NASCAR odds: Public likes Kyle Larson to repeat in Bank of America Roval 400

From 1973-2017, only one driver won the Charlotte Motor Speedway fall race in back-to-back years; Jimmie Johnson won in 2004 and 2005.

After 45 years with one back-to-back winner — the longest stretch with only one back-to-back winner in NASCAR Cup Series history — it took only three years for the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval to squash the parity on the new infield road-course layout for the fall race, with Chase Elliott winning in 2019 and 2020.

If NASCAR odds prove accurate for this weekend‘s Bank of America Roval 400 (Sun. 2 p.m. ET, NBC, PRN, Sirius XM NASCAR), there‘s a good chance of a second back-to-back winner in just four years.

One year after winning for the first time in Charlotte, Kyle Larson has the third-shortest odds at BetMGM to win for the second time. At +800 as of Thursday, he‘s narrowly behind the favorites, Chase Elliott (+400) and Tyler Reddick (+600). And the public is buying Larson stock.

He ranks first in ticket share (7.2%) and third in handle share (12.5%), only behind Elliott (19%) and AJ Allmendinger (13.9%).

Larson and Elliott also face each other in a blockbuster featured matchup at BetMGM:

Chase Elliott (-155) vs. Kyle Larson (+125)

With a combined 28 top-10s, 22 top-5s, and 11 wins in 50 career starts on road courses, Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson are already two of the best road-course drivers in Cup Series history. And they‘ve combined to win the last three Bank of America Roval 400s.

“As the defending Roval winner and most recent road-course winner in general, there would need to be some mighty circumstances for Larson to miss [the Round of 8] at this point despite a somewhat tenuous points gap between him and the bubble,” Pat DeCola wrote in this week‘s NASCAR Power Rankings, noting Larson‘s plus-18 points margin in the playoff standings.

William Byron (-120) vs. Christopher Bell (-110)

Both William Byron and Christopher Bell can rise above the elimination line — Byron is 10th at minus-11, and Bell is 11th at minus-33 — but this still feels like a head-to-head elimination matchup between the rising stars.

Byron led a race-high 30 laps last year but finished 11th, his worst finish in the event since a late wreck led to a 34th-place finish as a rookie in 2018. He‘s still seeking his first Cup Series road-course top-5 finish; he has zero in 20 starts.

MORE: Top 10 lap leaders at the Roval

Bell, meanwhile, has three top fives (and one win) in only 14 career Cup Series road-course starts. And he raced well on this course last year, finishing eighth in his second start on the Charlotte road course.

Byron ranks 14th in race-winner ticket share (2.7%) and 10th in handle share (2.2%), while Bell is ninth in tickets (3.8%) and fifth in handle (5.4%)

Austin Cindric (-120) vs. Chase Briscoe (-110)

Austin Cindric‘s winless drought extended to 30 races with a ninth-place finish last weekend, though it was his eighth straight top-20 finish as he‘s finding some late-season consistency after ups and downs throughout most of his rookie season.

Cindric has zero career Roval starts in Cup — and just one career Cup Series start at Charlotte Motor Speedway — but does have five top-10s in eight Cup Series road-course starts, most recently a second-place finish in Indianapolis two months ago.

Neither Cindric nor Chase Briscoe are popular race-winner picks this week. They have a combined 3.8% of the tickets and 2.5% of the handle, the lowest combined shares of any featured matchup.

Daniel Suárez (-130) vs. Joey Logano (+110)

Joey Logano is one of only three drivers with four top-10 finishes in this event since the transition in 2018. Of those drivers — Ryan Blaney and Alex Bowman are others — he‘s the only one without multiple top-five finishes.

Logano finished 10th in 2018 and 2019, second in 2020, and seventh in 2021. Those are four of 19 career top-10 road-course finishes for the No. 22 driver, most recently finishing third in the Go Bowling at the Glen in August.

Daniel Suárez finished fifth in that race, the lone top-five finish in his last 10 starts after four straight top-10s from the Kwik Trip 250 through the M&M‘s Fan Appreciation 400. He has the sixth-highest race-winner ticket share (4.6%) and eighth-highest handle share (2.8%).

Logano ranks seventh in ticket share (4.2%) and ninth in handle share (2.4%).

You can view updated Bank of America Roval 400 odds and more online sports betting opportunities at the BetMGM online sportsbook.