Following a successful two days at Darlington Raceway earlier this week, Kyle Busch will have his sights set on the winner’s circle when he returns to the track on Sunday for the Coca-Cola 600 as a +450 betting favourite at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Busch has been a steady performer in 2020. The 35-year-old followed up on his second-place run in Wednesday’s Toyota 500 by finishing a close second in the Toyota 200 on Thursday. Overall, Busch has finished in the top three in two straight NASCAR Xfinity Series races, and in three of his past four NASCAR Cup Series outings going into Sunday afternoon’s running of the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in North Carolina.
Despite that success, the checkered flag has eluded Busch so far this season. However, the reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion cannot be counted out at Charlotte, where he has been a perennial threat with top-three runs in his past three appearances — including a victory in the 2018 edition of this race.
Busch is closely trailed on the Coca-Cola 600 odds by Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr., who sit deadlocked as +550 co-second favourites. Harvick rocketed to the top of the NASCAR Cup standings with solid results at Darlington, tallying a third-place finish at the Toyota 500 after claiming victory at last weekend’s The Real Heroes 400. Harvick also has two career victories to his credit at Charlotte, but has failed to finish better than 10th in each of his past two appearances in the Coca-Cola 600.
Truex returns to Charlotte as the Coca-Cola 600 defending champion, and has reached the podium in each of his past three appearances on this track. However, the 39-year-old has struggled at times in 2020, finishing better than 10th just once in his past six NASCAR Cup races.
Further down the Coca-Cola 600 odds at sports betting sites, Brad Keselowski joins Joey Logano at +800. Chase Elliott follows at +900, just ahead of the winner in Wednesday’s Toyota 500, Denny Hamlin, who lags at +1000.
Logano has powered to a pair of wins so far this year, but failed to capitalize on a strong starting position at the Toyota 500, falling to sixth place after starting from the No. 3 spot. Keselowski atoned for a shaky performance last weekend by finishing fourth on Wednesday, but has produced mixed results at Charlotte, where he has finished better than 19th just once in the past three years.
Other notables on the NASCAR Charlotte odds include Jimmie Johnson, who is pegged as a +1400 wager, and Kurt Busch, who joins Clint Bowyer at +2200.
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