Dean Etheridge
This Sunday sees NASCAR head to Texas for the All-Star race. So with a weekend of NASCAR gimmicks ahead of us, it’s time for some free betting picks.
Yes, this Sunday is the All-Stars race from Texas Motor Speedway, and it promises to be a weekend of gimmicks along with plenty of action and sporting drama.
The All-Stars race is unique. It’s a combination of the usual cut-and-thrust of NASCAR racing, with ideas that wouldn’t be out of place in a Hollywood blockbuster.
- What; NASCAR All-Star Race
- Where; Fort Worth, Texas, USA
- Track; Texas Motor Speedway
- Type; Oval
- Track Length; 1.5 Miles;
- When; Sunday, May 22nd, 2022
- Green Flag; 8 pm ET
2022 All-Stars Race Rules
Right, bear with me on this one please, at its mind-bending.
The winner of this race gets a cool $1 million, while there are no points towards this season’s standings.
Every race winner dating back to the 2021 All-Stars race is guaranteed a starting place. This covers last season’s post-All-Stars race winners, and all of this season’s winners so far.
Also qualifying for the race are four qualifiers from the All-Stars Open – held a couple of hours before this race starts.
An action-packed weekend is coming up at @TXMotorSpeedway.
(oh, and $1,000,000 on the line! 💰) #AllStarRace pic.twitter.com/Y65iGjgygL
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) May 17, 2022
When the race starts, it gets even quirkier. Qualifying starts with one lap time-trials for the cars. The eight fastest cars then go into a separate drivers bracket, and this is where it gets crazier.
The eight cars are then lined up. At the start of the race, the pit crews, yes, you read that correctly, have to do a four-tire stop, and then the cars can drive away once their team’s jack drops. The first driver back to the start/finish line advances to the next round.
This format continues on a knock-out basis until the grid position is formed.
I’m just imagining someone trying to sell this idea to Lewis Hamilton in Formula 1.
The actual race isn’t much easier to follow. The first stage winner gets the number one position in the 50-lap feature ($1 million) race. The second stage winner starts second in the 50-lap feature, with the third stage winner getting third.
Finally, during the second and third stages, a pit-stop competition is held, and the winning team gets their driver the fourth starting place in the feature race.
Whoever thought NASCAR racing was just simply cars going around an Oval-shaped circuit!
Anyway, for more general, or normal NASCAR information, check out our NASCAR betting sites page. Here you will find no end of normal information for betting on Motor Sports.
Right, time for some betting odds and free picks.
All-Stars Race 2022; Winner Betting
After his second-place finish at Kansas last weekend, Kyle Larson is the +600 favorite to take the chequered flag and pick up the winner’s check.
| All-Stars Race Winner; Nascar Cup Series |  |  |
| Kyle Larson | +600 | +600 |
| Kyle Busch | +800 | +750 |
| William Byron | +850 | +1000 |
| Ross Chastain | +1000 | +1000 |
| Chase Elliott | +900 | +1100 |
| Denny Hamlin | +900 | +1100 |
| Ryan Blaney | +1400 | +1100 |
| Martin Truex Jr | +900 | +1100 |
| Christopher Bell | +1500 | +1200 |
| Alex Bowman | +1500 | +1600 |
| Tyler Reddick | +1200 | +1500 |
| Kurt Busch | +1600 | +2000 |
| Joey Logano | +2000 | +2200 |
Last weekend’s third-place finisher, Kyle Busch, is up there as well. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver is just behind Larson in the betting, at odds of +750.
There’s a bit of a free-for-all behind the two Kyles, with a whole host of drivers around the +1000 to +1200 mark.
All-Stars Betting Picks
Right, onto our NASCAR picks, and with this being such a quirky race, we’re going to select some off-the-wall picks.
Kyle Busch +600; To Be on Pole Position
Bit route one, this selection. But Kyle Busch’s pit crew is statistically the fastest in NASCAR this season. So with pit crew speed going to play a vitally important role in winning the qualifying event, it makes perfect sense to wager on Busch being in Pole Position.
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Christopher Bell +750; To Be on Pole Position
Another guy worth a wager for Pole Position is Christopher Bell. His pit crew is up to the job, and Bell has already had three Poles this season. Bell is also a man in form, having finished in Pole Position last weekend in Kansas.
Kyle Larson +600; Race Winner
Did we start to see the real Kyle Larson emerging again at Kansas the last weekend? Larson was in the lead with 8 laps to go when he was overtaken by the eventual winner, Kurt Busch.
Although it was unlike Larson to let a win slip away that close to the finish line, it does suggest he is finally nearly back to his best. To put it another way, when Larson is in that position, he will win more often than not.
Kyle Larson is also the defending champion here having won 12 months ago, making him a more than worthwhile betting pick at +600.
Ryan Blaney +300; Top 3 Finish
As regular readers will know, I like to hedge my wagers on open markets like NASCAR. So with that in mind, I have a little outside wager on Ryan Blaney in the Top 3 Finish market.
Blaney is in good form this year. He sits second in the standings on 423 points, but as yet, has zero race wins to his name. I’m tempted to go with him to win at +1200, but for now, I’ll stick with a Top 3 finish.
Team Penske took three of the Top 5 positions here last year, and with Blaney having already scored four Top 5 finishes this season, I think it’s worth having a wager on him finishing in the Top 3 on Sunday.
