NASCAR: Surprising change made after Kansas playoff race

For some reason, Kyle Larson is listed as a weaker favorite to win the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series championship after earning his third straight win.

Kyle Larson stayed hot on Sunday at Kansas Speedway to secure his third consecutive victory in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, making him the first driver to earn multiple three-race winning streaks in the same season since seven-time champion Dale Earnhardt did so en route to his third championship in 1987.

Larson, who earned a series-high five wins in the 26-race regular season, already has four wins in eight playoff races; nobody else has more than two.

After winning the round of 16 finale at Bristol Motor Speedway, he now rides a three-race winning streak thanks to wins in the round of 12 finale at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval and in the first two races of the round of 8 at Texas Motor Speedway and Kansas Speedway.

Prior to the round of 12, Larson was listed by WynnBET as the clear favorite to win the 2021 championship at +200, a move which made sense considering the fact that he had been the favorite since winning at Sonoma Raceway in June and he had only gotten better since then.

For some reason, his odds dropped to +225 after the round of 12, despite the fact that he added yet another win in the round, the fact that he opened up the round of 8 with a gap that made him all but a lock to reach the Championship 4, and the fact that he had four fewer contenders with whom to deal in the round of 8.

Yet it took a Championship 4 berth-clinching win in the round of 8 opener at Texas Motor Speedway for his odds to do what they should have done several weeks prior: improve to +150.

After winning at Kansas Speedway to solidify his status as the favorite, it looked as though his odds would again reflect that dominance.

For some reason, they did the exact opposite.

Larson is now listed as a +175 favorite to win this year’s title.

Here are the full championship odds ahead of the round of 8 finale at Martinsville Speedway this Sunday afternoon.

• Kyle Larson: +175
• Chase Elliott: +350
• Denny Hamlin: +350
• Kyle Busch: +1000
• Martin Truex Jr.: +1000
• Ryan Blaney: +1100
• Brad Keselowski: +2500
• Joey Logano: +4000

Make your pick now at WynnBET!

On one hand, this change could be justified since we now know which drivers have a better/worse chance to join him in the Championship 4 at Phoenix Raceway.

But on the other hand, we already knew that Larson was locked into the Championship 4 against three other drivers, so his +150 odds really shouldn’t have changed throughout the rest of the round of 8, for better or for worse.

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And they certainly should not have worsened (even though he is still the overwhelming favorite) after yet another victory.

The round of 8 is scheduled to conclude this Sunday, October 31 at Martinsville Speedway with the Xfinity 500, which is set to be broadcast live on NBC beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET. The Championship 4 race is set to be broadcast live from Phoenix Raceway on NBC beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, November 7. Start your free trial of FuboTV today if you have not already done so!