NASCAR Betting: Alsco Uniforms 500 Preview

After going into overtime in the longest race in NASCAR history last weekend, the Cup Series goes for a shorter drive at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Wednesday night in the Alsco Uniforms 500.

In the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte on Sunday, Brad Keselowski took the checkered flag for his first win of the season. He’s a +1000 underdog at Bovada Sportsbook to make it two in a row on Wednesday.

Late caution doomed Elliott in Coca-Cola 600

It looked like Chase Elliott had the win in the bag before he headed to the pits under a yellow flag late in the race, which allowed Keselowski to get ahead of him and steal the victory. Elliott had to settle for second place.

The oddsmakers expect Elliott to make up for that on Wednesday after listing him among the race favorites at +550. If he can visit victory lane, it would be Elliott’s second career Cup Series win at Charlotte. He previously won the Bank of America Roval 400 at Charlotte last season.

Truex Jr. tops Alsco Uniforms 500 board at +450

The overall favorite at Bovada in Wednesday’s race is Martin Truex Jr. at +450. Truex has three wins in his last nine starts at Charlotte, including last season’s Coca-Cola 600. In his last 10 starts at Charlotte, he has finished in the top three on six occasions, and he’s only finished outside the top 10 once.

The leader in wins at Charlotte in Wednesday’s field is Jimmie Johnson. He’s a +1000 underdog to claim another on Wednesday. The seven-time Cup Series champion has eight career wins at Charlotte with his last trip to victory lane coming in 2016. Johnson originally finished second on Sunday before his car failed the post-race inspection. The failure stripped him of his second-place finish and points, ultimately dropping him to last place in the final race results.

Bowman led most laps in Sunday’s race

On Sunday the driver who led the most laps in the race wasn’t Keselowski, Elliott or Truex. That distinction went to Alex Bowman, who led 164 of 405 laps. By comparison, race winner Keselowski led only 21 laps. Of course the final lap is the only one that matters. Bowman seemed to lose his way in the final section of the race, which led to his disappointing 19th-place finish. He’s listed at +750 to win on Wednesday.

Aside from Keselowski, Truex and Johnson, other drivers in the Wednesday field who have also won at Charlotte in the last decade include Kyle Busch (+650), Kevin Harvick (+900), Joey Logano (+1200), Ryan Blaney (+1600) and Austin Dillon (+7000).