The NASCAR season concluded a couple of weeks ago, with Chase Elliott winning the championship for the first time in his career. He is not going to have a ton of time to celebrate, though, as the 2021 season will be getting started in February. That is not so very far away, which is why the bookies have already released the odds for next season. There are a lot of very familiar names at the top of the list, with Elliott in among the favorites. It is worth noting, though, that no driver has won a championship in back to back season since Jimmie Johnson won his 5th in a row back in 2010. Can Elliott break that trend, or will we see another new champion this year? Let’s take a quick look at some of the favorites for the 2021 season so you can start planning ahead your bets against their NASCAR odds.
2021 Cup Series Early Rankings | NASCAR Betting
Kevin Harvick (+500)
For the longest time this past season, it looked as though Harvick was going to cruise to his second championship, with the first coming in 2014. He got cold at the wrong time, though, and did not make it into the final 4. This despite the fact that he won 9 races on the season, which was more than any championship winning driver since 2007, when Johnson won 10. If we had told you a few months ago that a driver would have ended the season with 9 wins, most of us would have assumed that we would be talking about the champion. Not so for Harvick.
Kyle Busch (+700)
Kyle Busch entered the 2020 season as the defending champion and one of the favorites to win it all again. It quickly became apparent that he was not going to defend his crown, as he snuck into the playoffs by the skin of his teeth, managing just 1 win on the season. His overall finish of 8th will certainly be viewed as a disappointment by Busch and his fans, but can he bounce back in 2021 and win his 3rd NASCAR title? The bookies seem to like his chances.
Joey Logano (+700)
Last season was a close call for Logano, as he ended up finishing 3rd overall, landing 3 wins on the season. He was insanely consistent throughout the entire season, though, finishing in the top 10 21 times out of 36 races. He won it all back in 2018 with just 3 wins on the year, so any kind of improvement on that number of wins could definitely put him in a position to win it all in 2021.
Chase Elliott (+700)
When a team or an individual wins the championship, you generally expect to see them immediately installed as the favorite the following year. The fact that Elliott is in the second wave of favorites and not the outright favorite tells you all you need to know about the level of parity that currently exists in NASCAR. There is also the little detail of driver’s being unable to repeat as champion for so long to consider.
Denny Hamlin (+700)
For a large portion of the season, Harvick and Hamlin were out in front of the pack and looking like they were headed for a 2-horse race. Hamlin ended up going further than Harvick, making the final four, but he came up short in the end. While it was a disappointing end to the season, Hamlin was still impressive, taking 7 checkered flags on the year. He is a definite threat again in 2021.
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