As professional sports emerges from its COVID-19 hibernation, NASCAR is taking some precautions in its return to activity. At this weekend’s past race at Darlington Raceway in South Carolina, Kevin Harvick won The Real Heroes 400 in front of empty stands. On each of the 40 cars, the drivers’ names were replaced with names of health care workers around the United States. This was the first of seven races set for the next week and a half at Darlington and at another track in North Carolina, and the first of 20 events set for between May 17 and June 21 in seven states in the southern United States. None of those events will have spectators. The second event will be the Toyota 500, set for Wednesday night, also at Darlington Raceway. Take a look at the NASCAR odds as well as our sports betting suggestions for your wager cards.
NASCAR Betting: 2020 Toyota 500 Odds & Preview Wednesday, May 20
Toyota 500 Driver Odds
- Kevin Harvick +350
- Kyle Busch +700
- Brad Keselowski +750
- Denny Hamlin +800
- Martin Truex Jr +850
- Alex Bowman, Joey Logano, Chase Elliott +900
- Kurt Busch +1400
- Erik Jones +2000
- Ryan Blaney, Jimmie Johnson +2500
- Matt Kenseth +2800
- William Byron +3000
- Clint Bowyer +3500
- Matt DiBenedetto +4000
- Aric Almirola +5000
- Tyler Reddick +6000
- Ryan Newman +6600
- Austin Dillon +8000
- Chris Buescher, Cole Custer +12500
- Christopher Bell, John H. Nemechek, Ricky Stenhouse Jr +15000
Why is Kevin Harvick the favorite, despite a lengthy drought between wins? Because he won on Sunday and is turning around to race three days later. He had posted four straight top-ten finishes before the sport went on hiatus, including a second-place finish at Phoenix right before the season was suspended. Darlington Raceway has been a friendly track for him, as he has four top-four finishes in his last five races here.
Joey Logano settled for 18th place three days ago at The Real Heroes 400, but that could be chalked up to some racing rust settling on him during the long pause. He already has two wins in 2020, and his skills on an intermediate track are not in question. If you go back to 2018, he has won three races and finished in the top five 11 times in 26 races on intermediate tracks. His average finish over that stretch is 8.31, which puts him fourth best among all of the drivers during that time.
Chase Elliott snagged fourth place at The Real Heroes on Sunday. That gives him three straight top-seven finishes, and he has been improving since a slow start that saw him fail to crack the top 15 at either Daytona or Las Vegas when the season started in February.
Looking for a sleeper? Let’s talk about Ryan Newman. It was noteworthy that he even made it onto the track, because he had a frightening crash at the Daytona 500. However, he is obviously back and ready to go. He came in 15th at The Real Heroes 400, but what was more important than the place was the fact that he had the mental wherewithal to finish his first race back. He has never won at Darlington Raceway, but he does have seven top-five finishes in 22 starts overall.
Another sleeper to consider is Matt DiBenedetto. He has never won a race at Darlington Raceway. He did snag the third position to start on Sunday, but he ended up settling for 14th place. He has 141 points right now, in ninth place in the playoff standings, despite the fact that he only has one top-five finish this season — a second place at the Pennzoil 400. Bouncing back on two days’ rest to start could give DiBenedetto an advantage if he can make the best of the alteration in everyone’s prep routines.
