Last year’s Darlington winners suggest we should look over toward the fringes of the main stage to find Sunday’s winner.
Brad Keselowski won last year’s spring race at the Lady in Black, grabbing his first checkers in ages. Chase Briscoe won the regular-season finale. It was just his second career win.
Erik Jones was a surprise winner in 2022, but before that, you have to go back to 2011 and Regan Smith’s win to find a Darlington victor you might not have seen coming.
TURBO TIME From the cockpit to the wrench, Joao Barbosa still in the business of speed and efficiency
So this current two-race streak of off-Broadway Darlington winners means a lot, unless it means nothing.
Oddsmakers, of course, play the odds, which is easy for them because they see which way the wind is blowing (i.e. where’s the money flowing) and adjust accordingly.
As you’ll see below, not too many folks are banking on a surprise winner in Sunday’s Goodyear 400. But there are a few racers getting additional respect, while a few guys deep on the board might just be too deep on the board.
Let’s give it a once-over.
Darlington throwback Carl Edwards pic.twitter.com/b9jIzmbGxB
Darlington’s Goodyear 400 favorites: Denny Hamlin caught their eye
+450: Kyle Larson
+600: Denny Hamlin
+650: Ryan Blaney
+850: William Byron
+1100: Christopher Bell
+1300: Chase Briscoe
+1400: Bubba Wallace
+1500: Joey Logano
The gamblers took note of Hamlin’s win at Martinsville last week, as they should. And boy were they quick to start riding shotgun again with Blaney after he ended that horrid little streak of futility. Bubba’s back-to-back third-place runs have pushed him up the board this week. And raise your hand if you’ve seen Joey Logano lately. That’s what I thought.
Next wave of NASCAR faves for Darlington
+2000: Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, Ross Chastain
+2250: Chris Buescher
+2500: Brad Keselowski, Alex Bowman
+3000: Josh Berry
+4000: Ty Gibbs
+5000: Carson Hocevar, Ryan Preece, Austin Cindric
Of the 36 drivers to start all seven races this season, Kez sits 30th in points. THIRTIETH! “Hey, somebody has to be 30th,” you might say, and mathematically speaking, you’re right. But it shouldn’t be a guy who was on nearly everybody’s preseason list of playoff favorites. If not for Ty Gibbs in 31st, Kez would be the biggest downer of the young season.
Bold claims deserve a bold look. @keselowski has a new look as he goes for back-to-back Darlington W’s. pic.twitter.com/SwhzUm1PQD
Any bargains down here?
+6000: Erik Jones
+7500: Noah Gragson
+10000: Daniel Suarez, AJ Allmendinger
+20000: Michael McDowell
+25000: Riley Herbst, Zane Smith, Austin Hill, Austin Dillon, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Cole Custer, Todd Gilliland, Justin Haley
As mentioned earlier, Erik (with a K!) won less than three years ago at Darlington, but it sure seems longer ago than that, doesn’t it? Meanwhile, full-time Xfinity stud Austin Hill is making his first Cup start of the year and 11th of his career. We’re big on Austin Hill here in the gaming hall, and we like that he’s 7-for-7 on top-10s with a pair of seconds in his Xfinity career at Darlington. Wait to see what he’s paying for a top-10 and feel free to be intrigued.
Taking this #ThrowbackThursday back to September 2022 when RE partner, @Erik_Jones, took home the checkered flag at Darlington Raceway! #REequipped | #NASCAR | #NASCAR75 | @TooToughToTame | @MRNRadio pic.twitter.com/tlgVV33dqY
Shouldn’t Shane van Gisbergen be adjusting quicker?
+50000: Shane van Gisbergen, John Hunter Nemechek
+100000: Ty Dillon, Cody Ware
+250000: JJ Yeley
You knew there’d be a big adjustment, but I assumed SVG would turn in one or two respectable oval-track finishes through seven weeks. Nope, and we’re over two months away from the next road-course race and his next chance to hang with the cool kids in the lead pack.
Jackie Stewart tours the Darlington infield during the 1973 Rebel 400 while working as a commentator for ABC.
At the time, Stewart was 2nd in the Formula 1 standings and had won the most recent race in South Africa. He won the championship 6 months later. pic.twitter.com/q3MGmkxc6A
— Email Ken Willis at ken.willis@news-jrnl.com
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR betting odds at Darlington: Denny Hamlin finds love. Guess where Kyle Larson sits
Reporting by Ken Willis, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
