The final race of the NASCAR Cup Series regular season goes green on Sunday evening (6 p.m. ET, USA) at Darlington Raceway.
Live NASCAR odds show Kyle Larson (+500) as the Southern 500 favorite, followed by Tyler Reddick (+550), Denny Hamlin (+650), Ryan Blaney (+750) and William Byron (+800).
And while he's among the favorites for Sunday's race in Darlington, South Carolina, I believe Blaney is vastly overrated and ripe for fading.
Here's how I'm doing just that.
Ryan Blaney NASCAR Odds to Fade at Darlington
*Odds as of Sunday morning
There's no doubt that Blaney had a solid Saturday at Darlington, showing solid speed in race trim while qualifying seventh for the Southern 500 today.
However, Blaney has not performed all that well at Darlington since the Next Gen car was introduced in 2022.
Over these five races, Blaney has posted the 12th-best driver rating, with two top 10s and a best finish of ninth (twice).
On the other hand, William Byron has the best driver in the Cup Series at Darlington in the Next Gen era, including one win, four top 10s and a worst finish of 13th.
When it comes to tonight's race, Byron qualified just one spot (eighth) behind Blaney, so based on the data I just laid out above, I'm a bit surprised to see the Hendrick Motorsports driver as the underdog in a head-to-head matchup between the two.
As a result, I'm betting on Byron and his superior track history to finish ahead of Blaney on Sunday night at Darlington.
NASCAR Prediction: William Byron (-110) Over Ryan Blaney – bet365
