Yes! NASCAR is back and we don’t mean the iRacing version. This Sunday at the Darlington Raceway in South Carolina the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series resumes. With 2-months away from the track will current standings stand, or will the time off give unexpected faces the opportunity to move up the leaderboard? Bettors are clamoring to get in on the action and this event is shaping up to be one of the highlights of the entire year. Register to make your picks and read below for our prediction.
Busch sits 12th on NASCAR Cup Series standings but he’s the frontrunner to win Darlington at the sportsbook. He finished in the top ten in his last three races at the South Carolina track, coming in 3rd in 2019 where he led for a total of 118 laps. Through his whole career Busch has an average finish of 11.1. Many experts predict that the Joe Gibbs Racer is due for his first win of the tumultuous season.
The sportsbook may list Denny Hamlin (+600), Kevin Harvick (+650), and Martin Truex Jr (+750) ahead of Keselowski when it comes to odds to win Darlington 400, but it seems Vegas neglected to look at the Team Penske driver’s stats on the track. Next to Kyle Larson, who is suspended after using a racial slur during an iRacing event, Keselowski has the best record at Darlington. He has an average finish of 3rd. He came in 5th in 2019 and won the event in 2018.
We may have glossed over Harvick’s name above when assessing Brad Keselowski (+900) but we have to recognize the Stewart-Haas Racer’s impressive record at Darlington. He has an average finish of 4th and stands 3rd in all-best records at the South Carolina track. He may not have won there since 2014, but he’s certainly more than a threat. He’s a solid favorite.
There’s no doubt that Jones is a solid sleeper to win this event. He’s ranked 21st in NASCAR Cup Series standings but he’s fourth best (4.5 average finish) in driver averages at Darlington in recent races, ahead of sportsbook favorite Kyle Busch (average finish of 5th). More importantly, the 23-year-old won Darlington last year and secured a spot in the NASCAR playoffs.
Kyle Busch’s bro sits 16th in Cup Series standings, with +1600 odds to win at the sportsbook which makes him a sleeper. But what makes him a viable sleeper is that he has the sixth best average at Darlington, with an average finish of 6.5 and an average rating of 109.5. He placed 7th in 2019, 6th in 2018, and 3rd in 2017. He’d prefer those places be in reverse order with a win on the near horizon, but don’t count him out this Sunday.
Suarez has +10,000 odds to win at the sportsbook and is ranked 31st in Series standings, making him a legitimate long shot. It’s not too far fetched to pick him as a winner however. He has the 17th best record at Darlington with an average finish of 20. Not great, but he has progressed on the track over each of the last three seasons, coming in 38th in 2017, 29th in 2018, and jumping up to 11th in 2019. He’s set to improve again in 2020, perhaps with an outright win.
