Getty Ryan Blaney (left) and Bubba Wallace (right) celebrate at Talladega Superspeedway.
The NASCAR Cup Series takes on Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, April 24 (3 p.m. ET, FOX), marking a major change from Bristol’s dirt track. There is no clear answer as to which driver will win, but there are some past winners sitting in a four-way tie for the best odds.
BetMGM released the initial odds for the Geico 500 prior to the qualifying sessions. The defending winner with a history of strong runs at superspeedways, Bubba Wallace, sits at the top of the leaderboard at 11-1 odds. Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, and Ryan Blaney all face the same odds due to their past successes at the track.
Every member of this quartet has reached Victory Lane at Talladega Superspeedway. Wallace is the most recent winner while Hamlin has two wins of his own (2014, 2020). Logano is a three-time winner at the superspeedway (2015, 2016, 2018), and Blaney won back-to-back races in 2019 and 2020.
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What About the 6-Time Talladega Winner?
As someone that tied Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon with six wins at Talladega Superspeedway, Brad Keselowski will be a driver at the forefront of the conversation entering the race weekend.
The 2012 Cup Series champion doesn’t have the best odds to win his seventh Talladega race while driving the white Castrol entry, but he is near the top of the list. Keselowski, who won the 2021 Geico 500, currently sits in a tie for the second-best odds at 14-1 overall. He joins 2020 champion Chase Elliott, Daytona 500 winner Austin Cindric, and Phoenix winner Chase Briscoe.
Elliott is the only other driver in this second group to win a Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway. He captured the 2019 Geico 500 while driving the Mountain Dew/Little Caesars Chevrolet and avoiding three separate multi-car incidents.
Drivers Face Several Unknowns Heading Toward Talladega Superspeedway
GettyJoey Logano (left) and Ryan Blaney (right) have past success at Talladega Superspeedway.
There is a common theme throughout the BetMGM odds, which is that several drivers sit in a tie for the respective positions on the leaderboard. The reason is that the superspeedway races have a reputation for massive wrecks, weather-related issues, and unexpected moments. There are simply several unknowns that the top drivers in NASCAR face during their trips to Talladega, Daytona, and the new version of Atlanta.
Adding to this list is the debut of the Gen 7 car on the superspeedway. The drivers took on similar styles of racing at Daytona International Speedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway earlier in the season, but they had time to practice before qualifying. The Geico 500 weekend will be different in that there will not be practice sessions for the Xfinity Series or Cup Series. Instead, both will show up and immediately qualify for the respective races.
With the sizable list of unknowns, there is the expectation that something unexpected will happen. Talladega has a history of stunning wins by several drivers, as well as wild crashes. This trend should only continue as Keselowski, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Wallace, Blaney, and several other drivers fight for a trip to Victory Lane.
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