Just five races remain in the NASCAR Cup Series season, and after a visit to the very unpredictable Talladega Superspeedway, the series returns to another high-variance track, the Roval at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Sunday's Bank of America Roval 400 (2 p.m. ET, NBC) is also the final race in the Cup Series' Round of 12, meaning it's the final opportunity for playoff drivers to punch their tickets into the Round of 8.
This could certainly ratchet up the intensity in Sunday's race, especially if we see a late caution and restart with playoff positions on the line.
And if you're one looking for a little early NASCAR betting action for Charlotte, there is one featured driver matchup that I like very much for Sunday's Bank of America Roval 400.
NASCAR Pick for Charlotte
*Odds as of Tuesday afternoon
So far the NASCAR Cup Series has raced at five road courses this season, giving us a nice sample of data to analyze.
And after doing so, I'm having trouble figuring out how the Daniel Suarez vs. Joey Logano matchup is priced at -110 both ways (DraftKings).
No matter how you look at the data, Suarez has clearly been the better performer on this track type all season.
Remember, Suarez earned his first career Cup Series victory in a dominant win at Sonoma earlier this year, but he hasn't been a one-trick pony on road courses in 2022.
The driver of the No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevy has three top-five finishes over those five races, including the third-best driver rating, the fourth-best average running position while leading the second-most laps, and running the fifth-most fast laps.
Logano, on the other hand, has just the 14th-best driver rating and the 13th-best average running position, while ranking 22nd in fast laps run and seventh in laps led.
Suarez has even been the better qualifier of the two on road courses this season, so matter how you look at it, this matchup shouldn't be priced as a pick'em.
The bet: Suarez (-110) over Logano
