The NASCAR Cup Series restarted its season at Darlington Raceway on Sunday and is wasting no time with a second race at the track "Too Tough to Tame" on Wednesday night.
After a dominant victory three days ago, Kevin Harvick is clear favorite for the Toyota 500 (7:30 p.m. ET on FS1), however, due to an inversion setting the starting lineup, Harvick will have to come from the 20th starting position to score back-to-back victories.
And Harvick isn't alone with a less-than-stellar starting spot, as Denny Hamlin, Chase Elliott, Kurt Busch, Alex Bowman, Kyle Busch, William Byron and Jimmie Johnson are all starting outside of the top 15.
Let's take a look at the best bets for Wednesday's Toyota 500 at Darlington.
NASCAR at Darlington Best Bet Picks
Odds as of Wednesday at 7:15 a.m. ET and via PointsBet, where you can get a $200 sign-up bonus.
Kevin Harvick to Win (+425)
Harvick didn't just win The Real Heroes 400 at Darlington on Sunday, he stomped the field. The Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) driver led the most laps, ran the most fast laps and had the best driver rating.
In fact, since joining SHR in 2014, Harvick has two wins and six top-five finishes (!) in seven Darlington races, with a worse finish of ninth. That's pretty good.
As I mentioned above, Harvick will have to come for the 20th position on the starting grid, but considering his past Darlington success and the fact that he's bringing back the same car that he dominated with on Sunday, I'm not all that concerned.
And one more added bonus from Sunday's win — Harvick was able to select the best stall on pit road, which is a huge advantage at a racetrack like Darlington where drivers will likely pit every time the caution flag waves due to tire wear.
[Bet now at PointsBet. NJ and IN only.]
Jimmie Johnson to Win (+1800)
Johnson looked to have the only car capable of running with Harvick on Sunday before getting tangled up with Chris Buescher and wrecking right before the end of Stage 1.
Jimmie got penalized for his poor finish on Sunday with the 38th starting position tonight, but with Harvick already anchoring our card, I'm willing to gamble that Johnson will be fast enough to work his way to the front again.
And just like Sunday, there will be a competition caution tonight due to the lack of practice, and that scheduled yellow will be a huge help for Johnson by letting him close the gap to the cars in front him early in the race.
[Bet now at PointsBet. NJ and IN only.]
Tyler Reddick to Win (+6000)
In the least shocking NASCAR betting news possible, I'm once again on Reddick. Despite a poor starting position and a pit road speeding penalty, the impressive rookie was able to drive through the field two separate times to score a seventh-place finish on Sunday.
That finish wasn't a fluke either, evidenced by the eighth-best driver rating and Reddick's 73 green flag passes — the most in the field.
Reddick was easily a top-10 car on Sunday, but has just the 17th-best odds for the Toyota 500. Hello, value.
[Bet now at PointsBet. NJ and IN only.]
