2023 NASCAR Talladega picks, GEICO 500 predictions, odds, start time: Legendary expert fading William Byron
Ross Chastain returns to the site of his most recent NASCAR Cup Series triumph when he takes part in the 2023 GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday. Chastain has not tasted victory since finishing .105 seconds ahead of Austin Dillon in this race last year. The 30-year-old was fourth at Talladega in the fall, making him the only driver to finish in the top five in both races at the track in 2022. Chastain has posted four top-10s in nine starts this season, including third-place showings at Fontana and Richmond.
Chastain is listed at +1500, while Ryan Blaney and reigning series champion Joey Logano are +1000 co-favorites in the latest 2023 GEICO 500 odds from Caesars Sportsbook. Denny Hamlin is +1100, while William Byron and Chase Elliott round out the top five 2023 GEICO 500 contenders at +1200. The GEICO 500 2023 is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. ET. You'll want to check out the NASCAR at Talladega predictions from Micah Roberts, the legendary Vegas bookmaker who pioneered wagering on racing, before locking in any 2023 GEICO 500 picks of your own.
Roberts was the first to offer expanded NASCAR betting and now hands out NASCAR winners to his followers on SportsLine. Roberts is the nation's premier NASCAR betting expert, and his top pick, Tyler Reddick, won the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix last month at +1000 odds.
He also correctly predicted Elliott to win the YellaWood 500 at +1200 last October and the Jockey Made in America 250 in 2021, nailed the 2021 Coca-Cola 600 winner by hitting Kyle Larson's victory at +550 odds and was on point by targeting Elliott as the winner of the EchoPark Texas Grand Prix at +160 odds the previous week. Anyone who has followed his picks has cashed ticket after ticket.
Now, Roberts has analyzed the field and odds for Sunday's NASCAR at Talladega 2023 race. He's only sharing his winner and projected GEICO 500 leaderboard right here.
2023 GEICO 500 expert predictions
One shocker: Roberts is fading William Byron, even though he is one of the favorites at +1200. In fact, Roberts says Byron, who has matched his career-high this season with two victories and was runner-up in this race two years ago, barely even cracks the top 20.
"Byron has his best finish at Talladega in the spring of 2021 and won the summer race at Daytona the previous year," Roberts told SportsLine. "But he's been 12th or worse in his last seven superspeedway races and no better than 34th in five of them." See who else to fade here.
Another curveball: Roberts is high on Chase Briscoe, who is listed at +3000 in the latest GEICO 500 odds. The 28-year-old from Indiana has recorded three top-10 finishes this season and posted the only one in four Cup Series starts at Talladega last fall. Briscoe, who was fourth at the track in an Xfinity Series in 2019, finished fifth in the dirt race at Bristol two weeks ago and duplicated the result last Sunday at Martinsville.
"His best superspeedway performance was third in last season's Daytona 500," Roberts said. "He had surgery on his finger on Monday, but this track should not be a problem for him." See who else to back here.
How to make 2023 GEICO 500 picks
Roberts is high on a huge longshot who has "figured out how to race aggressively, but smart." This driver is being underestimated by oddsmakers, and anyone who backs him could hit it big. You can only see who it is here.
2023 GEICO 500 odds
See full GEICO 500 picks, predictions, and best bets here.
Ryan Blaney +1000
Joey Logano +1000
Denny Hamlin +1100
William Byron +1200
Chase Elliott +1200
Brad Keselowski +1400
Bubba Wallace +1400
Kyle Busch +1500
Ross Chastain +1500
Kyle Larson +1500
Christopher Bell +1600
Chris Buescher +2200
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. +2200
Austin Cindric +2400
Alex Bowman +2500
Kevin Harvick +2500
Tyler Reddick +2500
Austin Dillon +2800
Martin Truex Jr. +2800
Aric Almirola +3000
Chase Briscoe +3000
Austin Hill +3000
Erik Jones +3000
Daniel Suarez +3000
A.J. Allmendinger +4000
Justin Haley +4500
Ryan Preece +4500
Corey LaJoie +5000
Michael McDowell +5000
Ty Gibbs +6000
Todd Gilliland +6000
Harrison Burton +7500
Noah Gragson +7500
Zane Smith +7500
Riley Herbst +12500
Ty Dillon +25000
BJ McLeod +100000
J.J. Yeley +100000
