NASCAR’s unpredictable 2022 season has somehow gotten even more wild after one round of the playoffs. Unpredictability is typically bad news for bettors, but we’re here to help. We’ve evaluated the remaining playoff field to pick our two most worthy drivers to bet on to win the 2022 Cup Series. Keep reading to get this expert advice free of cost!
There’s 12 drivers still in championship contention. Among them, the most popular NASCAR betting sites have marked these drivers as the top betting favorites:
| Driver |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chase Elliott | +275 | +275 | +275 |
| Denny Hamlin | +400 | +400 | +400 |
| Kyle Larson | +650 | +650 | +650 |
| Joey Logano | +800 | +800 | +800 |
| Ross Chastain | +900 | +900 | +900 |
| Christopher Bell | +900 | +900 | +900 |
| Ryan Blaney | +900 | +900 | +900 |
2022 NASCAR Playoffs Recap
Before we break down what lies ahead, it would pay to recap the 2022 NASCAR playoffs up to this point. All three races of the Round of 16 are in the books, which means four drivers have now been eliminated. The eliminated group includes Kyle Busch (a career first for first-round knockout), Austin Dillon, Kevin Harvick, and Tyler Reddick. All four finished in the bottom of the 16-playoff field at the end of the round, which means automatic elimination.
The three playoff races followed the theme of the entire 2022 season so far: first-time winners. A driver who has never won in 2022 took the checkered flag in each postseason race. First it was Erik Jones, then Bubba Wallace, and most recently in Bristol, Chris Buescher captured the victory. We’re up to 19 different drivers that have now won a NASCAR event this season — a level of parity that’s been nonexistent for a long time in this sport.
We should also mention none of the three previous winners are even in the playoff. That’s an important detail because the NASCAR playoffs put a huge premium on wins. Any playoff-eligible driver that finishes first advances to the next round automatically — and in the event of the finale, wins the whole Cup Series.
Given the parity in the whole sport, Cup Series points matter more than ever. Right now, Chase Elliott is leading the playoff pack with 3040 points, followed by Joey Logano (3025), Ross Chastain (3020), and Kyle Larson (3019) rounding out the top.
In the Round of 12, three more races are on-tap. Here again, the bottom-four drivers will be eliminated for good. Let’s look ahead to which drivers can avoid that and put themselves on the driver’s seat to capture the Cup Series championship.
Best Bets To Win 2022 NASCAR Cup Series
You’d have to be crazy to only make one bet on the 2022 Cup Series winner. Crazy because as we’ve pointed out, the field has been leveled across NASCAR thanks to the brand-new Next Gen car. Do yourself a favor and practice risk management by wagering on two different drivers in this futures bet. The two that should be top of mind are the following:
Christopher Bell
It's not far-fetched to say Bell was the best performer of the first three playoff races as he was in the hunt at each one. First, he placed fifth, followed by third, and fourth at Bristol — that's an average finish of fourth. That's about as consistent as you can get in 2022. If the trend of no playoff drivers winning races continues, then Bell's strong finishes will count big time.
Consistency has been Bell's calling card all-season long. He finished with 10 different top-5s — second-most in the sport (behind Elliott and Larson). Sure, he has just one outright victory this season, but as we keep repeating, that might not matter all that much this year.
Chase Elliott
Consistency is once again the name of the game with our second pick, Elliott, who has been the best driver from start-to-finish this season — hence his four wins and 11 top-5s. Elliott got off to a bad start in the playoff opener with a DNF but bounced back in Bristol to get fifth overall. He has a killer instinct that much of the other playoff contenders lack, which boosts our confidence in this wager.
How To Watch 2022 NASCAR Playoffs On TV?
NBC has complete broadcasting rights to the NASCAR postseason, but not all will be aired on its main channel. Coverage is split between the main NBC channel and “sister network” USA — the only two channels to watch the NASCAR playoffs on TV.
After airing the first three playoff races, USA Network only gets one more — the next one in Texas and that’s it. The final six postseason competitions will all go on NBC. To make it easy on you, here’s the TV schedule for the entire Round of 12:
- September 25 — Texas Motor Speedway at 3:30 pm EST on USA Network
- October 2 — Talladega Superspeedway at 2 pm EST on NBC
- October 9 — Charlotte Motor Speedway at 2 pm EST on NBC
How To Bet On 2022 NASCAR Playoffs
Ready to bet on the 2022 NASCAR playoffs? You must be if you’ve read this far. To start placing bets, hit one of the bookmakers featured in the underneath table. In the table, we’ve included up-to-date sportsbook reviews and details on lucrative sign-up bonuses currently available. Weigh both these when deciding where to park your money.
We should mention NASCAR playoff betting isn’t limited to just futures. Nope, you can wager on individual races too. There’s massive prop markets from race to race which really makes betting worthwhile in the postseason. See for yourself by visiting one of the underneath bookies and maxing out bonuses to bet for free!
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