It’s another one of those weeks where it looks like someone grabbed the odds board and squeezed it together, top to bottom.
There are no +350s or +400s at the top, and no +100000s and especially no +250000s at the bottom — both are common during a “normal” week at a “normal” track.
But this is Talladega, one of the three “drafting tracks” where horsepower is throttled in the interest of sanity, and therefore where the gulf between, say, Penske Racing and Beard Motorsports grows narrower.
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Several or perhaps many of the regular favorites will be among the drivers in the potential victory mix as Sunday’s checkered flag nears, and one of them is most likely to win. However, on those rare occasions they don’t, it’s usually at one of these types of races.
Let’s peruse the board and see if you can find a semi-dark horse.
NASCAR favorites not as favored at Talladega
+1000: Ryan Blaney
+1200: Joey Logano
+1400: William Byron
+1500: Bubba Wallace, Tyler Reddick
+1600: Austin Cindric, Brad Keselowski, Chase Elliott
+1750: Denny Hamlin
Not sure there’s a betting app out there that takes such wagers, but expect a few of these guys to be in the front pack at the end, a few limping deep in the field, and a few halfway home to Charlotte.
Kyle Busch has a chance, the gamblers say
+2000: Chase Briscoe, Chris Buescher, Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson
+2250: Christopher Bell
+2500: Carson Hocevar, Ross Chastain
+3000: Alex Bowman, Ricky Stenhouse, Ryan Preece, Ty Gibbs
+4000: Josh Berry, Michael McDowell, Zane Smith
It would be cool to see Kyle Busch up front near the end, just to see what he’s willing to do to break that winless skid.
Talladega longshots, some capable
+5000: Austin Dillon, Daniel Suarez, Erik Jones, Noah Gragson, Todd Gilliland
+6000: AJ Allmendinger, Connor Zilisch, Jesse Love, John Hunter Nemechek, Riley Herbst, Shane van Gisbergen, Ty Dillon
+7500: Cole Custer
+15000: Cody Ware
It goes without saying, this is one of those weeks where you could and maybe should go this deep on the board to spend a few bucks. Unfortunately, it’s also one of those weeks where catching such lightning in a bottle would pay much less.
Talladega longest shots
+50000: Casey Mears, Chad Finchum, Daniel Dye, Joey Gase
It’s likely that one of the above four drivers won’t start the race Sunday, since 41 teams are going to Talladega with just 40 spots available for Sunday’s Jack Link’s 500. It’s also possible one of them will lead a lap or two at some point.
— Email Ken Willis at ken.willis@news-jrnl.com
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR betting odds for Talladega race: Kyle Busch has a chance Sunday
Reporting by Ken Willis, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
