NASCAR odds at Bristol: After Erik Jones, Bubba Wallace tips, where to steer you this week
Two weeks ago, we suggested you look into Erik Jones, at +6000, for the Southern 500 at Darlington.
He won.
Last week, we practically begged you to strongly consider Bubba Wallace, at +2000, at Kansas.
He won.
And now we're headed to Bristol for the annual free-for-all, the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race, and frankly, it feels like one of those weeks where you just draw names from an officially licensed trucker cap.
Except . . . what's this? Erik Jones is still getting no love from the odds makers. He's sitting there at +5000, and you know what, this has a similar feel to two weeks back at Darlington.
Like Darlington, Bristol has been a pretty good workshop for Jones. In nine career starts on the high-banked concrete, he has five finishes of eighth or better, including a runner-up, and including top-8 results in his most recent three starts.
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Also, this is the third race of the playoffs, which makes it a cutoff race. The 16-driver playoff field will be trimmed to 12 after Saturday night, and with plenty of good teams around the bubble, expect to see some flaring elbows.
And that means potential mayhem, which always means potential surprise winner.
But other than Erik Jones there in the middle of the board, there's no big-money pick with any sort of track record to consider.
A little higher on the board, you'll find some lower potential payouts, but some worth a look.
Bubba Wallace at Bristol? At +2500, kick those tires!
You know what breeds winning?
Winning.
And Bubba Wallace won last week, capping (for now) a summer of solid racin' for the 23XI team. Bubba has never been much of a factor at Bristol, but then again, until this season, he wasn't a big factor anywhere outside of Daytona and Talladega.
Somehow, race cars seem to sense momentum. It's probably time, after two weeks of outsiders in Victory Lane, for a playoff team to win a playoff race. But +2500 for Bubba just seems a wee bit too high a figure, so he's worth a kick of the tires at that price.
Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott top 3 on Bristol board
As for the playoff drivers, Denny Hamlin is listed as favorite at +650, followed by Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott at +750. For some reason, seven drivers are listed ahead of Joey Logano, who's joined by four others at +1500.
Joey at that price ain't bad, assuming you're banking on a favorite finally winning again. Kevin Harvick shouldn't be overlooked, obviously. He needs to win to remain in the playoffs, and he just might, but at +900, the odds makers obviously feel the same way. That's too low for too much risk.
However, Alex Bowman at +3000 isn't too shabby. A month ago, you wouldn't have bet him at any price, but he's jammed it back in gear lately and it shouldn't be a surprise if he's making donuts under the flag stand late Saturday night.
The board: Denny Hamlin on "the pole"
Denny Hamlin +650
Kyle Larson +750
Chase Elliott +750
Kyle Busch +800
Christopher Bell +800
Kevin Harvick +900
Tyler Reddick +1200
Ross Chastain +1500
William Byron +1500
Ryan Blaney +1500
Martin Truex, Jr. +1500
Joey Logano +1500
Bubba Wallace +2500
Alex Bowman +3000
Chase Briscoe +4000
Daniel Suarez +4000
Erik Jones +5000
Ty Gibbs +5000
Austin Dillon +5000
Aric Almirola +5000
Austin Cindric +5000
Michael McDowell +10000
Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. +10000
Chris Buescher +10000
Brad Keselowski +10000
A.J. Allmendinger +10000
Cole Custer +25000
Ty Dillon +50000
Justin Haley +50000
Harrison Burton +50000
Josh Bilicki +100000
Todd Gilliland +100000
J.J. Yeley +100000
B.J. McLeod +100000
Corey Lajoie +100000
Cody Ware +100000
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: NASCAR odds, Bristol: Bubba Wallace again? Denny Hamlin favored
