The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Charlotte Motor Speedway for the longest race of 2023 and one of the toughest to handicap, the Coca-Cola 600.
The only 600-mile race on the Cup Series schedule presents a unique challenge for drivers who aren’t used to being in the car for five-plus hours as well as the cars themselves since they typically aren’t pushed past 500 miles, but there are trends that help clue us in on which drivers are worth betting.
We factored in how drivers have performed at similar tracks to Charlotte this season along with how well they’ve performed here in the past to identify five drivers that we feel are solid bets to reach victory lane on Sunday.
FAST FIVE PICKS
Chalk play
William Byron (+500 to win)
Byron is on pace for a career-best season and is tied for the Cup Series lead with three wins, including one at Las Vegas earlier in the season that’s a sister track to Charlotte. Byron crashed out of last year’s Coke 600, but he appears to have turned a corner this season and has earned our trust this week even as a chalk favorite.
Best value
Chase Elliott (+700 to win)
Elliott’s return from injury has been fairly smooth, but he’s still yet to record a victory in his quest to climb back into playoff contention. Charlotte is typically a kind track to Elliott having won here before, so this could be the week he finally breaks through as someone who’s now one of the more experienced drivers in the field.
Trending up
Martin Truex Jr. (+800 to win)
Outside of Kyle Larson, Truex has been the best driver in the Cup Series over the past month having ended his winless streak and leading at least 50 laps or more in the past three races. Truex is a former Coke 600 winner, so we’re going to bank on his recent hot streak and previous success in this race as a recipe for success.
Mid-pack play
Bubba Wallace (+1500 to win)
Wallace has been inconsistent overall in 2023, but he’s been among the top drivers at intermediate tracks similar to Charlotte having recorded top five finishes at both Las Vegas and Kansas. Wallace has momentum after finishing runner-up at last week’s All-Star Race, so he makes for an intriguing play this week at a reasonable 15-to-1.
Longshot play
Austin Dillon (+7500 to win)
Sometimes the Coke 600 sees a longshot winner due to long green flag runs that result in varying strategies, and Dillon was able to take advantage of that back in 2017 and win the race. Relying on strategy is never an ideal plan to win, but Dillon runs well enough at intermediate tracks to where we feel he’s worth taking a chance on.
2023 COCA-COLA 600 FULL FIELD ODDS
Odds from Caesars Sportsbook
+450 to win
Kyle Larson (+130 top three finish, -170 top five, -500 top 10)
+550 to win
William Byron (+180 top three, -120 top five, -300 top 10)
+650 to win
Denny Hamlin (+210 top three, +110 top five, -225 top 10)
+700 to win
Chase Elliott (+250 top three, +110 top five, -180 top 10)
+800 to win
Martin Truex Jr. (+225 top three, +120 top five, -200 top 10)
+900 to win
Christopher Bell (+300 top three, +140 top five, -160 top 10)
+1000 to win
Ross Chastain (+300 top three, +140 top five, -160 top 10)
+1200 to win
Kyle Busch (+325 top three, +140 top five, -160 top 10)
Tyler Reddick (+425 top three, +190 top five, -130 top 10)
+1500 to win
Bubba Wallace (+475 top three, +210 top five, -145 top 10)
+1700 to win
Kevin Harvick (+475 top three, +220 top five, -125 top 10)
+1800 to win
Alex Bowman (+500 top three, +225 top five, -140 top 10)
Ryan Blaney (+600 top three, +300 top five, -110 top 10)
+2000 to win
Joey Logano (+550 top three, +250 top five, -110 top 10)
+2800 to win
Daniel Suarez (+750 top three, +350 top five, +100 top 10)
+4000 to win
Brad Keselowski (+1000 top three, +500 top five, +120 top 10)
+6000 to win
Ty Gibbs (+1200 top three, +600 top five, +190 top 10)
+7500 to win
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (+2000 top three, +850 top five, +250 top 10)
Austin Dillon (+2000 top three, +850 top five, +275 top 10)
Chase Briscoe (+2500 top three, +1200 top five, +240 top 10)
+10000 to win
Chris Buescher (+2500 top three, +1200 top five, +240 top 10)
Erik Jones (+3000 top three, +900 top five, +325 top 10)
+12500 to win
Jimmie Johnson (+4000 top three, +1400 top five, +500 top 10)
+15000 to win
Aric Almirola (+4000 top three, +1400 top five, +500 top 10)
Austin Cindric (+4000 top three, +1800 top five, +400 top 10)
+25000 to win
A.J. Allmendinger (+7000 top three, +2800 top five, +700 top 10)
Ryan Preece (+7000 top three, +2800 top five, +700 top 10)
+50000 to win
Justin Haley (+10000 top three, +4500 top five, +900 top 10)
Michael McDowell (+12500 top three, +6000 top five, +900 top 10)
+75000 to win
Corey LaJoie (+25000 top three, +1000 top five, +1500 top 10)
+100000 to win
Noah Gragson (+25000 top three, +10000 top five, +1500 top 10)
Zane Smith (+25000 top three, +10000 top five, +1500 top 10)
Harrison Burton (+25000 top three, +10000 top five, +1800 top 10)
+150000 to win
Todd Gilliland (+30000 top three, +4000 top five, +3000 top 10)
+500000 to win
Ty Dillon (+45000 top three, +6000 top five, +5000 top 10)
J.J. Yeley (+50000 top three, +7500 top five, +6000 top 10)
B.J. McLeod (+75000 top three, +10000 top five, +7500 top 10)
