NASCAR: Coca-Cola 600 Preview

NASCAR heads to Charlotte Motor Speedway for the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday, May 26. Here is a look at the top five betting choices as well as one underdog to consider.

To Win

Kyle Busch +250

Busch finished third at the NASCAR All-Star Race last Saturday on May 18. Although he should drive well in the Coca-Cola 600, Kyle has only been in okay form. He finished 30th at Kansas after a couple of 10th-place finishes at Dover and Talladega. Busch won the Coca-Cola 600 last year.

Kevin Harvick +425

Harvick offers better odds than Busch, but his odds aren’t so much better that we should consider Harvick over Busch. He last won this race in 2013. He finished eighth in 2017 and crashed out of the race last year. Harvick finished second in the All-Star Race. That could set him up for a nice drive in Charlotte. Unfortunately, the only race he has won so far this year is Duel 1 during Daytona weekend.

Martin Truex Jr. +800

Truex Jr.’s got a real chance to take the checkered flag on Sunday. He’s been driving well, winning two of the last five NASCAR races. He’s got five top-five finishes and eight top-10 finishes in the 12 NASCAR events in 2019. Of the favorites, Truex Jr. looks like the most solid choice.

Brad Keselowski +800

Keselowski clocked in fourth place at the 2018 Coca-Cola 600. He won the last real NASCAR race at Kansas on May 11. He finished 11th at the NASCAR All-Star Race. Keselowski’s average finish at Charlotte is 14.39 from his last 18 races. He has won a pole and has a win.

Joey Logano +800

Logano finished 22nd in this race last year. He’s driven well, though, in 2019. Logano finished second at Richmond, fourth at Talladega, and seventh at Dover. He finished 15th at Kansas in May. Joey’s Charlotte Motor Speedway form is pretty good. He’s got five top-five finishes and nine top-10 finishes in 19 races.

The Underdog

William Byron +3300

Byron finished 39th in this race last year, but there are some things to like about his chances in 2019. First, he has an interesting pattern in the last five NASCAR events: He's finished 20th or worse in a race before securing a top-10 finish. He finished 21st at the Monster Energy Open, which means he's due a good race on Sunday based on his previous pattern.

Second, Byron won the pole for the Coca-Cola 600. Who knows? Maybe he takes the lead and doesn’t relinquish it. William Byron qualifies as the top NASCAR underdog to win the Coca-Cola 600.