Former West Coast NASCAR Champion Leads Phoenix Race Odds

Getty Kyle Larson (left) and Chase Elliott (right) race at Phoenix.

The NASCAR Cup Series caps off its west coast swing with the Ruoff Mortgage 500 at Phoenix Raceway on March 13 (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX). The odds are in, and the defending Cup Series champion is the favorite to return to Victory Lane.

According to BetMGM, Kyle Larson has 4-1 odds to win his second race of the year. He is just ahead of Kyle Busch (7-1), who finished fourth overall at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and Martin Truex Jr. (7-1), who won the 2021 spring race at Phoenix. Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin round out the top five at 8-1 each.

While Truex captured the first trip to Phoenix Raceway in 2021, Larson won the most recent race. He held off Truex during the championship race on November 7, 2021, after leading 107 laps. Larson won his first title while Truex finished second in the championship standings once again.

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Larson Continues to Draw Attention From Oddsmakers

GettyCup Series drivers race at Phoenix in 2021?

The trip to Phoenix Raceway continues a trend that began during the 2021 season. Larson was the favorite to win for the majority of his 10-win season, and he has continued to hold that spot into 2022.

While Hamlin had the best odds to win the Daytona 500 based on his three previous wins, Larson has been the favorite in every race since. He had a slight advantage heading toward Auto Club Speedway, and he responded with his first win of the year.

Larson also held the best odds heading toward Las Vegas, and he nearly won his second consecutive race. He lined up on the front row next to teammate Alex Bowman for the final restart after winning the race off of pit road.

Once the green flag waved, Larson and Bowman raced each other door-to-door until they took the white flag marking one lap remaining. The driver of the No. 48 jumped to the lead on the final lap and won his first race of the year while Larson finished second.

The Active Wins Leader Has Steeper Odds

GettyKevin Harvick prepares for a race at Phoenix Raceway in 2020.

Larson, who is one of four active drivers with one win at Phoenix Raceway, has the best odds entering the weekend. The man with the most wins at the one-mile track has steeper odds to reach Victory Lane.

Kevin Harvick, the 2014 Cup Series champion, is the leader among active drivers with a win at Phoenix. He has reached Victory Lane nine times during his career, including season sweeps in 2006 and 2014, but he only has 18-1 odds to win. This places him behind such names as William Byron (14-1), Ryan Blaney (10-1), and Joey Logano (9-1).

The driver of the No. 4 has had a quieter start to his 2022 campaign. He fell victim to the damaged vehicle policy at Daytona International Speedway, dropping him to a 30th-place finish. He rebounded at Auto Club Speedway with a seventh-place finish before ending his trip to Las Vegas Motor Speedway 12th overall. Now he will return to a track where he has 17 consecutive top-10 finishes.

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