NASCAR: New championship favorite emerges for 2024 season

DraftKings Sportsbook has had odds listed for the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series championship pretty much since the moment the 2023 season ended in early November, when Team Penske's Ryan Blaney secured his first championship in the season finale at Phoenix Raceway.

Hendrick Motorsports teammates Kyle Larson and William Byron, who finished in second and third place behind Blaney in the final 2023 standings, are listed as the co-favorites at +550, with Blaney listed third at +750.

DraftKings is currently offering fans an instant $200 just for betting $5 on any driver, so don't put off getting in on the action for too much longer!

Now FanDuel Sportsbook has revealed their odds for the upcoming NASCAR season, and they paint a slightly different picture: Blaney is a championship co-favorite.

Larson and Byron are both listed at +550 on FanDuel as well, but Blaney is listed at +550 too. No driver has won back-to-back championships since Jimmie Johnson won five in a row from 2006 to 2010, well before the modern playoff format was introduced in 2014.

Just two drivers have won multiple championships in the first 10 seasons of the modern format: Kyle Busch (2015 and 2019) and Joey Logano (2018 and 2022).

FanDuel is offering fans an instant $150 just for betting $5 on any driver as well, so be sure to take advantage while the offer is still valid!

The 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season is scheduled to get underway on Sunday, February 18 with the 66th annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. Can Blaney, who is also the betting favorite to win that race, become the first reigning series champion to win the Daytona 500 since Dale Jarrett in 2000? Fox is set to provide live coverage beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET, so be sure to begin a free trial of FuboTV and don't miss it!