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The NASCAR Cup Series makes its annual pilgrimage to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the legendary Brickyard 400 this weekend. Several drivers will be looking to win their way into the playoffs as the regular season winds down, while others will be looking to add to their season win total. We’re counting down the 10 drivers with the best odds to claim victory on Sunday.
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Last year, Kyle Larson took advantage of Brad Keselowski running out of fuel late in the race to claim his first Brickyard 400 crown. Can Larson repeat and yet again make up for Indianapolis 500 heartbreak, or will a new name kiss the yard of bricks?
Here’s what the oddsmakers say has the best chance to win on Sunday in Indy.
10) Joey Logano – +2000
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When reigning champion Joey Logano won earlier this season at Texas, some thought the floodgates could open.
Instead, the last couple of months have proved frustrating for Logano. Now he heads to a track where he has a pair of runner-up finishes on the oval configuration, but no victories.
Could Logano break his drought at the track car owner Roger Penske owns?
9) Chris Buescher – +1400
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Buescher surprisingly hasn’t had a ton of success at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In fact, he has just one top-10 finish in six tries at the track under this configuration.
But last year, teammate Brad Keselowski led 35 laps and held the lead late before running out of gas. So it’s not as if Roush Fenway Keselowski doesn’t know what it takes to have success at the track.
A win for Buescher would not only put a feather in the cap of his career resume but also vault him into the playoffs.
8) Christopher Bell – +1200 
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Bell doesn’t have much history on the IMS oval, as the Cup Series switched to the infield road course just one year into his career and only switched back last year.
But he finished in an impressive fourth place a year ago after qualifying in 18th and Joe Gibbs Racing is traditionally strong at the track.
Bell looks to be picking up steam again after a torrid start to the season and a difficult middle, and what better way to emphasize that than a win on one of NASCAR’s biggest tracks.
T6) Chase Briscoe – +1100
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Perhaps more than any other driver in the series, winning the Brickyard 400 would be massive for Chase Briscoe.
That’s because Briscoe, who has been on fire of late and finished second a week ago, is an Indiana native.
Briscoe recently told the Sporting News that he’d put winning the Brickyard 400 over the Daytona 500 in terms of importance to him. And with the way he’s run of late, we wouldn’t rule it out.
Oh, and Briscoe’s lone win this season? That came at Pocono Raceway, a track many believe is the most similar to Indy on the NASCAR schedule.
T6) Tyler Reddick – +1100
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Another week, and another reminder that somehow Tyler Reddick has not won yet this season despite sitting in the top-five in points.
But Indy represents as good a chance as any for Reddick to get into the win column. He led 40 laps and finished second at the track a year ago, and also finished in the top 10 the only other time he raced on this configuration in 2020.
Reddick and crew chief Billy Scott have struggled to get on the same page at times this year. But a win at Indianapolis would wash that all away.
5) Chase Elliott – +900
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Perhaps no driver in the entire series has had a summer as strong as Chase Elliott, who now leads the regular season points with five races remaining until the playoffs.
Elliott has been fast no matter where the series has gone. But his record at Indy isn’t exactly sparkling. Elliott has just two top-10 finishes in seven starts at the track under this layout, but he did lead 26 laps in the 2020 edition of the race.
4) William Byron – +850
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As good a summer as Chase Elliott has had, that’s how rough it’s been for William Byron, who led the points for several months until being overtaken by Elliott a week ago.
Byron’s career average finish of 22nd in four races on the Indy oval doesn’t exactly inspire confidence. But he led 15 laps at the circuit and won the opening stage in 2020.
Hendrick Motorsports is traditionally strong at IMS, so Byron will likely have the car to compete. Whether or not he has the good fortune to turn that into a win or a strong finish remains to be seen.
3) Ryan Blaney – +750
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Blaney felt like he had a win taken away from him last season at Indianapolis when Keselowski ran out of fuel and left the Team Penske star in a bad spot on the final restart.
“I’m the one getting screwed for it, and so the third-place guy is benefiting,” he said after the race.
Blaney still went on to finish third after running in the top five the entire day. Could this year’s race offer him a chance at redemption?
T1) Denny Hamlin – +500
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Why wouldn’t Denny Hamlin be the favorite to win on Sunday? After all, he just became the first driver in the series to win four races this season and enters the weekend with a newly signed multi-year contract extension with Joe Gibbs Racing.
Well, for one, Hamlin has never won on the Indy oval in 16 tries. Though he does five top-five finishes in that span, with a best finish of third in both 2008 and 2014.
Last year, Hamlin led 21 laps after starting on the front row. But a late incident Kyle Busch shuffled him down the order before a crash in overtime led to a 32nd-place finish.
T1) Kyle Larson – +500
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They say that luck is when preparation meets opportunity. Last year, Larson prepared himself by running in the top five for most of the race. He then got an opportunity to restart in first when Brad Keselowski ran out of gas, and the race is history.
In seven starts on the Indianapolis oval, Larson has four top-10 finishes, including a pair of top fives and last year’s victory.
He’ll undoubtedly be a threat to win again this year and, for the second straight year, put the demons of a difficult Indy 500 to bed.