The betting trends for this weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series race, the Food City Dirt Race, reveal that much of the action has come in on the big-name favorites. According to BetMGM, two drivers with opening odds of 7-1 or shorter on the NASCAR betting markets had drawn at least 7.5% of the tickets before Saturday’s heat races: dirt track experts Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell.
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Betting Trends for NASCAR’s Food City Dirt Race: Big Money on the Favorites
The NASCAR Cup Series will run its lone event on an unpaved surface this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway. The asphalt track has covered its paved surface with dirt for the last two spring events at the venue, and this year is no exception. In theory, that should benefit drivers with experience on dirt tracks like Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell.
Bettors responded to BetMGM’s opening odds by getting plenty of action on the favorites. Larson opened at 5-1 at BetMGM, which is slightly worse than the 11-2 he opened at on DraftKings, but he had drawn 12.5% of the handle on 10.7% of the tickets before Saturday’s heat races. Bell opened at a slightly off-market 7-1 and drew 18.8% of the handle on just 7.6% of the tickets. He now sits at just 6-1 on the book.
Plenty of other favored drivers have drawn support on the betting markets. Joey Logano, who won the inaugural race here before finishing third in 2022, has drawn 11.7% of the handle on 9.6% of the tickets. As a result, BetMGM shortened his opening line of 14-1 to 12-1. Tyler Reddick, another driver with plenty of dirt track experience, drew 6.2% of the handle on 6.2% of the tickets prior to the heat races. His 6-1 odds weren’t enticing enough to attract more significant action.
Kyle Busch, a favorite for the betting public, is the biggest name to have drawn more tickets than money. Before the heat races, he had picked up 9.4% of the tickets but only 8.2% of the handle. Still, BetMGM has shortened his opening NASCAR betting odds of 14-1 to just 10-1.
