COLUMN: Oddsmakers Point Out Three NASCAR Drivers As Bettin’ Favorites In St. Louis

By Jerry Jordan, Editor

Denny Hamlin pulled off a big win last week – even though the oddsmakers had him at 12-to-1 – with Kyle Busch following him to the checkered flag in second. For the record, I picked Busch to take the win but because a corrupt file destroyed the Kickin’ the Tires website over a week ago, there was no column leading into the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

After much work behind the scenes, the site is back and has more backups and safety features than I care to mention. And that brings me to this week’s Bettin’ pick for the first-ever NASCAR Cup Series race at World Wide Technology Raceway (WWTR) near St. Louis. My pick from the WynnBET Sportsbook favorites list is the guy who has a knack for taking home the win at tracks where the Cup Series races for the first time – Joey Logano at +850 or 8.5-to-1.

Leading into today’s race, his odds are the same as Ryan Blaney and Chase Briscoe. Now, I can understand why Blaney is a favorite but the only real factor in putting Briscoe at the top of the board is that he is on the pole. That doesn’t really mean a lot because, as I have said, this is the first time the series has been to WWTR. There will be numerous strategies playing out throughout the day, so starting on-point doesn’t seem like a huge advantage.

What does seem like an advantage is that Logano’s car was the fastest in practice. And Blaney was second-fastest, right on his bumper. Briscoe was 11th fastest.

Looking back at previous stats for when current Cup Series drivers ran at WWTR in the Xfinity Series, there are a couple of standouts – Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski. However, both are not running up to par this season, so betting on them would be a real gamble. That said, Harvick has two wins and Keselowski has one. Their odds for this week are 28-to-1 for Harvick and 100-to-1 for Keselowski.

Of the two, I would go with Harvick and consider him the longshot for this week. He will start in 20th and was 15th in practice. With Briscoe being on the pole, there will probably be a team meeting before the race to discuss driving lines and how to get the Stewart-Haas Racing cars faster.

This is a little out of order but my mid-tier pick this week is going to be the guy that has sat atop the odds all season – Kyle Larson. It’s been a rough few weeks for Larson but his 11-to-1 action makes him an attractive bet.  Larson will start the race from the 15th position and he was 8th in practice.

Remember, my suggestions are based on what I see at the track and from past performances by drivers. It’s called gambling for a reason and there is no guarantee the drivers I pick will end up in victory lane. If you can’t afford to bet, then don’t. And if you aren’t 21 years of age, you cannot legally gamble, so don’t even think about it. Should you have a problem with sports betting or other forms of gaming, you can get help at 1-800-GAMBLER.

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