Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin, also known as "him" following his memorable Bristol Motor Speedway driver introduction, finally became the favorite to win the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series championship before the playoffs started.
Hamlin unseated Kyle Larson after Larson had been atop the odds list for months, despite the fact that he was coming off of the most mediocre summer he's ever had as the driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.
Hamlin's status as the favorite, despite the fact that he is the winningest non-champion in the history of the sport (59 victories), was strengthened by the fact that he won the round of 16 race at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway.
That win gave him a series-high five wins this year, even though he is ironically the only one of the 36 full-time drivers who actually missed a regular season race.
Hamlin became the points leader after his Gateway win, and even after a 31st place finish at Bristol, "him" remained on top after the playoff points reset ahead of the round of 12, since his Gateway win boosted him to 34 playoff points. So he is set to begin the second round with 3,034 points, ahead of Larson and teammate William Byron with 3,032.
Still, he has already been unseated as the championship favorite at FanDuel Sportsbook.
Denny Hamlin not the NASCAR championship favorite
Larson is back on top at +450, but the 2021 champion is now joined by a driver who has not yet been the favorite at any point this year: Team Penske's Ryan Blaney.
Blaney has been arguably the strongest driver all year, as evidenced by the fact that, on points alone, he is just 27 points behind Byron in second place, despite DNFs in more than a quarter of the 26 regular season races. The 2023 champion is also listed at +450, ahead of Hamlin at +500.
Given the fact that Team Penske, during the Next Gen era, have seemingly emerged out of nowhere to win all three championships thus far, it's not surprising to see Blaney moving up the odds chart.
He was 13th in the regular season standings in 2023 when he won the title at Phoenix Raceway, and teammate Joey Logano was 15th last year when he did the same. And finishing right behind Logano last year was none other than Blaney.
The No. 12 team and driver combination is one which knows how to get the job done when it counts, and as good as Hamlin has been, he and the No. 11 team haven't been to the Championship 4 since 2021. This latest odds update reflects that.
Blaney is set to begin the round of 12 in fifth place in the point standings following the post-round of 16 reset, placing him 19 points above the round of 8 cut line.
Is he the driver to beat? Can Larson break out of his prolonged slump? Is this finally Hamlin's year? Who are the drivers, like Blaney in 2023 and Logano in 2024, to watch for in terms of their potential to "come out of nowhere" and steal the 2025 crown?
Odds and availability can be found here and are always subject to change.
Race one of round two of this year's NASCAR Cup Series playoffs is the Mobil 1 301, and it is scheduled to take place this Sunday, September 21. Live coverage is set to be provided by USA Network from New Hampshire Motor Speedway starting at 2:00 p.m. ET. Start a free trial of FuboTV and don't miss any postseason action!