Four drivers, including three whom many fans expected to be out in the opening round, have been eliminated from NASCAR Cup Series championship contention following the round of 16 finale at Bristol Motor Speedway, leaving 12 contenders with seven races remaining on the schedule.
Four more drivers are set to be eliminated following the three round of 12 races at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Kansas Speedway, and the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval.
Hendrick Motorsports' Kyle Larson and Team Penske's Ryan Blaney are set to open up the round as championship co-favorites to win the title, as both are listed at +450 by FanDuel Sportsbook.
It's an interesting shift from the previous round, when Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin was the favorite, given the fact that Hamlin actually improved upon his playoff position by adding five playoff points with his Gateway victory; Larson and Blaney both fell one spot, yet Hamlin is now listed behind them at +500.
At any rate, the rest of the favorites are fairly obvious, with Hamlin followed by teammates Christopher Bell and Chase Briscoe at +550 and +800, respectively, and Hendrick Motorsports' William Byron in between them at +650. Hendrick's Chase Elliott is also given a better than 1-in-12 shot with 12 drivers left, sitting at +1000.
But who are the longshots to win the NASCAR championship?
Trackhouse Racing's Ross Chastain is the driver who is considered to have the worst shot to win the title, and even though he is a past championship runner-up, it's not hard to see why.
He is set to start the round of 12 in 11th place in the standings, two points below the round of 8 cut line, ahead of only 23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick, who has had a stronger year overall than the driver of the No. 1 Chevrolet.
In fact, while Reddick's 156 laps led this year rank 11th of the 12 remaining title contenders, he's still led more than twice as many laps as Chastain, who's led only 72 and at no point has led more than 25 in a single race. Chastain is behind five non-playoff drivers and two of the playoff drivers who've already been eliminated in that category. As a result, he's listed at +3000.
The other three drivers below the round of 8 cut line to start the round of 12 are the drivers with the next longest odds: Team Penske's Austin Cindric, who many picked to be eliminated in the opening round, is listed at +2500.
Reddick is listed at +2200, and three-time and reigning champion Joey Logano, whose six career Championship 4 appearances have all come in even-numbered years, is listed at +2000.
23XI Racing's Bubba Wallace, who is set to start the round of 12 as the eighth and final driver above the round of 8 cut line, is appropriately listed eighth at +1800.
Full odds can be found here. Odds and availability are always subject to change.
The round of 12 is scheduled to get underway on Sunday, September 21 with the Mobil 1 301, with live coverage set to be provided by USA Network from New Hampshire Motor Speedway beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET. Begin a free trial of FuboTV now and catch all of the action from the "Magic Mile"!