NASCAR Cup Series NOCO 400 Race at Martinsville Odds & Predictions

NASCAR travels to Martinsville, Virginia, for the ninth race of the 2023 season. Martinsville Speedway is a 0.526-mile short track with 12-degree turns. The race distance totals almost 210miles (400 laps). Will the short track slow down like last year’s version?

This weekend’s race is a week after the Food City Dirt Race where Tyler Reddick and Christopher Bell dominated a good deal of the race after Kyle Larson got bumped out.

The table below lists the complete slate of NASCAR Cup Series odds for the NOCO 400 at Martinsville (win, podium finish, and top-five finish). Under the table, find the Martinsville predictions and best bets for this weekend’s exciting NASCAR action.

NOCO 400 Odds

William Byron enters this race as a +550 favorite to win, followed by Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell at +650.  This track features downforce and lots of it.

NASCAR drivers get those cars moving on the 0.526-mile, 80-100-220 stage lap setup when the flag drops for the Sunday afternoon race beginning again around 3:00 pm ET on FOX.

Odds as of April 12th at DraftKings Sportsbook.

Yes, the Hendrick Motorsports Racing driver started as contenders at Bristol. Now, Larson was potentially on his way to leading the most laps (77 in 177 completed) when Ryan Preece took him out of the race. The incident got sparked from an earlier brush-up. Larson wound up 35th. As for William Byron, he had late issues and dropped to 13th. However, hope springs eternal at Martinsville where Byron dominated the Spring race and won last year.

So, the Caesars Sportsbook odds fire in some subtle differences. For one, William Byron and Kyle Larson are among five drivers at +650. That breaks down to the two Chevy’s and three Toyota’s. Yes, Christopher Bell, Denny Hamlin, and Martin Truex Jr are included as co-favorites there as well.

NOCO 400 Recent Winners

Spring Versus Fall or Both?

With the Hendrick cars dominating last year, people forgot how good the Toyota car was especially during parts of both the Spring and Fall race.  As a result, NASCAR Cup Series odds rides with Chevy (first three drivers) but two Toyota’s have entered the mix (Christopher Bell and Tyler Reddick). Those were not the Toyota’s one was expecting.

Correlation is skittish at best when it comes to Martinsville. It’s a unique short track where experience is vital with 19-second laps and lots of chaos. Cautions average in the nine to ten range.

Practice begins Saturday afternoon with a 45-minute session. Saturday evening has qualifying at 5:20 pm ET.

NOCO 400 At Martinsville Predictions & Picks

So, Saturday seems solid weather wise for practice and qualifying. Sunday afternoon could be interesting with a 50-50 chance of showers and thunderstorms. Not even wet weather packages will help there.

Qualifying will be entertaining, Even Ford can figure into things with Toyota and Chevy. Warm temperatures in the 70’s will create some more wear and maybe faster times.

Could someone like Tyler Reddick or Chase Briscoe come through as long shots? It’s very possible. Look at how good Briscoe’s car was in stretches last year. Reddick proved early that he likes his Toyota build on short tracks.

Like we mentioned, watch the weather. At least, this time it won’t snow.

• Top Pick:  William Byron to Win (+650 at Caesars)
• Other Contenders: Kyle Larson (+650), Christopher Bell (+650), Denny Hamlin. (+700), Kyle Busch (+1200)
• Longshots:  Brad Keselowski (+2200), Tyler Reddick (+2800), Chase Briscoe (+4000)