NASCAR is putting the rain-filled race weekend at COTA behind them and moving onto one of the premier race weekends on the schedule. The Coca-Cola 600 is set for this Sunday at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
The 600 is an endurance race that starts in the early evening and sunlight and ends several hours later under the lights. That puts the cars and track through several changes as temperatures begin to fade which keeps crew chiefs on their toes.
Heading into the race weekend the favorites list is topped by Martin Truex Jr. at +475. He’s the only driver below +500. Truex has won three of the last five races on the speedway and already has multiple wins this season.
Denny Hamlin rounds out the top favorites at +700. Hamlin has never won at Charlotte and he’s yet to grab his first win of the season. Only six active Cup Series drivers have logged wins at Charlotte on the speedway – not including the road course. Here are the favorite drivers through +1400 to win the Coca- Cola 600 outright according to Intertops.
Martin Truex Jr +475
Kyle Larson +550
Chase Elliott +600
Kyle Busch +600
Denny Hamlin +700
2021 Coca-Cola 600 Preview
Date: Sunday, May 30, 2021, 6:00 pm EST
Track: Charlotte Motor Speedway
Type: Quad Oval, asphalt, 1.5 miles, 4 turns.
Race Distance: 600 miles, 400 laps
Defending Track Winner: Chase Elliott
TV/Radio: FS1 / MRN
2021 Coca-Cola 600 Predictions
Martin Truex Jr +475
If you like playing safe with the favorite then this is a great race to go with Martin Truex Jr. He has won three times at Charlotte including two Coca-Cola 600s. One of those, in 2015, he led 392 of 400 laps! Truex is also the leader in NASCAR fantasy stats with stats that include an eye-popping 1050 laps led. The next driver in that stat category is Kyle Busch with 546 laps out front
Brad Keselowski +900
Brad Keselowski won at Charlotte last season giving him his only victory on the 1.5-mile speedway. He’s had several good runs on similar length tracks this season with a second-place finish at Las Vegas and a third-place run at Kansas. His last ten starts on the speedway include seven runs inside the top ten.
Kevin Harvick +1200
Kevin Harvick is still looking for a win in 2021 and he could finally do it this weekend in the 600. He has two wins at the track and has been in the running there several times. He has 19 top ten finishes there in his Cup Series career.
Others to Consider: Bubba Wallace is a big long-shot at +20000. But he is a good speedway driver and seems to make his way back and forth through the pack on this size track. He could be at the right place at the end of this weekend. William Byron comes in at +1600 along with Alex Bowman. Both have shown some speed this year as well as a 2021 win.
NASCAR Handicapping Statistics
2021 Coca-Cola 600 Odds
Martin Truex Jr +475
Kyle Larson +550
Chase Elliott +600
Kyle Busch +600
Denny Hamlin +700
Brad Keselowski +900
Ryan Blaney +1000
Kevin Harvick +1200
Joey Logano +1400
Alex Bowman +1600
William Byron +1600
Christopher Bell +2500
Kurt Busch +4000
Tyler Reddick +4500
Austin Dillon +5000
Matt Dibenedetto +8000
Aric Almirola +12500
Cole Custer +12500
Chris Buescher +12500
Ricky Stenhouse Jr +15000
Ross Chastain +17500
Michael McDowell +17500
Ryan Newman +17500
Daniel Suarez +17500
Chase Briscoe +17500
Erik Jones +20000
Darrell Wallace Jr. +20000
Ryan Preece +40000
Corey Lajoie +75000
Anthony Alfredo +100000
Justin Haley +100000
Josh Bilicki +200000
James Davison +200000
Quinn Houff +200000
BJ McLeod +200000
Garrett Smithley +200000
David Starr +250000
Cody Ware +250000
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