Just one week ago NASCAR restarted its season at Darlington Raceway with social distancing measures in place. Over the past seven days, the NASCAR Cup Series has held two events at Darlington, while the XFINITY Series resumed on Thursday at the track "Too Tough to Tame" as well.
If you thought that was a lot of racing over the course of just one week, then you'd better prepare yourself.
Starting with today's Coca-Cola 600, we'll see four straight days of NASCAR racing at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The XFINITY Series will return to action on Memorial Day with the Gander RV Outdoors Truck Series getting its turn to restart its season on Tuesday, followed by the Cup Series running another race on Wednesday.
That's a lot of racing for fans … and bettors.
Whether you're a seasoned NASCAR bettor or looking for something to sweat over the holiday weekend, here are my three favorite bets for today's Coca-Cola 600.
NASCAR at Charlotte Best Bet Picks
*Odds as of Sunday at 7:30 a.m. ET.
Martin Truex Jr. (+550)
When it comes to Charlotte Motor Speedway, Truex immediately comes to mind.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has won three of the past six races on the Charlotte oval, including a dominant victory in the 2019 Coca-Cola 600 in which Truex finished with the most laps led, the most fast laps and the best driver rating.
In fact, in his last four races on Charlotte's oval, Truex has two wins and a sparkling 1.8 average finish.
DraftKings Sportsbook is offering the best price on Truex, so shop and grab the +550.
[Bet now at DraftKings. CO, NJ, PA, IN and WV only.]
Chase Elliott (+850)
Elliott finished fourth and had the third-best driver rating in the Coke 600 last year, and his speed at Las Vegas in February makes me like him even more on Sunday.
Chase won the first two stages in Vegas, but spun out due to a flat tire while leading the race, which resulted in a 26th-place finish.
And why does Las Vegas matter for this weekend? It's the only 1.5-mile track (just like Charlotte) that the Cup Series has visited this season.
[Bet now at PointsBet. NJ and IN only.]
Ryan Blaney (+1900)
Blaney struggled at Darlington in both races over the last week, but that's not all that unexpected. Ryan has never finished better than 13th at the track "Too Tough to Tame" in seven career Cup starts.
On the other hand, Blaney had the fourth-best driver rating in this race last year and the third-best rating at Las Vegas earlier this season.
In terms of value, this is my favorite bet for the Coca-Cola 600.
