Bank of America Royal 500 preview and best bets: Chase Elliot leads the chase

NASCAR Cup Series driver Chase Elliott (9) celebrates winning the Yellawood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

Matt Selz

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NASCAR handicapper for Pickswise, looking to give you winners throughout the season! For Matt Selz media enquiries, please email contact@pickswise.com.

Charlotte ROVAL Track Layout and Betting Strategies

If this is your first time watching a race at the ROVAL, it’s an interesting layout. It’s made out of most of the oval of Charlotte Motor Speedway with an additional road layout section on the infield. All told it’s a 2.28-mile lap with 17 turns that include a couple of chicanes on the front and back stretches. Over the four previous races at this configuration, there’s been chaos and drama and remarkable passes made. More of the same should be expected this week. The restarts here are key as heading into Turn 1, known as Heartburn Turn, and getting position for the quick run to Turn 2 and Turn 3. Drivers have been able to move through the field here well in past runnings of the race, though on previous road courses this year, starting closer to the front has been an advantage. We also have to be aware of the strategies for drivers who need a win to advance compared to those who just need points and a solid finish.

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Bank of America ROVAL 400 outright winners

Odds listed are from DraftKings Sportsbook at the time of publishing

Chase Elliott (+500)

Elliott has won here twice in the four races run here. That includes the last time he won when he ran the car into the barrier in Turn 1 to start Stage 3 and still came back to win. While he’s not won a road race this year, he’s led laps and run up front consistently. That combined with his prowess in this discipline and success at the track is enough to make him the favorite. Let’s also not forget that a win this weekend means the other seven drivers will need to point their way into the Round of 8.

Tyler Reddick (+600)

Reddick has won two road races this year. That includes running down Chase Elliott at Road America and then running away from him. He may not be in the playoffs anymore, but that didn’t stop him from winning at Texas two weeks ago, and that won’t stop him from being fast and contending this weekend either.

Austin Cindric (+1500)

Cindric hasn’t raced here in the Cup series before. Okay, that didn’t stop him from finishing P5 at Sonoma earlier in the year after starting P25 on a track with no passing zones. This track has passing zones in spades, and he’s proven to be a threat on most of the road courses the Cup Series has raced at, including a P2 at Indy Road. He should be a factor late in this race as well.

Chris Buescher (+2500)

Buescher came away with a P2 finish at Sonoma and has run well at road courses this year. Brad Keselowski has called him the most underrated driver in the garage area, especially at road courses. Even before he got the improvements the RFK cars have had this year, he finished P3 here last year. It wouldn’t be a shock to see him competing in the top five late on Sunday.

Longshot: Cole Custer (+10000)

We need a long shot for a track like this. Custer fits that bill. Now, I get it. He’s not done anything this year and has mostly looked lost on the track. I’d say that’s true except for road courses. He’s posted a top-12 true speed rating at road courses this year, and at the Roval, he was running P8 late in the race a year ago until he spun and finished P18. The year before that? Custer finished P9. AJ Allmendinger, Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick, and Custer all have similar average finish marks over the last 10 races yet all three of those drivers are between 12/1 and 25/1 to win this week. That seems like value in this play, especially at a track where he’s been consistently in the top 10 in previous races.