Unpredictable NASCAR Season Comes to a Close
In the past, it’s usually been a safe bet that the winner of the season’s final race in Phoenix is somebody in the Championship Four. That’s been the case for Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott the last two seasons and Kyle Busch back in 2019.
The 2022 NASCAR season has been a whole new animal, though. Chris Buescher’s win at Bristol in mid-September made him the record-tying 19th different race winner this season, the most since 2001.
That doesn’t mean any of the final four racers, Joey Logano, Christopher Bell, Ross Chastain, and Chase Elliott, can’t pick up the victory on Sunday; it just means virtually every driver has value on the NASCAR odds for this weekend as a wacky season comes to a close.
Let’s check the latest NASCAR odds, stats, injury reports and NASCAR lines for NASCAR Cup Series Championship. We’ve plenty of NASCAR betting odds for you to consider.
Elliott, Logano Go for Repeats
Winning one Cup Series championship puts you in respected company, but you start to get legend status when you claim multiple crowns. Only nine drivers have won more than two Cup Series championships since 1949, and both Logano and Elliott can climb closer to that company with their second trophy.
Logano won the 2018 Cup Series Championship, while Elliott took home the victory in 2020. Elliott is the big +200 favorite to capture the checkered flag on Sunday, and he had a good showing at Phoenix in the spring, leading 50 laps. Elliott has five wins this season, not just the most of the Championship Four drivers but the most of anybody in the Cup Series.
Logano (+400) looks to close out a nice bounce-back season after winning just one race and finishing in eighth place in the final standings in 2021. Logano has picked up three checkered flags this year and had a top-10 finish at Phoenix in the Spring.
Maiden Title for Chastain or Bell?
The Final Four field is almost perfect (although Kyle Larson or Denny Hamlin might not agree) as it features a couple of past Cup Series winners and two drivers looking for their first title. Bell and Chastain will draw a lot of interest when betting online because they are fan favorites who deserve a Championship win.
Both Bell (+300) and Chastain (+450) have been entertaining drivers during these playoffs. Bell fought off elimination by winning the Charlotte road course in the round of 12 and earning an automatic berth in the round of eight. He was once again on pace to being eliminated last Sunday before dominating for the win at Martinsville, which sent him to Phoenix.
Chastain may have pulled off the most thrilling move of the season – if not the past five years – when he rode the wall at the end of Martinsville to pass multiple cars and finish fourth right ahead of Hamlin, who he beat in points. Some drivers criticized Chastain’s move as dangerous, but Hamlin called it “brilliant.”
NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race Information
- Location: Phoenix Raceway
- Day/Time: Sunday, Nov. 6, 3 p.m. ET
- NASCAR Cup Series Championship Live Stream: NBCSports.com
NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race Betting Odds
| Odds To Win 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Championship | Moneyline |
| Chase Elliott | +200 |
| Christopher Bell | +300 |
| Joey Logano | +400 |
| Ross Chastain | +450 |
| Kyle Larson | +1600 |
| Denny Hamlin | +1600 |
NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race Prediction
You can often trim the Las Vegas odds for the final NASCAR race winner to one of the four drivers in the hunt for the championship. While that’s certainly a bonafide strategy on Sunday, it’s also been a unique season.
While picking Kyle Larson at +1600 is not a stretch, it is a bit off the radar since he’s not a final-four driver. Larson led 68 laps en route to a second-place finish at Martinsville, and the weekend prior, he was in front for 199 laps before getting the victory at Miami.
Basically, Larson has been driving like a man possessed since his altercation with Bubba Wallace at the South Point 400 in Las Vegas, and that trend should continue at the place where he won his championship last season.
