Dean Etheridge
The 2023 NASCAR season is almost upon us and with the likes of Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott expected to challenge 2022 champion Joey Logano for his title, we assess their chances, and look ahead to the season in our NASCAR futures picks.
The Busch Light Clash at The Coliseum gets the season underway on February 5th. The Daytona 500 is the official season start day, and that race takes place on February 19th. As last season showed, a lot of the drivers all have the beating of each other on any given day. So will this season be the same? Or will we see a team or driver dominate the season in a way like Kyle Larson and the Hendrick Motorsports team did in 2021? Particularly in the second half of the season.
2023 NASCAR Futures Betting
The best NASCAR betting sites are favoring the Hendrick Motorsports’ pair of Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson to win the 2023 Drivers Championship. Depending on where you bet, depends on who the favorite is. BetOnline makes Elliott their favorite at +575, with Larson at +600. MyBookie and Bovada both have the two drivers at +600.
After the two Hendrick Motorsports’ drivers comes Denny Hamlin, at +800. Like Larson and Elliott, Hamlin spent most of the season amongst the betting favorites. But he disappointedly fell away at the end of the campaign,
Ryan Blaney is +1000. And after him there are a whole plethora of drivers at +1200. These include Ross Chastain, 2022 champion Joey Logano and fellow top four drivers from last season, Christopher Bell.
The latest betting for 2023 can be found on our odds table below. Here we have used the odds from the best online NASCAR betting sites.
| Odds to win 2023 NASCAR Drivers Championship |  |  |  |
| Chase Elliott | +575 | +600 | +600 |
| Kyle Larson | +600 | +600 | +600 |
| Denny Hamlin | +800 | +800 | +800 |
| Ryan Blaney | +1000 | +1000 | +1000 |
| William Byron | +1200 | +1200 | +1100 |
| Kyle Busch | +1200 | +1200 | +1200 |
| Martin Truex Jr | +1200 | +1200 | +1200 |
| Joey Logano | +1200 | +1200 | +1200 |
| Christopher Bell | +1200 | +1300 | +1300 |
| Ross Chastain | +1200 | +1200 | +1200 |
| Tyler Reddick | +1600 | +1600 | +1600 |
| Kevin Harvick | +1800 | +2000 | +1800 |
| Alex Bowman | +2800 | +3000 | +2800 |
| Chase Briscoe | +4000 | +4000 | +4000 |
| Bubba Wallace Jr | +4000 | +4400 | +4000 |
| Austin Cindric | +5000 | +5500 | +4000 |
| Daniel Suarez | +5000 | +6000 | +4400 |
What happened in the 2022 NASCAR season?
Despite the sportsbooks continually backing Larson and Elliott, it was Joey Logano who ended up winning the Cup Series.
The 22 in ’22 comes true!@joeylogano wins his second NASCAR Cup Series title! pic.twitter.com/38fGnbrZyp
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) November 6, 2022
Logano took the Cup Series Championship race ahead of second placed Ross Chastain. This came after Chase Elliott spun and hit a wall after contact with Chastain. Elliott went into the race as the favorite, but ultimately couldn’t get the job done and repeat his 2020 success.
Chase Elliott can console himself with the fact that he was the standout driver throughout the regular season. Elliott topped the championship points table ahead of the playoffs.
2022 Regular Season Championship! 💪🏻 pic.twitter.com/2L517L7WF9
— Chase Elliott (@chaseelliott) August 21, 2022
As we alluded to above though, throughout 2022 the best NASCAR betting sites favored both Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott for just about the whole season. Logano was nowhere to be seen in the betting a lot of the time.
Originally, Larson started the season as the overwhelming favorite at around +400. The whole season we seemed to be waiting for Larson to catch fire and repeat the form of 2021 that led him to his first, and to date only, Cup Series Championship.
About half way through the season, Larson was replaced as the favorite by Chase Elliott. Elliott was having by far the better season. But it took the sportsbooks a long time to switch to making the 2020 champion the favorite.
This season, if the current odds are anything to go by, the sportsbooks are doing the same with Elliott and Larson.
Can Hendrick Motorsports bounce back after a disappointing 2022?
After dominating the 2020 and 2021 seasons, 2022 ultimately proved to be a disappointment for the Hendrick Motorsports team. As we mentioned above, we spent the first half of the season waiting for Kyle Larson to come good. And then after it was accepted that it was actually Chase Elliott who was the more likely driver to win the championship, he faded badly towards the end of the season.
So can the Hendrick Motorsports’ team get either of their former champion drivers back to their respective form from 2020 or 2021? Or is William Byron now the best bet to win the championship for the legendary NASCAR team?
At +1200 with BetOnline, Byron is certainly far better value. And I’d gladly make him one of my season’s NASCAR betting picks.
Please check out our BetOnline sportsbook review for more great betting offers.
Will Trackhouse Racing build on a promising 2022?
Last season Ross Chastain started the campaign with two wins inside the first ten races. Only William Byron won as many in the opening section of the season. Chastain was there or thereabouts the whole season. And despite the best NASCAR betting sites clearly not giving him as much kudos as the likes of Elliott, Larson and Hamlin when it came to pricing up races, Chastain was always a threat.
Chastain only joined the team in August 2021. When he finished 40th in the Daytona 500, it looked like it might be a long year. But in the end, Chastain finished second in the end of season standings. Beating the two Hendrick drivers (only Elliott qualified for the Championship 4), and this after spending all season behind them in the betting.
Chastain should be a threat again this season. His Trackhouse Racing team might be a new kid on the block. But they sure hit the ground running, and have to be seen as a serious threat in 2023.
Ross Chastain is +1200 to win the 2023 championship, and we think he is well worth risking a few dollars on for a pick.
