2022 NASCAR Cup Series Drivers Championship Odds Update

The 74th professional stock car racing season of NASCAR continues on Sunday, April 17 with the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Food City Dirt Race at iconic Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee and the ninth race on the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Schedule.

The first seven races of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season saw a different Driver win every week until Race 8 last Sunday when William Byron won his second race of the season capturing the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 400 at Martinsville Speedway.

2022 NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race Wide Open

Byron (7/1 to win 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Championship, BetUS) also won Race 5 and the NASCAR Quik Trip 500 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday, March 20 and currently sits in first place in the NASCAR Cup Series points race with 276 right now.

And with Byron winning twice, that’s a good thing for NASCAR Cup Series betting and the fact that the odds favorites have done so poorly in the races in March and April means that the Championship is wide open, but obviously, making the Playoff cut at 16 is huge.

In Race 1 at the Daytona 500, Rookie Austin Cindric was the surprise longshot (28/1) winner, Chase Briscoe won Race 2, the Ruoff Mortgage 500 at the Phoenix Raceway, and in Race 3, Alex Bowman won the Pennzoil 400 here at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Byron (15/1) won the aforementioned Quik Trip 500 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway and Race 5 and Race 6 was the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, and Ross Chastain (20/1) was the winner in that one Sunday, March 27.

Denny Hamlin won Race 7, the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway on Sunday, April 3 and Byron became the season’s first repeat winner in Race 8 last weekend at the Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, Virginia winning on Saturday, April 9.

So longer shots have fared well this 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season and each race as well as the Driver’s Championship is wide open and two-time winner Byron is now the third favorite to win the points title, behind Larson (5/1) and Chase Elliott (+650).

Spin your tires on it 😤 #ItsDirtBaby pic.twitter.com/YB0vuKeaDn

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) April 13, 2022

And whoever wins this weekend in the 2022 Food City Dirt Race may suddenly be the new odds golden boy in a season which may change with every pit stop, restart, lap, and race with so much racing left in the Spring, Summer and Fall and a dozen drivers who can win.

The 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Regular Season ends on Saturday, August 27 where it began with the 2022 Coke Zero Sugar 400 from the Daytona Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, and this NASCAR Cup Series season with the new NextGen NASCAR cars.

The 2022 NASCAR Playoffs start with the CookOut Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, South Carolina on September 4, and will end in the Sonoran Desert with the NASCAR Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, AZ on November 6.

The NASCAR Championship Playoffs start with the top 16 drivers in the points standings qualifying for the 2022 NASCAR Playoffs and the final 10 races. Four drivers will then be eliminated after the first three races in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs later this year.

The drivers are then pared down from 12 to 8 and then on to a final Championship Four with those four drivers fighting for the title in the last race with the remaining driver that finishes closer to front winning the NASCAR Cup Series Championship crown. Vrooom.

The top NASCAR sportsbooks on the Internet offer legal odds online on NASCAR Cup, NASCAR Xfinity Series, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, Trucks Series XPEL 225, F1, NHRA, IndyCar, and other Car Racing Futures betting markets like Driver’s matchups.

All 2022 NASCAR Cup Series races this season are streaming on FOX and the App is Available on Smartphones and Mobile Devices, watching and legally betting—30 states in the US right now—on NASCAR is easier, safer, and quicker than it has ever been.

Oddsmakers the Car Racing-savvy online sportsbook BetUS still have Kyle Larson (201 points) as the favorite to win the 2022 NASCAR Series Cup championship at 5/1 but he was +350 last time we looked and anyone can win this thing with so much racing ahead.

2022 NASCAR Cup Series Championship Odds to Win

• Kyle Larson +500 (Was +350)
• Chase Elliott +650 (+550)
• William Byron +700 (+800)
• Denny Hamlin +900 (+750)
• Ryan Blaney +1000 (+1200)
• Kyle Busch +1000 (+800)
• Joey Logano +1200 (+1000)
• Martin Truex Jr. +1200 (+1000)
• Alex Bowman +1400 (+1600)
• Ross Chastain +1600 (+8000)
• Kevin Harvick +1600 (+1400)
• Tyler Reddick +2000 (+3300)
• Chase Briscoe +2500 (+8000)
• Christopher Bell +2800 (+2000)
• Austin Cindric +2800 (+8000)
• Kurt Busch +4000 (+2500)
• Daniel Suárez +4000 (+10000)
• Austin Dillon +8000 (+10000)
• Brad Keselowski +8000 (+2200)
• Aric Almirola +10000 (+10000)
• Bubba Wallace Jr. +15000 (+10000)
• Justin Haley +20000 (+15000)
• Chris Buescher +25000 (+25000)
• Cole Custer +25000 (+15000)
• Ricky Stenhouse Jr. +25000 (+25000)

Seven different organizations finished in the top 10 Saturday night at @MartinsvilleSwy. pic.twitter.com/tXNnWYiB8Z

