Another season of NASCAR Sprint Cup racing is right around the corner with the running of the Daytona 500 on Sunday, Feb. 22. Last season I went with Kevin Harvick as my top valued longshot at 16/1 betting odds with Bovada to win the 2014 Sprint Cup title, and he came through with the win.

I am back at it again this season for Doc's Sports with the following look at my top favorite, my top contender and my top-valued longshot to win this season's Sprint Cup title.

Top Favorite

It's pretty much a given that six-time Sprint Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson is once again at the top of this year's list at 5/1 odds to add a seventh title to his already impressive resume. While you could never go wrong with that pick, I am going Jeff Gordon as a 6/1 second-favorite as my top pick among the favorites to win this year's Sprint Cup. He has been one of the pillars of this sport over the past few decades, and it would be a fitting end for him to ride off into the sunset with his fifth career title in his final season of full-time racing.

Jeff Gordon has been opened as a 6/1 second-favorite to win the title this season, and while it would make for a great ending to a storied career, there is some legitimate value in these odds. Gordon was right in the thick of things last season with the No. 24 car by laying claim to four checkered flags and 10 additional Top-5 finishes. Under NASCAR's new rules where the original 16-driver field for the 10-race Chase at the end of the season gets whittled down to the top four drivers for the final race of the year, Gordon made it all the way to sixth-place in the final Sprint Cup standings. There is something that tells me that he will be in that four-man field this season at Miami-Homestead Speedway in late-November.

Top Contender

Dale Earnhardt Jr. has been routinely voted NASCAR's most popular driver for well over 10 years, but last season he finally proved that he belongs in the list of the sport's best drivers with an eighth-place finish in the Sprint Cup standings. He finished the 2014 season with four victories and eight additional Top-5 finishes, and in NASCAR's long and grueling 36-race season he was able to work the No. 88 car into a total of 20 finishes inside the Top 10.

His luck ran out in the Chase with finishes outside the Top 5 in the first six races, but once eliminated from contention he did win at Martinsville in the seventh race of the 10-race playoff. Junior has been opened at 10/1 odds to put the whole package together this time around and win his first career racing title.

Top Value Long shot

Harvick is no longer a long shot to successfully defend his title at 6/1 odds, so I had to dig a bit deeper into the list to find a legitimate threat to upset the field this time around at longer odds. Kasey Kahne has been running the Sprint Cup circuit full time since 2005 when he was named the series rookie of the year. He followed that up with the best season of his career by winning six races in 2006. Since that point, he has won another 10 Sprint Cup point races, including last season's event at Atlanta that secured a spot for the No. 5 car in the Chase. His run in the Chase only lasted four races after finishing outside of the Top 10 in all four events, but there is some solid value in this season's 25/1 odds to return to the form that has made him one of the most promising drivers in the field that is still looking for that first career racing title.

Other Notable Betting Odds

The betting odds for a few of the other top NASCAR drivers in this season's title race start with 2012 champion Brad Keselowski at 7/1. Another up-and-coming star in this series is Joey Logano at 8/1. Matt Kenseth's odds to win the title are set at 10/1 and Denny Hamlin comes in at 14/1 odds after finishing third in the final Sprint Cup standings in 2014.

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