With the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series taking a week off before they get down and dirty at Talladega Superspeedway, race car junkies turn to the NASCAR Nationwide Series for the Mexico 200 in Mexico City, Mexico.  Several top notch Cup drivers will be making the trip south of the border.  Those include the top three in Nationwide series points – Clint Bowyer, Carl Edwards, and Kyle Busch.  Jimmy gave his readers Jimmie Johnson last week in the Subway Fresh Fit 500 to cash tickets as Johnson raced to his first win of the season.

Let's see if NASCAR Handicapping Expert Jimmy Boyd can do it again as he gives Point-Spreads.com the Mexico 200 odds and breaks down this race. Sportsbook.com has Kyle Busch at 4 to 1 odds to win the Mexico 200.

First off, we must acknowledge that the absence of last season's Mexico 200 winner, Juan Pablo Montoya, is a big disappointment since the Columbian driver has a huge fan base in Mexico.  But several car owners have invited the best drivers in Mexico to drive their cars to make up for Montoya's absence.  Adrian Fernandez, Rueben Pardo, and Michel Jourdain will all be given quality cars to drive in front of their home crowd.  All three of these drivers know this track very well and are also experienced road course drivers and that gives them a nice edge here.  Adrian Fernandez will inherit the best car, driving the No. 5 JR Motorsports car – a Hendrick Motorsports car that moved in Dale Earnhardt Junior's Nationwide shop.

Drivers will have to be mindful of where a number of other road course snipers are at all times.  As is the case with each and every NASCAR road course race, several drivers will sign one race contracts to come in and give the top dogs a run for their money.  Scott Pruett, Brian Simo, and Boris Said are three of the best road course drivers on the planet.  Patrick Carpentier, Max Papis, and Ron Hornaday are three more great challengers.

Cashing race day bets is all about pinpointing the best race car driver with the best car on a track that suits their style.  The top driver and car combo this week looks to be Scott Pruett.  Montoya nudged Pruett's bumper to edge him out in last year's Mexico 200 and I think Pruett will bounce back to win it this time around.

Pruett's biggest competition should come from Kyle Busch and Clint Bowyer.  Plain and simple, these guys just have better cars than the rest of the field.  The next three best driver/car combos belong to Mexican drivers Fernandez and Jourdain and road course assassin Patrick Carpentier.

Here's how I see the top 5 shaking out:

#1 Scott Pruett

#2 Kyle Busch

#3 Adrian Fernandez

#4 Clint Bowyer

#5 Patrick Carpenter

Sportsbook.com has posted NASCAR betting odds to win the Mexico 200:

Michel Jourdain 9/1

Sam Hornish Jr 16/1

Boris Said 9/1

Brian Simo 18/1

Ron Hornaday 11/1

Patrick Capentier 8/1

Colin Braun 20/1

Ruben Pardo 20/1

Adrian Fernandez 7/1

Kyle Busch 4/1

Scott Wimmer 11/1

Landon Cassill 15/1

David Ragan 18/1

Brad Keselowski 25/1

Scott Pruett 5/2

Carl Edwards 6/1

Marcos Ambrose 12/1

Max Papis 14/1

Steve Wallace 25/1

David Reutimann 25/1

Erick Darnell 20/1

Jason Leffler 20/1

Clint Bowyer 5/1

Field 12/1

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