Oddsmakers place bets on NASCAR Chase fights

In the wake of a fracas involving Matt Kenseth, Brad Keselowski and Denny Hamlin, an online sports book has placed odds on whether another scuffle will occur before the Chase for the Sprint Cup concludes.

A second fight featuring Kenseth, Keselowski and Hamlin as the combatants was given 100-to-1 odds by MyTopSportsbooks.com. However, their analysts believe there is a 5-to-1 chance of another scrap happening between any two drivers before the season concludes Nov. 16.

Probably about right,” Hamlin said Friday at Talladega Superspeedway. “We saw from Saturday night those two aren’t fighters.”

If a second Chase fight takes place, Jeff Gordon (5-to-1) is the favorite to be a participant.

“Gordon has fought on the track before and, in the wake of last week’s altercation, said that he thought the fans and the media loved it; he also excused the conduct of those involved, saying that drivers can become overwhelmed by emotion. Those sound like the words of someone ready and willing for a scrap.”

The talk of whether a second fight will go down follows several on-track encounters between Kenseth and Keselowski a week ago at Charlotte Motor Speedway, which then extended into the garage. As Keselowski was walking back to his hauler, Kenseth came at him from behind and appeared to put Keselowski in a chokehold.

Hamlin, Kenseth’s teammate, was also upset with Keselowski for a separate incident. On the cool-down lap Hamlin brake-checked Keselowski, who responded by trying unsuccessfully to spin Hamlin out. In the garage Hamlin attempted to confront Keselowski, but was restrained by crew members.

NASCAR fined Keselowski $50,000; Kenseth and Hamlin were not penalized. Tony Stewart was fined $25,000 for backing his car into Keselowski.

Hamlin and Keselowski have clashed previously, but the two spoke this week and Hamlin doesn’t expect a renewal of their rivalry.

“I think Brad’s obviously a great talent and I think that Brad really has taken leaps and bounds over where he was when we had our incidents and I think that was 2008 or 2009,” Hamlin said. “I think he’s changed as a person and a driver all for the better. I thought that last week was a bit of a step back for that, but we all have bad weeks and you go through it and you have to just move on.

“He knows where I stand and I feel like once we get to Talladega here and we go racing then things are going to be as if nothing happened last week. Have to be professional about it and you have to move on. There have been discussions -- quite a bit.”