NASCAR playoff contender no longer the championship favorite

The NASCAR Cup Series playoffs have presented somewhat of a trend through the first two rounds. Hendrick Motorsports' Kyle Larson, who comfortably leads the series in playoff points, starts each round as the championship betting favorite, only to lose his status as the favorite – or more specifically, be joined by a co-favorite – after a disastrous opening race.

It happened at Atlanta Motor Speedway in the round of 16, and it happened at Kansas Speedway in the round of 12. On both occasions, it was Joe Gibbs Racing's Christopher Bell who emerged as that co-favorite. He even became the outright favorite at one point.

Yet another trend is developing. Larson closed out the round of 16 with a near-perfect domination at Bristol Motor Speedway to re-establish himself as the outright favorite, adding seven playoff points to his total in the process. Now he has done the same at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval to close out the round of 12, adding five more.

Larson back as outright favorite; Bell second

At DraftKings Sportsbook, the 2021 series champion is now listed at +370 (bet $100 to win $370) to win the championship, ahead of Bell at +450 and 23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick at +500.

Larson and Bell had both been listed at +450 prior to Larson's domination at Charlotte, thanks to a questionable change that never made much sense after the Kansas race.

Larson is set to open up the round of 8 sitting 33 points above the Championship 4 cut line and 20 points ahead of Bell in second place, giving him a bit of a buffer as he aims to get back to the winner-take-all round at Phoenix Raceway for the third time in the last four years.

Reigning champion Ryan Blaney of Team Penske and Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin are listed at +600, while Hendrick Motorsports' William Byron is listed at +650 and teammate Chase Elliott is listed at +1000. Team Penske's Joey Logano is listed at +1200.

Larson has won at all four tracks remaining on the 2024 playoff schedule before, including Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Las Vegas is scheduled to host the first of three races in the round of 8 this Sunday, October 20, with live coverage set to be provided by NBC beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET. Start a free trial of FuboTV and don't miss the South Point 400!