Memorial Day weekend brings the longest NASCAR race of the season with the Coco-Cola 600 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway — Sunday at 6 p.m. on Fox.
Last season, Ryan Blaney captured the 600 en route to winning the championship. Blaney is fourth on the odds board at +900 at BetMGM, behind Kyle Larson (+475), Denny Hamlin (+575) and Tyler Reddick (+850).
Last week’s All-Star Race saw a big fight that made most of the headlines, and the on-track product wasn’t great. Things should be much different Sunday, as Charlotte is often one of the season’s best races.
Here are my favorite betting picks for the Coca-Cola 600, shopping for best odds at multiple sportsbooks:
He has been knocking on the door of a victory at a non-superspeedway track nearly every week. He had the car to beat at Darlington, S.C., but late contact with Chris Buescher relegated him to a 32nd-place finish.
Reddick’s performance at high-speed 1.5-mile tracks and Charlotte gives me confidence for his chances Sunday.
Over the past two Charlotte races, he is No. 1 in total speed ranking and displayed top-three speed in both races, finishing sixth and fifth. He also had top-two speed in this year’s Las Vegas and Texas races. That speed should carry over to the Coca-Cola 600.
Elliott has been the most consistent driver in the Cup Series — he’s the only driver to finish top 20 in every race. He has five top-five finishes in 2024, and I expect another one at Charlotte.
Before last year’s race, Elliott had five straight races at Charlotte with 22-plus laps led. He scored his first victory of 2020there just days after finishing runner-up in the Coca-Cola 600.
The 1.5-mile tracks have been kind to Elliott this season. He won at Texas before scoring a third-place finish at Kansas. A crash ruined a strong finish in his past two starts at Charlotte, but he should have the speed for another top-five finish Sunday.
Busch was at the forefront of headlines last week after his post-race fight with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. As long as he can avoid potential payback, I expect a top-10 performance.
There’s no denying it’s been a tough season for Busch and the No. 8 team, but he has shown top-10 speed on the 1.5-mile tracks. He finished ninth and eighth at Texas and Kansas, respectively. Busch has been great at Charlotte in the next-gen era, finishing second and sixth. It has been hard to back him in 2024, but he has shown speed lately. Let’s hope he avoids the controversy and scores a solid finish at Charlotte.
Truex and Blaney have a combined four wins at Charlotte. Truex has three victories, but Blaney claimed last year’s Coca-Cola 600.
Blaney was the class of the field, but Truex wasn’t far behind with a third-place finish. As we look at this year’s race, I have more confidence in Truex.
Blaney looked good at Las Vegas, but the past two 1.5-mile races have seen him finish outside the top 10. The last 1.5-mile track saw a third-place finish for Truex.
Overall, Truex has been much more consistent than Blaney. I’d take the value with Truex finishing ahead of Blaney on Sunday.