<p>Last week, Denny Hamlin became the first driver to secure a spot in the Championship 4 of the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. Will someone join him with a win in today’s YellaWood 500 at Talladega (2 p.m. ET, NBC)?</p>
<p>It stands to be an anxious afternoon for several drivers, but it won’t be for Hamlin. He extended his series lead with his sixth win of the season, and he will enter the season finale at Phoenix Raceway with a chance to fill the remaining empty spot on his resume.</p>
<p>Hamlin crossed the line ahead of Kyle Larson, who put himself in a strong position with a runner-up finish. In the <a href="https://www.nascar.com/standings/nascar-cup-series/">latest NASCAR Cup Series standings</a>, Larson is now 15 points clear of third, 20 ahead of fourth, and 35 ahead of fifth.</p>
<p>Fifth is occupied by his Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron, who will be one of the anxious drivers at Talladega.</p>
<p>Byron was in position to challenge for the win as the laps wound down at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, then his hopes and his race came to a screeching halt on lap 237, when he barreled into Ty Dillon through no apparent fault of his own. As a result, he went from potentially being certain of his spot for Phoenix to being in a position of real peril.</p>
<h2>NASCAR Playoff Standings (Entering the YellaWood 500)</h2>
<p><em><strong>Hamlin secured a spot in the Championship 4 with his win in the South Point 400.</strong></em></p>
<ul>
<li><strong>1. Denny Hamlin &#8211; Advanced</strong></li>
<li>2. Kyle Larson &#8211; 4086</li>
<li>3. Christopher Bell &#8211; 4071</li>
<li>4. Chase Briscoe &#8211; 4066</li>
<li>5. William Byron &#8211; 4051</li>
<li>6. Chase Elliott &#8211; 4043</li>
<li>7. Joey Logano &#8211; 4042</li>
<li>8. Ryan Blaney &#8211; 4035</li>
</ul>
<p>Byron doesn’t necessarily need to win the YellaWood 500 or next week’s Xfinity Series at Martinsville to land in the Championship 4. But to keep Martinsville from being a must-win, he at least needs to have a strong showing at Talladega.</p>
<p>The first two races of the weekend were both won by non-playoff drivers, as Gio Ruggiero picked up his first Craftsman Truck Series win on Friday night and Austin Hill completed a sweep of this year’s Talladega races in yesterday’s United Rentals 250.</p>
<p>Will that pattern continue today? Or will someone avoid disaster and despair to fill the second spot in the Championship 4? Odds at top online sportsbooks such as BetOnline have the current outsiders at the top, which is no surprise given the position that they are all in.</p>
<h2><a href="https://affiliates.bettingnews.com/register/luckyrebel/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">YellaWood 500 Odds</a></h2>
<ul>
<li>Chase Elliott +1000</li>
<li>Joey Logano +1000</li>
<li>Ryan Blaney +1000</li>
<li>William Byron +1200</li>
<li>Austin Cindric +1600</li>
<li>Bubba Wallace +1800</li>
<li>Brad Keselowski +2000</li>
<li>Kyle Busch +2000</li>
<li>Chase Briscoe +2200</li>
<li>Kyle Larson +2200</li>
<li>Alex Bowman +2500</li>
<li>Chris Buescher +2500</li>
<li>Christopher Bell +2500</li>
<li>Denny Hamlin +2500</li>
<li>Michael McDowell +2500</li>
<li>Ross Chastain +2800</li>
<li>Ryan Preece +2800</li>
<li>Tyler Reddick +2800</li>
<li>Ricky Stenhouse Jr. +3000</li>
<li>Carson Hocevar +3500</li>
<li>Josh Berry +3500</li>
<li>Justin Haley +3500</li>
<li>Todd Gilliland +3500</li>
<li>Ty Gibbs +3500</li>
<li>Daniel Suarez +4000</li>
<li>Austin Dillon +4500</li>
<li>Erik Jones +4500</li>
<li>Noah Gragson +4500</li>
<li>Zane Smith +4500</li>
<li>A.J. Allmendinger +6600</li>
<li>Cole Custer +6600</li>
<li>John Hunter Nemechek +6600</li>
<li>Shane van Gisbergen +6600</li>
<li>Ty Dillon +6600</li>
<li>Riley Herbst +8000</li>
<li>Austin Hill +10000</li>
<li>Anthony Alfredo +25000</li>
<li>Cody Ware +25000</li>
<li>B.J. McLeod +50000</li>
<li>Casey Mears +50000</li>
</ul>
<h2>YellaWood 500 Predictions and Picks</h2>
<h3><a href="https://affiliates.bettingnews.com/register/luckyrebel/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">William Byron to Finish in the Top Five (+200 at Lucky Rebel)</a></h3>
