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- The 2024 NASCAR Cup Series began on February 18 with the Daytona 500.
- Ryan Blaney looks to become the first driver to win back-to-back NASCAR Cup Championships since Jimmie Johnson won five straight between 2006 and 2010.
- Kyle Larson is the new betting favorite after four races in the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season.
When the early betting odds came out for the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season, 2023 champion Ryan Blaney was the early favorite. While Blaney remains among the betting favorites after the first four races of the 2024 NASCAR season, he is no longer the overall betting favorite despite being the points leader in the NASCAR standings. Today, heading into Sunday’s Food City 500 in Bristol, Tennessee, the overall betting favorite to win the 2024 NASCAR Cup Championship is Kyle Larson, who won the championship in 2021 and finished in second place in 2023.
The winners of the four races held so far for the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season are: William Byron (Daytona 500), Daniel Suarez (Ambetter Health 400), Kyle Larson (Pennzoil 400), and Christopher Bell (Shriners Children’s 500). Blaney’s best finish so far this year was second in Atlanta.
Before we look at the three betting favorites to win the 2024 NASCAR Cup Championship, check out the best betting sites for NASCAR, as well as our tips on betting on NASCAR.
2024 NASCAR Cup Series Championship Futures
Kyle Larson
Kyle Larson, the winner of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Championship, placed second in 2023, following a seventh-place finish in 2022. Larson, the driver of the No. 5 Chevy for Hendrick Motorsports, won four races last year, including two playoff races. He was leading the playoffs after a win in Las Vegas, but a 34th-place finish at Homestead hurt his chances of winning the championship in a big way. Larson was in second place in that race when he crashed heading into pit road during the race’s final stage. He bounced back from that by finishing sixth and third in the last two competitions of the year.
Larson was one of the fastest drivers last season and led more laps than any other driver with 1,127. He wrapped up the year by placing inside the top five 15 times and in the top 10 in 18 races. He failed to finish eight races.
The 31-year-old is currently in second place in the points standings with 141 points. No one has come close to the 205 laps he has led in the first four races of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season. Larson has one race victory, and he is the only driver with two stage wins this year.
Larson opened the 2024 NASCAR season with odds of +500 to win the championship.
Ryan Blaney
Ryan Blaney’s betting odds to win the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Championship have gone from +550 before the Daytona 500 to +1100 ahead of this week’s race in Bristol. Because of that dip in the odds, Blaney presents a lot more betting value than he did before the season began.
Blaney, the driver of the No. 12 Ford for Team Penske, did well in the playoffs last year but wasn’t a dominant force in the regular season, where his only win was at the 2023 Coca-Cola 600. Further, Blaney failed to start any races in the pole position. Before his 2023 Championship win, Blaney had never broken into the top five at the end of a NASCAR season. He wrapped up the 2022 season in eighth place without winning a single race.
The 30-year-old Blaney finished 2023 with three wins, eight top-fives and 18 top-10s. He led 562 laps throughout the season, had six stage wins, and failed to finish eight races.
While Blaney placed poorly in Daytona because of a late crash, he placed well in the following three races, finishing second in Atlanta, third in Las Vegas, and fifth in Phoenix. Blaney is the points leader with 151. He has led 43 laps this season and picked up one stage win.
William Byron
William Byron finished the 2023 NASCAR Cup Championship season as the No. 3 driver, marking the first time in his career that he broke into the top five. In 2022, he placed sixth. This year, he opened the season with a win at the Daytona 500. The driver of the No. 24 Chevy for Hendrick Motorsports, Byron followed that by placing 17th in Atlanta, 10th in Las Vegas, and 18th in Phoenix.
Byron is currently fourth in the points race with 134. He has led 19 laps this year and has yet to win a stage. Byron could pick up some ground in Bristol this weekend, as he placed third on the track in 2021 and 2022 while finishing ninth last year.
The 26-year-old began the 2024 NASCAR season with odds of +550 to become champion at the end of the season.
Best bet to win 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Championship
While any of the three drivers mentioned above are sound betting picks to win the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series championship, we’re looking at Kyle Larson to continue being one of the most consistent, and fastest, drivers this year. The betting pick is for Kyle Larson to win the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Championship, but Ryan Blaney could be a good value bet.
See below a list of reliable sportsbooks and choose the best one for you.
