2024 NASCAR Cup Series GEICO 500 Preview
Photo: Marvin Gentry/USA Today
The NASCAR Cup Series heads to the home of The Big One at Talladega Superspeedway for the GEICO 500. Coverage begins at 3PM EST on FOX.
Last year’s Spring race saw a last lap crash occur in Turns 1 and 2, thus ending the race under caution with Kyle Busch as the leader.
Best Bets for Cup
|
Best Bets for Cup |
Ryan Blaney +1000 | Top 5 +150 | Top 10 -180
The 2023 Cup Champion is still searching for his first win of the season, but Ryan Blaney has a good history with Talladega. He’s recorded three Cup wins at the 2.66 mile track in 2019, 2020, and in last Fall’s race, with each win resulting in a photo finish. Blaney has finished inside the Top 3 in his last three starts at Talladega, he’ll be looking to pounce at the right time for his first win of the season this Sunday.
Chase Elliott +1200 | Top 5 +170 | Top 10 -165
Last Sunday was the straw that finally broke the camel’s back, as Chase Elliott picked up his first win of the season. It was his first win since Talladega in the Fall of 2022, where he ironically beat Ryan Blaney by half a car length. In his last four races at Talladega, Elliott has an average finish of 7th with three Top 10’s. He’ll look to go back-to-back this weekend.
Bubba Wallace +1400 | Top 5 +240 | Top 10 -125
Bubba Wallace picked up his first career win at Talladega in the Fall of 2021 in a rain shortened race. He was leading on the white flag in last Spring’s race before a bad block on Ryan Blaney costed him the win, as he crashed out. He finished 5th earlier in the year at the DAYTONA 500 and has finished inside the Top 10 in his last two races. Momentum is rolling for the soon to be father, all in the right direction.
Erik Jones +3000 | Top 5 +450 | Top 10 +150
He’s had a couple of chances winning at Talladega, but Erik Jones is poised to make sure he wins this time. He was slammed into the wall in 2020 coming to the finish, having his momentum stopped and was leading coming to the checkered flag in 2022, but having to throw a huge block on Kyle Larson opened the door for Ross Chastain to win. He finished inside the Top 10 in six of his last eight starts at Talladega and finished 8th in the DAYTONA 500.
Chase Briscoe +4000 | Top 5 +650 | Top 10 +250
In similar fashion to Texas, Chase Briscoe has finished inside the Top 10 in two of his last three starts at Talladega, not to mention he finished 10th in the DAYTONA 500. Briscoe has also finished inside the Top 10 in his last two races, steadily climbing up the points standings. He hasn’t won since Phoenix in 2022, but anything can happen at Talladega.
Todd Gilliland +5000 | Top 5 +800 | Top 10 +300
Todd Gilliland is still searching for his first Top 10 of the season, after finishing 31st at Texas where he ran a good portion of the race inside the Top 10. Talladega has been a track where Gilliland has run well the past three races, finishing inside the Top 10 twice. Front Row Motorsports will be looking to rekindle their magic from 2013 with Gilliland.
John Hunter Nemechek +8000 | Top 5 +1000 | Top 10 +450
In his two Cup starts at Talladega, John Hunter Nemechek has finished inside the Top 10 in both starts. He’s currently on a stretch of finished outside the Top 20 in his last four races, and with how chaotic Talladega always seems to be, Nemechek could slither his way to another Top 10 finish this Sunday.