NASCAR: Full championship odds to start the playoffs

By Asher Fair | Sep 5, 2021

Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports, NASCAR (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images) /

The championship odds for the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs have been released by WynnBET, and there are a few surprises.

The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series regular season came to a close this past Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway, with Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney securing his second consecutive win and third win of the year in the season’s 26th race.

A total of 16 drivers are set to battle for the championship over the next 10 weeks. Four drivers will be eliminated after the first three-race round of the playoffs. Four more will be eliminated after the second three-race round of the playoffs, and four more will be eliminated after the third.

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That will leave four drivers to battle for the championship at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday, November 7.

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The 16 playoff drivers all had their point totals reset to 2,000 before the four-round postseason, with additional points added to each depending upon regular season wins, stage wins, and finish in the point standings (see opening playoff standings here).

With the playoffs scheduled to start at Darlington Raceway this Sunday, September 5, who are the favorites to get to the Championship 4 at the four-turn, 1.022-mile (1.645-kilometer) oval in Avondale, Arizona and win the 2021 title?

Here are the full 2021 NASCAR Cup Series championship betting odds to open up the postseason, courtesy of WynnBET.

Kyle Larson: +260
Chase Elliott: +650
Kyle Busch: +750
Denny Hamlin: +750
Martin Truex Jr.: +900
Joey Logano: +1000
Brad Keselowski: +1200
William Byron: +1200
Ryan Blaney: +1400
Kevin Harvick: +1600
Alex Bowman: +1600
Christopher Bell: +2000
Kurt Busch: +3000
Aric Almirola: +5000
Tyler Reddick: +5000
Michael McDowell: +10000

Make your pick now on WynnBET.

Note that WynnBET still has odds listed for drivers who have already been eliminated from the championship and are not even in the playoffs. So do not bet on anybody other than the 16 drivers listed above!

Kyle Larson has obviously established himself as the favorite, collecting more than twice as many playoff points as any other driver throughout the regular season. He won a series-high five races, a series-high 12 stages, and won the regular season championship.

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Beyond him, however, there are a few drivers to make note of. Chase Elliott with +650 odds to repeat as champion looks like a pretty good bet considering the fact that he actually had a better regular season this year than he did last year.

Denny Hamlin at +750 doesn’t seem like a great bet, however. Hamlin is winless in 2021, and you will likely need to win the season finale (and more) to win the championship. Him being tied with Kyle Busch as the third favorite seems a little bit alarming.

Martin Truex Jr. at +900 could be a good bet, considering the fact that all three of his wins so far this season have come at tracks which are featured in the playoffs. In fact, he won at Martinsville Speedway, the host of the round of 8 finale, and Phoenix Raceway, the host of the Championship 4.

Another solid bet appears to be Ryan Blaney at +1400. Blaney is hot right now and is set to enter the playoffs tied for second place in the standings. With a career-high three wins already, does he really only have the ninth best chance to win the title?

Something similar could be asked about Alex Bowman at +1600 (tied for 10th best odds). But despite the fact that he also won three regular season races, Bowman hasn’t been nearly as consistent as Blaney has and actually finished the regular season outside of the top 10 in points.

However, considering how his wins sort of came out of nowhere, he could be a good sleeper pick with those odds. His odds imply that he has less than a 1 in 16 chance to win the title in a 16-driver postseason, despite the fact that he finished the regular season tied for second in wins.

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The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs are scheduled to begin this Sunday, September 5 at Darlington Raceway with the Cook Out Southern 500. This race is set to be broadcast live on NBC Sports Network beginning at 6:00 p.m. ET. Start your free trial of FuboTV today if you have not already done so!

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