The track I consider closest to Richmond for comparison purposes is Phoenix; while Phoenix is longer (one mile) and more shallowly banked, setups tend to verge on similarity, and good performers in the desert tend to overlap with good ones in Richmond. All that said, let's take a look at the best bets in the last "regular-season" race of the 2006 Nextel Cup season.

Last Week: Sweet victory. Sort of. I didn't win the straight-up bet, as Kahne beat the field handily at around 7-1, but I picked Kyle Busch in an upset head-to-head matchup against Burton, and that worked out just fine. So for the week, I finished up 0.61 units (on 1.5 units wagered), which isn't great, but is officially better than a sharp oil gauge in the eye. For the season that puts me at a profit of 16.62 units, and also gives me my fourth consecutive winning week.

Note: The following odds are very preliminary, and the online books haven't posted their head-to-head wagers as of Friday evening (ET). I'll update this article on Saturday morning or afternoon with current odds, and make a H2H pick as well, so please check back.

Take Kevin Harvick (12-1), 1/6th unit. My tendency would be to take a Roush car here, as they were simply awesome at this track in 2005, but I'm through thinking that the Roushketeers' dominance anywhere last year has much effect in '06. Instead, I really like Harvick this weekend. He won Phoenix this spring in fine and dominating fashion, and then probably should've won the Richmond race that Dale Earnhardt Jr. (10-1) won this spring, but for some questionable pit strategy. Harvick also dominated this fall Richmond event in '05 for the race's first half, before falling off. Put it all together, and the short-track-trained Harvick goes into the Chase in style, winning his third race of the season.

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