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With a two-week break from racing because of the Summer Olympics in Paris, the next NASCAR Cup Series race will take place in Richmond on Aug. 11.
In the meantime, FrontPageBets takes a look at the favorites to win the Cup Series championship.
There are just four regular-season races remaining when drivers get back on track in two weeks, and 12 of them have already locked up a place in the postseason, leaving just four spots remaining with just as many races to go.
Leading the pack as the odds-on favorite is points leader and driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy Kyle Larson, who has four wins on the season, including last week at the Brickyard 400.
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Larson’s odds to win the Cup title are currently +350.
Larson has led the second-most laps out of any Cup driver (763), and is tied for the most top-5 finishes with 9.
His four victories lead all drivers, and he has 11 top-10 finishes in 21 starts.
Larson won the Cup championship in 2021.
2024 NASCAR Cup Series predictions: Denny Hamlin, Christopher Bell odds
Two Joe Gibbs Racing drivers are right behind Larson on the odds boards: Denny Hamlin and Christopher Bell, both at +375.
Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 JGR Toyota, has three wins on the season – all at tracks a mile or shorter, which bodes well for Richmond in two weeks. He won on that D-shaped, ¾-mile oval back in late March on Easter Sunday.
Hamlin is fourth in Cup points (43 behind Larson), but has led the most laps this season (772). He has nine top-10 finishes, eight of which are top-5s.
Hamlin has never won a Cup Series championship in his career.
His teammate Bell, driver of the No. 20 JGR Toyota, is eighth in Cup points, but also has three victories this season.
Bell has 12 top-10 finishes, including seven top-5s, and has led nearly 600 laps in 22 races.
Rounding out the top four in futures odds to win the Cup Series title is William Byron, driver of the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy.
Bryon, too, has three wins on the season and sits at sixth in points. He’s tied for second with three other drivers for the most top-10s in the Cup Series (12) – seven times he’s finished in the top 5.
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Mike Szvetitz is the General Manager and Content Director for FrontPageBets.com. Szvetitz is a 24-year veteran reporter and editor, including serving 17 years as a sports editor in Florida, Alabama and Virginia, covering everything from preps to pros. His “View From The Lazy Boy” column won multiple state and national awards. He can be reached at mszvetitz@timesdispatch.com.
