The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Charlotte for the Bank of America Roval 400 (2:00 p.m. ET, NBC) on Sunday.
The Charlotte Roval marks the sixth and final road course race of the season.
Thankfully, that gives us five races of data to work with to evaluate driver performance at this track type. If we add in previous performances at this track — and also factor in playoff scenarios — there's one driver who really stands out among the Ford camp.
NASCAR Pick for Charlotte
*Odds as of Wednesday afternoon
Chris Buescher has been exceptional on the road courses in 2022. That's especially true for the four races that took place after Circuit of the Americas (COTA).
Between COTA and the next road course race at Sonoma, Buescher participated in a tire test at Watkins Glen.
It appears the team found something there, because after that test Buescher has reeled off four straight top-10 finishes.
The 10th place finish at the Indy road course came in spite of his car catching fire mid-race! That's important to note because the fire unfairly hurt his average running position and driver rating statistics.
In the other three road course races after COTA, Buescher ranked in the top four in average running position, driver rating and average fastest lap percentage.
Michael McDowell is the only other Ford driver to crack the top four in these categories and he's only done so in two of the three.
Speaking of McDowell, he has also reeled off four straight top-10 finishes at the road courses.
It's also nice that Buescher and McDowell can go for the race winning strategy, which gives them the best probability of finishing toward the front.
Other top Ford drivers such as Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney, Chase Briscoe and Austin Cindric have to worry about points racing to varying degrees.
All told, Buescher and McDowell make great bets to finish tops among the blue ovals.
The Bets: Chris Buescher Top Ford +700, Michael McDowell Top Ford +900
Bet to: Buescher +600, McDowell +800
