Kyle Larson’s odds of winning the NASCAR Cup Series championship improved by more than 66 percent, as every title contender has experienced a line move at PointsBet Sportsbook since the beginning of the season.
With the All-Star Race in the books, Larson is the current favorite to win the championship at +380.
Heading to a new team, with uncertainty surrounding how Larson would adjust after missing most of 2020, he opened the season at +1200.
Larson remained there for three weeks until he scored his first win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. One win has been enough to qualify for the playoffs since NASCAR implemented its current format and Larson’s odds dropped dramatically to +775.
Larson became the favorite to win the championship after winning the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
One way to view American Odds is to move the decimal point two positions to the left. That will let a bettor know what they will make on a $1 bet. The return on investment for +380 odds is $3.80. For bettors more comfortable with fractional odds, a line of +300 is the same as 3/1.
Chase Elliott is tied for second with Martin Truex Jr. at +600.
Elliott was the favorite for the first 13 races with odds as low as +550. Beginning the week after the May 16 Dover race, he lost his primacy and fell to fourth with odds at +750.
Elliott’s win at Circuit of the Americas, second-place finishes in the last two points races, and a third-place finish in the All-Star Race brought him back to +600.
Truex began the season as the fifth-ranked driver with odds of +650. Oddsmakers quickly added points to his line and he was +900 when the series rolled out of Daytona. He assumed the role of favorite for a period of two weeks following Dover and COTA.
At +550, Denny Hamlin was co-favorite to win the championship before cars took to the track in Daytona. Following the All-Star Race, he is ranked fourth at +700.
Hamlin is the only driver among the top five without a victory. But if he maintains his points lead, he would make the playoffs as the regular-season champion, even if there are 16 or more winners.
Kyle Busch rounds out the top five at +750. He opened the season at +900.
Four drivers began the season at +550 and an equal chance to win the championship, according to PointsBet. In addition to Elliott and Hamlin, Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski were co-favored.
But as the season progressed, oddsmakers lost confidence in Harvick. Without a win to his credit, his line is double what he saw in preseason. Harvick is currently ranked eighth at +1100.
Despite his Talladega Superspeedway win, Keselowski has followed a similar progression and is currently listed at +1000.
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