He started the year with a 35th place result at Daytona and then reeled off five straight top 8’s. Including the two wins now, he’s on a roll.

No Wins, but Harvick Has Finished

Harvick has had an interesting season and one that’s not too different from Truex Jr. He placed 38th at Talladega, 26th at the Daytona 500 and 13th at Bristol. Outside of that, though, he has placed in the top 9 in every single other race. He’s been remarkably consistent, finishing exactly fourth in five races this year.

Behold, @KevinHarvick’s #MillennialCar.

On fleek or yeet? ? pic.twitter.com/ww3m5HfJeW

— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) May 7, 2019

The challenge with Harvick is that he doesn’t have a win. He’s had some great starting spots on the grid too, being in the pole position in Las Vegas and at Richmond. He has a good history at Kansas and if he can pull off a win, that would boost my confidence in him. For now, I’ll pass.

Better Betting Value of the Two?

Kevin Harvick is in second place in terms of the odds, according to most sportsbooks, but is he really the better bet than Truex Jr.? I wouldn’t say so.

Truex Jr. has led at least 10 laps in four of the last five races.

Truex Jr. has momentum on his side right now as his car is red-hot. It’s not just the two wins in the last three races; he’s led at least 10 laps in four of the last five races. That indicates that his car is in great shape. As for Harvick, he’s had great finishes but he’s only led 31 laps since Las Vegas (eight races).

Martin Truex Jr. thanks the Monday crowd https://t.co/r0zzghveR5

— SportsDebatable (@SportsDebatable) May 7, 2019

What I also like about Truex Jr. is that he’s finishing better than he starts. He’s finished no worse than his starting spot in every race except for the Daytona 500. Harvick, on the other hand, has finished worse than he started in two of his last three starts.

I liked Truex Jr. when he was further down the list earlier in the year and I still like him now as he’s climbed. He’ll be a challenger for Kyle Busch the rest of the way and I wouldn’t be surprised if he won it all.