NASCAR: There's a new championship favorite not named Kyle Larson

Hendrick Motorsports' Kyle Larson entered the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs as the betting favorite to win his second championship in four years.

The 2021 series champion came within one point of winning the regular season title, a title he would have won had he simply driven the No. 5 Chevrolet in all 26 regular season races, and he led all drivers with four race victories. His 10 stage wins were tied for the most in the series, and he opened up the playoffs with 40 playoff points, eight more than any other driver.

Following a crash in the playoff opener at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Larson fell down to 10th place in the playoff standings, but he is still well-positioned to advance to the round of 12, provided the final two races of the round of 16 at Watkins Glen International and Bristol Motor Speedway don't also end in disaster.

However, there is another driver who is now listed as a co-favorite to win the 2024 championship.

Listed at +400 (bet $100 to win $400) on FanDuel Sportsbook are both Larson and Joe Gibbs Racing's Christopher Bell.

Bell, thanks to his fourth place finish in the regular season standings, three regular season wins, and 10 regular season stage wins, entered the four-round, 10-race postseason with 32 playoff points, trailing only Larson.

He finished in fourth place at Atlanta and now sits in second in the standings behind reigning champion Ryan Blaney of Team Penske.

Only Larson and Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin have led more laps than Bell this season, and there were a number of races that Bell probably should have won, most notably those at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, Nashville Superspeedway, and Richmond Raceway. He combined to win five of the six stages in those three events.

The driver of the No. 20 Toyota has quietly become an annual championship contender. No other driver qualified for the Championship 4 in both 2022 and 2023, and his consistency is no longer going unnoticed.

Listed behind Bell and Larson are Hamlin at +500 and Blaney at +600. Regular season champion Tyler Reddick of 23XI Racing is listed at +650, along with Hendrick Motorsports' William Byron. Hendrick Motorsports' Chase Elliott is listed at +1200, followed by Atlanta winner Joey Logano of Team Penske at +1400.

There is a bit of a drop-off from Logano to the drivers whose odds are tied for ninth shortest. Joe Gibbs Racing's Martin Truex Jr., who is in his final season as a full-time driver, and RFK Racing's Brad Keselowski are listed at +3000, ahead of Joe Gibbs Racing's Ty Gibbs at +4000.

Longshots include Hendrick Motorsports' Alex Bowman at +5000, Team Penske's Austin Cindric at +6000, Trackhouse Racing Team's Daniel Suarez at +10000, Stewart-Haas Racing's Chase Briscoe at +15000, and Wood Brothers Racing's Harrison Burton at +20000.

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