Miller Lite vs. Budweiser

Author: Jeremy Dunn

Published: Monday Feb 11 2008 2:55pm

You want an out of the ordinary NASCAR betting opportunity? How about this? Betting lines are open at the Palms Casino Resort for a head-to-head challenge from Miller Lite to Budweiser. For the third consecutive season, Miller Brewing Company has issued a challenge to Anheiser-Busch as to which driver will finish higher in the Sprint Cup points standings. With Dale Earnhardt, Jr. as the Budweiser representative in 2006 and 2007, Miller would have won in 2007 while Budweiser would have prevailed in 2006. In both of those seasons, Budweiser rebuffed the challenges.

Miller Brewing Co. has full confidence in Kurt Busch as they have wagered $25,000 on their driver finishing ahead of the new Budweiser spokesperson, Kasey Kahne, in the final Sprint Cup championship standings. All of the potential winnings are donations to the Kurt Busch Foundation. Furthermore, Miller will place $2,500 on the betting table with full confidence that Kurt Busch will finish ahead of Kahne in the upcoming Daytona 500.

For the big money challenge, Kurt Busch is favored to finish 8.5 positions higher than Kasey Kahne in the final NASCAR Sprint Cup championship standings. The odds are clearly on the side of Miller’s spokesperson. Kurt Busch is a past champion and has put together several solid seasons, while Kahne has only finished in the top ten in the standings once in his four-year career. Since his rookie season in 2004, Kahne has finished ahead of Kurt Busch in the championship standings once, in 2006.

Since 2004, Kurt Busch has averaged an 8.5 finishing position in the championship standings, including the 2004 championship. In comparison, Kahne has averaged a 15.8 finishing position in the championship standings.

Kahne has posted 7 career wins, 31 top five finishes, and 49 top ten finishes. Busch has posted 9 wins, 32 top five finishes, and 65 top ten finishes. Note that Busch missed two races in 2005 due to a suspension issued by his former boss Jack Roush.

Kurt Busch is a more versatile driver, thus will contend for wins at tracks that Kahne typically struggles at, such as the road course tracks. However, Kurt Busch is more likely to face a suspension due to some kind of detrimental action. He is characteristically the more aggressive driver, which can work to his advantage, but can potentially work against him.

As far as the Daytona 500 is concerned, Kurt Busch is favored to finish 6.5 positions higher than Kahne. Both drivers are currently winless at the storied facility.

Since 2004, Kasey Kahne has an average finish of 19.5 at Daytona International Raceway with two top ten finishes. Kurt Busch has an average finish of 18th at Daytona, which includes four top five finishes. His best finish in the Daytona 500 is 2nd in 2005 while Kahne’s best finish in the Great American Race is 7th in 2007.

Furthermore, Kahne has led four total laps at Daytona compared to the 141 laps led by Kurt Busch since 2004.

You must also examine the two teams that support each driver. Kurt Busch drives for the esteemed Roger Penske at Penske Racing, and based on 2007, they are the more formidable organization. However, in 2006, Gillett Evernham Motorsports posted significantly superior numbers. Based on the Car of Tomorrow alone, Penske Racing, as a whole, noticeably out-performed Gillett Evernham Motorsports.

In the sixteen Car of Tomorrow races in 2008, Busch posted an average finish of 18.2, which included 1 top five finish and four top ten finishes. Kahne posted an average finish of 22.1, which included 1 top five finish and 2 top ten finishes. Neither driver won a race in the Car of Tomorrow.

Undoubtedly, Miller Lite boasts the better driver on paper, both season-long as well as for the Daytona 500. After dissecting the stats for both drivers, it is almost surprising that the odds do not favor Kurt Busch even more than they already do.

This could be the easiest money a betting man make, as it appears; however, just because Kurt Busch’s overall stats prevail over those of Kasey Kahne’s does not mean that will be the case in 2008. Stranger things have happened in NASCAR. Kahne has proven in the past that he can produce a big season, as he won six races in 2006.

In the Daytona 500, it is more of a crapshoot, so the season-long bet is more prudent.

Miller Lite will also wager money in select races throughout the entire 2008 Sprint Cup campaign.