The 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion will be crowned Sunday (3 p.m. ET, NBC) at Phoenix Raceway.
Unsurprisingly, NASCAR odds for Phoenix show the Championship 4 drivers as the favorites to win Sunday's Championship Race with Kyle Larson listed as the betting favorite at +260, and he's followed by William Byron (+300), Ryan Blaney (+400) and Christopher Bell (+450) at Caesars Sportsbook.
With practice and qualifying now in the books, let's break down my top NASCAR prediction for Sunday's race at Phoenix.
NASCAR Prediction for Phoenix
*NASCAR odds as of Sunday morning
Ryan Blaney has been incredibly fast at Phoenix in the Next Gen era.
Since the start of the 2022 season, Blaney has finishes of fourth, second and second, which translates to the best average finish in the entire NASCAR Cup Series field.
Further, the Team Penske driver has led the most laps and has run the most fast laps while posting the best average running position and top driver rating.
Not bad.
In addition, Blaney showed impressive pace in Friday's practice session, positing the second-best five- and 10-lap averages while improving to the fastest 15- and 20-lap averages.
However, a 15th-place qualifying run will put him last among the Championship 4 on the starting grid, but I'm confident that he will have the time and speed to get to the front before this is all said and done.
Blaney has the best track history at Phoenix in the current car, and his No. 12 Ford was arguably the fastest car in practice, yet he's still not the favorite, according to the latest NASCAR odds, to win Sunday's race.
As a result, there is enough value here for me to grab Blaney to win the race (and not the championship as they're different markets) at +400 odds.
The bet: Blaney (+400) to Win via Caesars
