The NASCAR Cup Series returns to Charlotte Motor Speedway Sunday at 6 p.m. ET for the Coca-Cola 600. Below, we analyze the Coca-Cola 600 odds and betting lines, with NASCAR picks and tips with odds from BetMGM sportsbook.
Coca-Cola 600: What you need to know
Odds courtesy of BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Friday, May 22 at 10 a.m. ET.
After a pair of exciting races at Darlington Raceway, NASCAR Cup Series drivers head up to Charlotte for the longest mileage race of the season. Joe Gibbs Racing’s MARTIN TRUEX JR. (+600) is back to defend his crown after winning the grueling Memorial Day weekend race last season. MTJ has won two of the past three tri-oval races at Charlotte, and three of the past six, including two Coca-Cola 600s. As such, he’ll be a popular betting choice.
- Same-day qualifying will set the field for the Coca-Cola 600, unlike the two previous Darlington races where practice and time trials/qualifying were eliminated. However, the starting grid for next Wednesday’s Charlotte race will be determined by Sunday’s 600 finishing order, using an inversion of positions 1-20, with the positions 21-40 remaining the same.
- Truex has three wins with seven top-5 results and 11 top-10 showings with 972 laps led and a 14.07 Average-Finish Position in 27 career starts at Charlotte.
- The winner of the past three Coca-Cola 600 races has been 14th (Truex), 1st (Kyle Busch) and 22nd (Austin Dillon). Three of the past six Coca-Cola 600 races have been won by the pole sitter, however.
- Toyota has dominated at Charlotte, winning four of the past five Coca-Cola 600 races.
Who is going to win the Coca-Cola 600?
JGR’s KYLE BUSCH (+400) is the overall favorite at Charlotte, as he looks to return to Victory Lane. Busch has just one career win in 30 starts at the Concord, N.C. track, taking checkers in the 2018 installment of the 600.
Busch trails only Hendrick Motorsports driver Jimmie Johnson in laps led at Charlotte Motor Speedway among active drivers, leading the field for 1,449 laps. Johnson has 1,930 in his 35 starts.
DENNY HAMLIN (+900) picked up a victory in Wednesday’s rain-shortened Darlington race, providing his manufacturer with a win at the Toyota 500. As mentioned above, Toyota has dominated the 600 recently, so Hamlin isn’t a bad play to go back-to-back. In fact, all cars in the JGR stable are solid plays this weekend until someone can knock them from the perch.
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Kevin Harvick (+600) of Stewart-Haas Racing and Joey Logano (+850) of Penske Racing are among the top four favorites along with Busch and Truex. Harvick won the Bank of America 500 back in 2014, but hasn’t won a 600 since the 2013 installment when he started 15th. Logano also has a BoA 500 win under his belt, but has yet to pick up checkers in the 600. If you are picking between the two, Happy’s three-career Charlotte wins and eight top-5 showings with a 15.4 AFP is much more attractive than Logano’s six top-5 placements in 20 career starts with a 12.5 AFP at Charlotte.
Charlotte Motor Speedway long-shot bets
Want to think a little outside of the box and go for a long-shot play? Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (+3000) of JTG Daugherty Racing might be worth a roll of the dice. Sure, last Sunday he lasted halfway through Lap 1 at Darlington before an accident, but he’ll put that in the rear-view mirror. His past four starts at Charlotte Motor Speedway have resulted in finishes of 15th, 13th, 10th and 5th, including a 7.5 AFP across his past two 600 starts.
Hendrick’s Alex Bowman (+1200) isn’t exactly a long shot, but anything over +1000 is rather nice when it cashes. He has turned in finishes of ninth and seventh in his past two 600 starts.
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