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) April 11, 2022

NASCAR Cup Series Winners, Owner (Team) 2000-2021

• 2021—Kyle Larson, Rick Hendrick (Hendrick Motorsports)
• 2020—Chase Elliott, Rick Hendrick (Hendrick Motorsports)
• 2019—Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs (Joe Gibbs Racing)
• 2018—Joey Logano, Roger Penske (Team Penske)
• 2017—Martin Truex, Jr, Barney Visser (Furniture Row Racing)
• 2016—Jimmie Johnson, Rick Hendrick (Hendrick Motorsports)
• 2015—Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs (Joe Gibbs Racing)
• 2014—Kevin Harvick, Tony Stewart, Gene Haas (Stewart-Haas Racing)
• 2013—Jimmie Johnson, Rick Hendrick, Jeff Gordon (Hendrick Motorsports)
• 2012—Brad Keselowski, Roger Penske (Team Penske)
• 2011—Tony Stewart, Joe Gibbs (Joe Gibbs Racing)
• 2010—Jimmie Johnson, Rick Hendrick, Jeff Gordon (Hendrick Motorsports)
• 2009—Jimmie Johnson, Rick Hendrick, Jeff Gordon (Hendrick Motorsports)
• 2008—Jimmie Johnson, Rick Hendrick, Jeff Gordon (Hendrick Motorsports)
• 2007—Jimmie Johnson, Rick Hendrick, Jeff Gordon (Hendrick Motorsports)
• 2006—Jimmie Johnson, Rick Hendrick, Jeff Gordon (Hendrick Motorsports)
• 2005—Tony Stewart, Joe Gibbs (Joe Gibbs Racing)
• 2004—Kurt Busch, Jack Roush (Roush Racing)
• 2003—Matt Kenseth, Jack Roush (Roush Racing)
• 2002—Tony Stewart, Joe Gibbs (Joe Gibbs Racing)
• 2001—Jeff Gordon, Rick Hendrick (Hendrick Motorsports)
• 2000—Bobby Labonte, Joe Gibbs (Joe Gibbs Racing)

2022 NASCAR Cup Series Standings

• 1—William Byron 276
• 2—Ross Chastain 237
• 3—Alex Bowman 237
• 4—Chase Briscoe 220
• 5—Kyle Larson 201
• 6—Austin Cindric 201
• 7—Denny Hamlin 157
• 8—Chase Elliott 288
• 9—Ryan Blaney 285
• 10—Joey Logano 261
• 11—Martin Truex Jr. 237
• 12—Aric Almirola 223
• 13—Kevin Harvick 222
• 14—Kyle Busch 221
• 15—Tyler Reddick 202
• 16—Austin Dillon 197
• 17—Kurt Busch 187
• 18—Erik Jones 181
• 19—Daniel Suárez 179
• 20—Christopher Bell 173
• 21—Chris Buescher 173
• 22—Bubba Wallace
• 23—Justin Haley 135
• 24—Cole Custer 135
• 25—Ty Dillon 130
• 26—Michael McDowell 121
• 27—Ty Dillon 130
• 28—Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 111
• 29—Harrison Burton 110
• 30—Corey Lajoie 99

Hendrick Motorsports Proving Hard Team to Beat in 2022

After the first eight of the 26 NASCAR Cup Series races this year, it’s evident that no one can predict what might happen from any given Sunday to Sunday, and that’s good for both the sportsbooks as well as the rare NASCAR gambler that picks the right race winner.

Nailing the winner this year has been hard this year and the favorites in each race have not fared well at all. This Sunday, oddsmakers have Kyle Larson (+450) the favorite to win in the dirt at Bristol in what will be a great race to watch visually and challenging for drivers.

This 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season is shaping up to be a very competitive and entertaining one with a number of Drivers, Owners, and Teams very capable of winning their respective championships and a different Driver has won the last six seasons.

Rick Hendrick and Hendrick Motorsports can proudly claim the last two NASCAR Series Cup champions, defending champ Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott (12/1 to win the Food City Dirt Race) and it wouldn’t surprise anyone if Hendrick delivered another winner.

And now with the oddsmakers top three Favorites coming from Hendrick Motorsports, with Byron and his No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 the third choice on the betting board, it will be hard for another team now to have a driver finish higher than a Hendrick driver.

Toss in talented teammate Alex Bowman (14/1 to win the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Championship)—who might not be as well known as Larson, Elliott, or Byron—and this is an absolutely fabulous Hendrick Motorsports team that will likely provide the winner.

And with Hendrick Motorsports so dominant with the new NextGen cars delivering thrills and Byron having had the best average finish last season on 1.5-mile tracks and two wins under his safety belt means betting on Elliott and/or Byron now might be a wise wager.

.@chaseelliott‘s Saturday at @MartinsvilleSwy:

— Led 185 laps

— Finished 10th

— Broke a tie with @Blaney for the series points lead pic.twitter.com/UBQdnDI5uz

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) April 10, 2022

The 2022 Daytona 500 Favorite Denny Hamlin (9/1 to win 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Championship) has a Win already in the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway and the veteran NASCAR driver can’t be counted out but overcoming the three above him?

Kyle Busch (10/1), Joey Logano (12/1), Martin Truex Jr. (12/1), Alex Bowman (14/1), Ross Chastain (16/1), Kevin Harvick (16/1), and Tyler Reddick (20/1) are all capable of winning two to four races and winning the points title and Chastain went from 80/1 to 16/1.

And don’t count out drivers like Kyle Busch (10/1), and brother Kurt Busch (187), but Kurt is currently sitting in 17th place—Kyle (221 points) is in 14th place—and wouldn’t make the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs if the season ended today. But it doesn’t, Bubba.

So will we see a seventh different driver end up winning the NASCAR Cup Series Championship this 2022 racing season? Or will someone like odds favorite and last year’s winner Larson, Elliott, Kyle Busch, Logano, or Martin Truex Jr. repeat? Time will tell.

Hendrick teammates Byron, Elliott, and Bowman intrigue me most and I am sticking with Chase Elliot to win his second championship in three seasons as Hendrick Motorsports makes it three straight championships and an amazing 11 in the last 23 NASCAR seasons.