Time to take a trip in the time machine for this week’s episode of Through the Gears as special guest and this week’s Frontstretch reporter at Darlington Raceway Dalton Hopkins and host Wyatt Watson give a betting preview to Sunday’s (April 6) NASCAR Cup Series Goodyear 400 at the Lady in Black.
Repping Terry Labonte‘s Tony the Tiger stripes on his No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet this weekend, Kyle Larson stands as the favorite this weekend with +500 odds (a bet of $10 wins $50) on FanDuel. Larson is a former winner at Darlington, capturing the 2023 Southern 500 but never winning a race in the spring. Last year, he spun and crashed out of the race.
More trouble for @KyleLarsonRacin with less than 50 to go. https://t.co/BRjnglwIQ6 pic.twitter.com/O6EMrlwSqF
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) May 12, 2024
Tyler Reddick has the second-best odds with +700 odds. Reddick and RFK Racing’s Chris Buescher (+2,800 odds) both clashed at the end of last season’s Goodyear 400, leading to their altercation on pit road post race and Brad Keselowski (+3,000 odds) breaking his long winless streak.
Chris Buescher and Tyler Reddick tangled the last time we were at Darlington. đź‘€
— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) August 27, 2024
Reddick's racing for a regular season championship, while Buescher is fighting to lock in his playoff spot. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/5lUemSi1bi
Among the favorites to win the race are last week’s Martinsville Speedway winner Denny Hamlin at +750 odds, Ryan Blaney at +800 and 2023 winner William Byron at +900.
Other winners in the Next Gen car at Darlington include last year’s Southern 500 winner Chase Briscoe at +1,600 odds, Team Penske’s Joey Logano, who won the 2022 throwback race, and Erik Jones, winner of the 2022 Southern 500.
As Briscoe and Keselowski proved last season, though, Darlington has built a reputation of producing surprise winners. With that, a couple drivers could certainly break through and continue that trend.
Bubba Wallace won the pole for the race last season and won the pole for the Southern 500 last season, taking a stage win in that race. Wallace has shown to have a fast 23XI Racing No. 23 Toyota Camry in the past two races, finishing third at both Homestead-Miami Speedway and Martinsville. With his speed he’s shown at Darlington with a top five and four top 10s in the past five races, Wallace could end his winless streak Sunday.
Buescher’s odds are surprising considering he was so close to taking the win last season. Darlington has continued to be one of his better tracks, and there would be zero surprise seeing the RFK No. 17 Ford Mustang battling for the win yet again in this race.
His teammate Ryan Preece (+7,000 odds) has shown speed in the past few races as well, with multiple top-10 finishes. He and his No. 60 team could play a massive spoiler as well if he finds the same speed his two RFK teammates did last season.
Listen above or wherever you get your podcasts.
Wyatt Watson has followed motorsports closely since 2007. He joined Frontstretch as a journalist in February 2023 after serving in the United States Navy for five years as an Electronic Technician Navigation working on submarines. Wyatt is one of Frontstretch's primary IndyCar correspondents, providing exclusive video content on site. He hosts Frontstretch's Through the Gears podcast and occasionally The Pit Straight.You can find Wyatt's written work in columns such as Friday Faceoff and 2-Headed Monsteras well as exclusive IndyCar features. Wyatt also contributes to Frontstretch's social media team, posting unique and engaging content for Frontstretch.
Wyatt Watson can be found on X @WyattWRacing
Dalton Hopkins began writing for Frontstretch in April 2021. Currently, he is the lead writer for the weekly Thinkin' Out Loud column, co-host of the Frontstretch Happy Hour podcast, and one of our lead reporters. Beforehand, he wrote for IMSA shortly after graduating from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in 2019. Simultaneously, he also serves as a Captain in the US Army.
Follow Dalton on Twitter @PitLaneCPT