NASCAR betting: Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. are popular Bristol bets
Nearly half the money bet on the winner of Saturday night’s NASCAR Cup Series Bristol race (7:30 p.m. ET, USA) is on either Kyle Busch or Martin Truex Jr.
The Joe Gibbs Racing duo accounts for over 46% of the money bet on the winning driver at BetMGM. Truex is the most-bet driver to win at +1600 with 19% of tickets while Busch has over 26% of the total handle.
Busch (+700) is the second-most bet driver with 16% of wagers while the 19% of bets on Truex make up 20% of the handle. The disparity between Busch’s ticket percentage and his handle percentage means that big-money bettors are backing Busch to get his second win of the season on Saturday night.
It’s an understandable bet too. Busch has scored eight wins on Bristol’s concrete surface and has 14 top-five finishes in 32 starts at the track. He also won the spring race on the Bristol dirt surface, though the carryover between the dirt and the concrete is negligible. Busch is one of four drivers favored at +700 along with JGR teammate Denny Hamlin, defending race winner Kyle Larson and regular-season champ Chase Elliott.
Bristol hasn’t been one of Truex’s best tracks but he’s found speed in his Joe Gibbs Racing tenure. He missed out on the playoffs despite finishing the regular season in the top five in points because he didn’t get a win during the regular season.
Kevin Harvick at +900 is the third-most bet driver with just under 8% of wagers. Elliott and Chris Buescher are the only other drivers with more than 5% of bets. Elliott’s 6% of bets make up 7.5% of the handle while 5.7% of bets are on Buescher at +15000. His odds at Bristol have made him the clear favorite among small-dollar wagers. Bets on Buescher make up just 3% of the handle.
