NASCAR has a new championship favorite before Talladega playoff race

Through the first four races of the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs, two drivers have spent time as the outright betting favorite to win the championship at FanDuel Sportsbook.

Those two drivers, Hendrick Motorsports' Kyle Larson and Joe Gibbs Racing's Christopher Bell, entered both the round of 16 and the round of 12 in the top two in the standings, thanks to their playoff point totals.

Larson started the playoffs as the outright betting favorite before a rough start to the postseason resulted in the two being listed as co-favorites instead. Bell then overtook Larson after Larson's rough start continued, but Larson re-emerged as the favorite to start the round of 12 after he dominated the round of 16 finale at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Now the two are tied once again.

Contact with the wall ultimately led to a 26th place finish for Larson in the round of 12 opener at Kansas Speedway, and FanDuel Sportsbook now lists him at +450 instead of +400. Bell is still listed at +450 after a fourth place finish in that race.

Bell sits in second place in the point standings, which is where he began the round thanks to his 32 playoff points, while Larson dropped from the lead to fourth. His 47 playoff points are still tops in the series.

Should Larson advance to the round of 8, which is likely but far from a sure thing with two "wild card" races at Talladega Superspeedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval set to determine all eight drivers who advance to the semifinal round, he is guaranteed to start as the points leader.

Larson owns 15 more playoff points than Bell, whose total is still second highest, and there are only seven playoff points up for grabs in each race (one for a stage one win, one for a stage two win, and five for a race win). Even if Bell sweeps the Talladega and Charlotte races, he would have 4,046 points following the reset; Larson, assuming he advances, would have 4,047.

Behind those two is where you can really see just how wide open this championship battle is, with four drivers, including reigning series champion Ryan Blaney of Team Penske, listed at +600.

Points leader William Byron of Hendrick Motorsports is also listed at +600, along with regular season champion Tyler Reddick of 23XI Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin.

Full odds can be found here. Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

Tune in to NBC at 2:00 p.m. ET this Sunday, October 6 for the live broadcast of the YellaWood 500 from Talladega Superspeedway. Start a free trial of FuboTV now and don't miss it!