<p>Last Sunday’s collision with Dillon was just the latest bit of misfortune to strike Byron in a season that has been full of tough breaks.</p>
<p>But being in an adverse position may well bring out his best, especially at Talladega. He has yet to get a Cup Series win at Talladega, whether in the GEICO 500/Jack Link’s 500 or the YellaWood 500.</p>
<p>But he has a history of good finishes in recent seasons, and the two-time defending Daytona 500 champion has a good grasp of what is required to get into position to win these kinds of races.</p>
<p>In his last 11 Cup Series starts at Talladega, Byron has five top-five finishes and seven top-10 finishes. That includes three top threes in his last four starts, a runner-up finish in this race in 2023 and third-place finishes in this race last year and the spring race this year.</p>
<p>You will not often get odds this good on Byron to finish in the top five, so don’t miss the opportunity. Talladega may be unpredictable, but Byron’s recent results at Talladega make this a prime pick.</p>
<h3><a href="https://affiliates.bettingnews.com/register/bovada/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chase Elliott to Finish in the Top Five (+275 at Bovada)</a></h3>
<p>There’s a chance that Elliott could be a part of the final four for the first time since 2022 without a win at Talladega or Martinsville. But it will take two very, very good finishes and a bushel of stage points in both races, at minimum.</p>
<p>Elliott owns a win in both the YellaWood 500 and in the spring race, winning the former in 2022 and the latter in 2019. He has six top-five finishes and nine top-10 finishes in 19 career Cup Series starts at Talladega.</p>
<p>Three years ago, Elliott entered this race, which was the second Round of 12 race that season, trying to hang on to a Round of 8 spot after a 32<sup>nd</sup>-place finish at Texas Motor Speedway. A win locked him into the Round of 8, and he went on to finish fourth in the final standings.</p>
<p>Again, a win is not necessarily a must today, but after finishing 18<sup>th</sup> and getting just six stage points last week, Elliott needs to channel some of his previous Talladega results to head to Martinsville in a better position.</p>
<h3><a href="https://affiliates.bettingnews.com/register/luckyrebel/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chase Briscoe to Finish in the Top 10 (+140 at Lucky Rebel)</a></h3>
<p>Briscoe, who was narrowly edged out for pole by Michael McDowell, continued a good run in the playoffs with a fourth-place finish in the South Point 400. As a result, he holds a spot in the Championship 4 for now.</p>
<p>Can he hold on to it? Given what he has done thus far in the playoffs, this is an outstanding opportunity to get great value on Briscoe to at least finish in the top 10. While qualifying doesn’t have much bearing on how things shake out when the checkered flag waves at the end of the YellaWood 500, it certainly doesn’t hurt that he had such a good qualifying run.</p>
<p>Briscoe has just one top-five finish and two top-10 finishes in nine career Cup Series starts at Talladega. But at these odds and with what he has done starting in Darlington, he easily makes the cut as one of the best bets for today&#8217;s NASCAR race.</p>
<h2>Other NASCAR Betting Content</h2>
<p>Did you enjoy these YellaWood 500 picks? Throughout the season, you can find predictions, picks, and expert NASCAR betting insight for many Cup Series, Xfinity Series, and Truck Series races, as well as updates on the latest championship odds.</p>
<p>Are you new to betting on NASCAR? Check out our <a href="/sports-betting-guides/nascar-betting-guide/">NASCAR betting guide</a> to get your knowledge up to speed before you bet on the upcoming action.</p>
<p>In addition to our dedicated betting guide, several of our sports betting guides are useful for wagering on NASCAR odds. That includes our guide to <a href="/sports-betting-guides/golf-finishing-position-betting/">golf finishing position bets</a>, which are similar in scope and approach to NASCAR finishing position bets.</p>


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