Team Penske's Ryan Blaney has emerged as the outright favorite to win the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series championship, with FanDuel Sportsbook now listing him at +370 ahead of Hendrick Motorsports' Kyle Larson, who had been a co-favorite, at +470 and Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin, who had been the outright favorite earlier in the playoffs, at +500.
Five other drivers are listed between +500 and +1500, but four others are now considered longshots at +3000.
Unsurprisingly, those four drivers are the drivers who now find themselves below the round of 8 cut line following the round of 12 opener at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
4 longshots to win the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series championship
Three of those four drivers started the round of 12 below the cut line: Trackhouse Racing's Ross Chastain, Team Penske's Austin Cindric, and 23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick. They are now 12, 19, and 23 points below the cutoff, respectively.
The other one, 23XI Racing's Bubba Wallace, actually began the round of 12 above the cut line, but he has plummeted to last place and is 27 points behind.
Team Penske's Joey Logano (+1500), who opened the round of 12 below the cutoff, took advantage of Wallace's drop to vault himself above it and is now sixth in the standings, 24 points to the good.
Reddick and Wallace are both former winners at Kansas Speedway, which is scheduled to host this weekend's race, but Kansas has not been a strong track for 23XI Racing lately, meaning they could both very well end up in must-win situations heading into what is generally a chaotic round of 12 finale at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval next weekend.
Chastain is the reigning winner of the Hollywood Casino 400 presented by ESPN BET, winning at Kansas in September 2024 despite not being a playoff driver at the time. Can he turn it around and make his first deep playoff run since his 2022 runner-up championship finish?
Full NASCAR Cup Series championship odds can be found here. Odds and availability are always subject to change.
Tune in to USA Network at 3:00 p.m. ET this Sunday, September 28 for the live broadcast of the Hollywood Casino 400 presented by ESPN BET from Kansas Speedway. Begin a free trial of FuboTV now and don't miss any of the playoff action!