NASCAR betting: Is it wide open ahead of the first Cup race in St. Louis? – Yahoo Sports

NASCARs Cup Series is making its first trip to World Wide Technologies Raceway on Sunday (3:30 p.m. ET, FS1) and theres a familiar face as the favorite for the win.

Yes, Kyle Larson is once again the betting favorite ahead of the race. But Larson is far from an overwhelming favorite. Hes at +750 to win and there are seven other drivers at +1000 or better to get the win.

The track formerly known as Gateway has hosted NASCAR races since 1997 when it first hosted an Xfinity Series race. The Truck Series began racing at the track a year later.

NASCAR hasnt raced at the track every year since the late 1990s, however. The Xfinity Series departed the track after 2010 and hasnt returned. It races at Portland this weekend. The Truck Series also didnt race from 2011-13 at Gateway before returning in 2014 for an annual weekend.

Kyle Larson is the favorite ahead of Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race at Gateway. (Photo by Jeffrey Vest/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

There are six former Truck Series winners at Gateway in the field for Sundays race, though its doubtful those wins are going to mean too much. Kevin Harvick won in 2010, Bubba Wallace won in 2014, Cole Custer was the winner in 2015, Christopher Bell won in 2016, Justin Haley won in 2018 and Ross Chastain got a win at Gateway in 2019. Chastain is the only driver among the six who you can consider a favorite to win. Hes at +900.

Heres what you need to know to bet Sundays race. The 1.25-mile track is egg-shaped with different corner radiuses at each end of the track. Its a similar shape to Darlington, but Darlington has much more banking and the preferred line is near the wall. The two tracks arent much alike at all.

All odds are from BetMGM.

Kyle Larson (+750)

Denny Hamlin (+800)

Kyle Busch (+800)

Martin Truex Jr. (+900)

Ross Chastain (+900)

William Byron (+900)

Larson continues his run as the weekly favorite and while were skeptical of Larson as the favorite, were also not sure who wed have in his spot if he wasnt the favorite. Hamlin and Busch finished 1-2 in that marathon at Charlotte, while Truex feels on the precipice of a win. Chastain led the most laps at Charlotte and Byron has been fast nearly everywhere this season.

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Joey Logano (+1600)

Alex Bowman (+1800)

Loganos season has been a roller coaster with more downs than ups but hes worth a flier here. With the playing field relatively level for everyone entering Sunday, Bowman feels like a sneaky good bet. Especially at these odds.

Wed probably have Almirola in the next section if he was at +5000 or longer. But at +3300 its hard to find value in a driver who has just four top-10 finishes this season.

The season has been miserable for Keselowski so far. He has one top-10 finish and that came at Daytona to start the season. Theres been some promise in recent weeks, however, and maybe it all comes together this week. This honor was between Keselowski and Bubba Wallace (+8000) as Wallace continues to have speed but an incomprehensibly bad pit crew.

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NASCAR betting: Is it wide open ahead of the first Cup race in St. Louis? - Yahoo Sports