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NASCAR Coca-Cola 600 betting preview: Kyle Larson enters as the favorite

Coca-Cola 600

6 p.m. ET, Fox

Will Kyle Larson get his second win of the season?

Larson has been one of the strongest drivers in the Cup Series so far in 2021. With Chase Elliott short on fuel during last Sunday's race at COTA, Larson was in line for the win had the race gone the full distance and Elliott been forced to pit. But NASCAR called the race early because of heavy rain and Larson ended up second.

A week earlier, Larson led 263 laps at Dover. Those laps led pushed him ahead of points leader Denny Hamlin for the most laps led of any Cup Series driver this season. Larson (778), Hamlin (751), and Martin Truex Jr. (627) are the only three drivers who have led more than 350 laps.

Combine Larson's overall speed and his early-season win at Las Vegas and you can see why he's the favorite for the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday. Larson enters the race at +500, just ahead of Truex.

Sunday's race will feature practice and qualifying for the second consecutive race. Drivers will qualify on Saturday ahead of the longest race of the Cup Series season.

Here's all you need to know if you're betting Sunday's race. As always, odds are provided by BetMGM.

The favorites

Kyle Larson, +500

Martin Truex Jr., +550

Kyle Busch, +650

Chase Elliott, +700

Denny Hamlin, +750

Truex hasn’t finished outside the top 10 in the last six races on the Charlotte oval and has won two of the last five 600s. He’s also led over 800 laps in the 600 in the last five seasons and even finished second In 2018 when he didn’t lead a single lap. That 2018 race was won by Busch when he led 377 laps. Elliott was in line to win last season’s 600 before a late pit stop, but bounced back and won at the track later that week.

Good mid-tier value

Kevin Harvick, +1200

Joey Logano, +1400

Harvick has two wins in the 600, though they came in 2011 and 2013 while he was racing for Richard Childress Racing. He was 10th in 2019 and fifth in 2020. After struggling from 2016-18 at the Charlotte oval, Logano was second in 2019 and then finished 13th and sixth in the two oval races in 2020.

Don't bet this driver

Kurt Busch, +5000

Busch has regularly finished in the top 10 at Charlotte since winning the 600 in 2010. He’s got 10 top 10s in the 19 oval races since that win. But he has led just 55 laps in the last five years and 54 of those came last season. Couple that with a lack of speed in 2021 and it’s hard to see Busch getting into victory lane.

Looking for a long shot?

Bubba Wallace, +20000

As we’ve said before, the drivers in this tier are nothing more than fliers. But Wallace has the best equipment of anyone in this odds tier so he gets the nod here.

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