When a season starts in mid-February and does not end until mid-November, it becomes one of the few sports that can be thought of as a year-round betting opportunity. NASCAR's Cup Series may not generate the most significant handle at online sportsbooks such as 5Dimes, but it starts things off with a bang at Daytona International Speedway with its biggest event of the year.
Value Bets for the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series Racing Title
Next Sunday Daytona 500 is NASCAR’s biggest single-day betting event of the year, but this is just the start of the quest to the Cup Series racing title. The schedule consists of 26 regular season events and a 10-race playoff with three elimination rounds. In the end, the top four drivers will battle it out for the title in the final event of the season at Homestead-Miami Speedway directly south of Daytona on Florida’s East Coast.
Favorites to Win
Since NASCAR shifted to the elimination round format in the 10-race playoff ahead of the 2014 Cup Series season, five different drivers have laid claim to the title. Kevin Harvick won it all that season followed by Kyle Busch in 2015. Each driver comes into this year’s campaign looking for their second-career title run as +500 co-favorites to get it done.
Harvick and the No. 4 Ford along with Busch behind the wheel of the No. 18 Toyota have dominated NASCAR over the past few seasons. Last year, they each posted eight Cup Series’ wins with Harvick getting the edge by winning the annual All-Star Race. He also edged out Busch in the year-end championship race to finish third in the final Cup Series point standings.
Even more impressive than almost winning half of last year’s racing events is their consistent finishes in the top five. Harvick posted 23 with Busch right on his heels again with 22. When it comes to the betting value in their odds to win the 2019 racing title, the best option would be to flip a coin and bet accordingly.
Martin Truex Jr. Offers Good Betting Value
As dominant as NASCAR’s top two drivers were last year, you cannot ignore what Martin Truex Jr. was able to accomplish in defense of his 2017 Cup Series title run. He crossed the finish line first in four point-race events as part of his 20 trips around the track with a Top 5 finish. He came about as close as you can to a successful defense after finishing second behind Joey Logano in that final championship race.
This is why it is no big surprise that Truex and his No. 78 Toyota are next on the list at +700 betting odds to with this season’s racing championship. He could almost be lumped into the top group with even better value on a futures bet. Going back to his title run in 2017, Truex won eight Cup Series races that season with half of them coming in the 10-race playoff. Given a possible return to that kind of racing form, this year makes him a very attractive play.
Chase Elliott Can Get All The Money
Chase Elliott comes from excellent racing stock with a father named Bill. The Oddsmakers know just how good he is matching Truex at +700 betting odds to win the 2019 title. He wrapped up his third full season of Cup Series racing with three victories as part of a sixth-place finish in the final point standings. The gap between the driver of the No. 9 Chevrolet and the top three drivers mentioned above still remains wide, but this could be the season that Elliott quickly closes it.
Other Wagering Options
The futures odds to win the 2019 Cup Series racing title for a few of NASCAR’s top contenders starts with another young gun, Kyle Larson at +800. He is joined by Brad Keselowski and last year’s champ Joey Logano at those same betting odds. Ryan Blaney rounds out the trio of young drivers shaping NASCAR’s future at +1000 odds to win the 2019 title.
Odds to win 2019 NASCAR Cup Series championship
- Kevin HARVICK 9/2
- Kyle BUSCH 9/2
- Martin TRUEX JR 6/1
- Chase ELLIOTT 7/1
- Kyle LARSON 7/1
- Brad KESELOWSKI 10/1
- Ryan BLANEY 10/1
- Joey LOGANO 10/1
- Clint BOWYER 15/1
- Erik JONES 15/1
- Aric ALMIROLA 25/1
- Denny HAMLIN 25/1
- Kurt BUSCH 25/1
- Jimmie JOHNSON 30/1
- Daniel SUAREZ 40/1
- Alex BOWMAN 50/1
- Austin DILLON 60/1
- William BYRON 60/1
- Ricky STENHOUSE JR 100/1
- Paul MENARD 100/1
- Daniel HEMRIC 300/1
- Ryan NEWMAN 300/1
- Ryan PREECE 1000/1
- Darrell WALLACE JR 2000/1
- Chris BUESCHER 2000/1
- Matt DIBENEDETTO 2000/1