NASCAR odds for Martinsville are top-heavy, with championship contenders heading into Sunday's Xfinity 500 (2 p.m. ET, NBC).
Chase Elliott is the race favorite with +400 odds at bet365, followed by Kyle Larson (+500), William Byron (+550), Martin Truex Jr. (+550) and Ryan Blaney (+600).
A look at the Cup Series playoff picture shows Tyler Reddick and Joey Logano already advancing to next weekend's championship race at Phoenix following wins at Homestead and Las Vegas, respectively.
Christopher Bell is in a solid points position, sitting 29 points above the cutline, with Byron in a more precarious position, just seven points ahead of Kyle Larson for the fourth and final playoff berth.
Denny Hamlin (-18 points below the cutline), Blaney (-38) and Elliott (-43) will all need to race their way into Phoenix, with Blaney and Elliott likely needing wins today at Martinsville to punch their tickets.
This race could get wild with playoff drivers leaving it all on the line to advance to the championship race, but I'm eyeing a car just starting just outside the top 10 to back for Sunday afternoon.
NASCAR Odds, Pick for Martinsville
*Odds as of Saturday night
The tire combination teams will use at Martinsville is expected to be much softer than what was previously run here, and while we won't know for sure until deeper into the race, it did seem to fall off more in yesterday's practice than previous combinations.
If this happens, we could be in for a Josh Berry race.
Berry is a short-track superstar who has won at Martinsville in multiple series, including his first career Xfinity Series victory back in 2021.
The Stewart-Haas Racing driver knows how to take care of tires and showed plenty of pace in practice, ranking seventh in the 10-lap average before qualifying 11th on the starting grid.
Berry's teammates Chase Briscoe and Ryan Preece were also very fast on Saturday, qualifying fourth and eighth, respectively, showing that SHR has brought speed this weekend to Martinsville.
I like Berry very much in this race and am happily backing his +200 price to score a top-1o finish in Sunday's Xfinity 500.
NASCAR Pick:Josh Berry (+200) for a Top-10 Finish — bet365
