Eric Uribe
After three straight short-track races, NASCAR returns to a familiar high-speed course — Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama on Sunday, April 23. Before you lay a dollar on the Geico 500 race, you absolutely have to read this preview of the event. If you stick around, you’ll even get our three Talladega drivers most worth betting on to take the checkered flag!
Speaking of which, we have to begin with the current odds, as listed on top NASCAR betting sites. The following drivers have the best chances of winning per these bookies:
| Drivers |  |  |  |
| Joey Logan | +1000 | +1000 | +1000 |
| Ryan Blaney | +1100 | +1100 | +1100 |
| Denny Hamlin | +1200 | +1200 | +1200 |
| Chase Elliott | +1200 | +1200 | +1200 |
| William Byron | +1400 | +1400 | +1400 |
| Ross Chastain | +1400 | +1400 | +1400 |
| Brad Keselowski | +1500 | +1500 | +1500 |
| Kyle Busch | +1500 | +1500 | +1500 |
As you can tell, most of the favored drivers are the usual suspects. That makes sense since this season, unlike the last, isn’t nearly as unpredictable. Yes, there’s been seven different winners across nine races, but those victors aren’t coming out of nowhere as they did in 2022. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Kyle Busch, William Byron, Joey Logano, Tyler Reddick, Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell have all won races up to this point.
2023 NASCAR Talladega Race Preview
Let’s start with a quick preview of what lies ahead at Talladega — one of the most iconic locations in the whole sport. It’s a 500-miler with 38 different drivers in the field. The drivers will run 188 laps around the 2.66-mile Superspeedway (the longest oval in the whole circuit). There are a fair amount of obstacles for competitors, including 33 degrees of banking on the turn (yikes), 16.5 degrees of banking on the tri-oval, and 3 degrees on the backstretch.
More than anything else, this race will run like the previous high-banks drafting events so far — Daytona 500 and the Atlanta Motor Speedway. By that, we mean a more widen open race that allows for high speeds and room to overpass other cars. All this makes for a heart-pounding few hours of action.
NASCAR runs at Talladega twice a year — once in the spring and again in the fall for the playoffs. Chastain won in the spring, which explains why he’s one of the betting favorites this time. Elliott won the October event. Bookies are less optimistic about Elliott because he’s still working his way back into shape. An injury sidelined him for six weeks before finally returning at last weekend’s Martinsville competition. He finished 10th, which is promising, but we’re not quite ready to bet on Elliott here.
Who To Bet On 2023 NASCAR Talladega Race?
There are many drivers you could argue to draw a bet to win the 2023 Talladega race. However, among them all, we think the three names listed below should be atop your betting list. Allow us to explain:
Ross Chastain
Alright, out of our three picks, Chastain is the biggest no-brainer. As we mentioned, he won this event a year ago. However, later in the year, he also finished fourth at Talladega. Between those results alone, you know he has what it takes to survive on this fast-paced track.
Kevin Harvick
Harvick is the feel-good story of the weekend. The soon-to-be-retired Harvick will be making start number 800 at ‘Dega in his NASCAR Cup Series career that started in 2001. Only 10 drivers in the sport’s 75-year history have ever hit that milestone, which speaks to Harvick’s longevity. Harvick is already making the best of his final hoorah season, sitting third in the standings. Why not ride that momentum and bet on the legend to come up big here?
Ryan Blaney
Bettors have soured on Blaney amid a startling 55-race-winning drought. Still, if there’s ever a course that can snap Blaney’s unlucky streak, it’s Talladega. In his previous seven races at this track, Blaney has three top-2s — two of which were wins. Blaney has a real shot at winning here despite all the negativity around his losing skid.
How To Watch 2023 NASCAR Talladega Race
The green flag for the race goes down drop at 3:00 pm ET on Sunday. You can watch the 2023 Talladega race in its entirety on FOX if you’re in the United States. The network has exclusive broadcast rights to many NASCAR races, including this one.
Want to stream? Well, if you have any existing cable or satellite package with access to FOX, then you can just use the FOX Sports app as a companion. If you don’t, then there’s always “skinny bundles.” Many streamers — fuboTV or YouTube TV, for example — sell packages that include the FOX Channel. Any one of those will do the trick here too.
How To Bet On 2023 NASCAR Races?
The NASCAR season is only on its 10th race with this weekend’s Talladega competition. It’s still super early! So if you need a trusty online sportsbook to cover you for 2023 NASCAR betting, then look no further than the table below. Any one of these sites will offer the full gamut of NASCAR betting no matter the event.
There’s no shortage of online bookies in the marketplace, however, the five featured here are the “best of the best.” To pick the best sportsbook for you, we strongly urge you to read our reviews (links in the table). Those reviews will give you a breakdown of each site from A to Z so you know what you’re getting before you put money down on NASCAR.
