NASCAR Cup Series Shriners Children’s 500 Predictions & Picks: Back Bell and Byron at Phoenix?

November at Phoenix Raceway has been dominated by Team Penske over the last three years, but the March NASCAR Cup Series race there has seen much more parity. Will we see another different name take the checkered flag in this year’s Shriners Children’s 500 (3:30 pm ET, FS1)?

The 2025 Shriners Children’s 500 will be the 21^st edition of this race, which was first held in 2005. In that time, only three drivers have won it multiple times: Kevin Harvick (2009, 2014-16, 2018), Jeff Gordon (2007 & 2011), and Ryan Newman (2010 & 2017).

Newman’s 2017 win kicked off a run of eight different winners in the last eight races, but the first repeat since Harvick’s three-peat would see the first three-peat in a NASCAR Cup Series season since 2021.

Last week at Circuit of the Americas, Christopher Bell followed up his win at Atlanta Motor Speedway with a victory in the EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix. This week, Bell is looking to become the first driver to win three straight races since Kyle Larson did so twice in his championship-winning 2021 season.

Bell will start 11^th, which is his best starting position of the season. He started 20^th at the Daytona 500, 32^nd at Atlanta, and 19^th last week.

On pole will be Daytona 500 winner William Byron, who finished second twice last weekend.

Neither Bell nor Byron is the favorite to win the Shriners Children’s 500, however, according to NASCAR odds at BetOnline. That would be Ryan Blaney, who will share the sixth row with Bell.

Blaney has yet to win at Phoenix, but the most memorable moment of his Cup Series career occurred there in 2023, when he claimed the championship with a runner-up finish behind race winner Ross Chastain.

Odds to Win the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Shriners Children’s 500 at Phoenix Raceway

Odds are courtesy of BetOnline, where you can bet on a variety of markets for each NASCAR Cup Series, Xfinity Series, and Truck Series race.

• Ryan Blaney +600
• William Byron +650
• Christopher Bell +650
• Kyle Larson +700
• Joey Logano +750
• Tyler Reddick +750
• Kyle Busch +800
• Chase Elliott +1000
• Denny Hamlin +1200
• Ross Chastain +2000
• Austin Cindric +2500
• Chase Briscoe +2500
• Carson Hocevar +2500
• Brad Keselowski +2800
• Chris Buescher +2800
• Michael McDowell +4000
• Josh Berry +5000
• Bubba Wallace +5000
• Ty Gibbs +5000
• Alex Bowman +5000
• Justin Haley +5000
• Erik Jones +8000

Shriners Children’s 500 Predictions and Picks

William Byron to finish in the top five (+100 at Bovada)

In 14 career Cup Series starts at Phoenix Raceway, Willy B has an average finish of 11.1 with a win, eight top-ten finishes, and three top-five finishes. After coming up short in both the Xfinity Series and Cup Series at COTA, look for him to be at or near the front this week if he has an incident-free race.

Ryan Blaney to finish in the top three (+175 at Bovada)

In 18 career Cup Series starts at Phoenix Raceway, Blaney has an average finish of 10.4 with 13 top-ten finishes and 10 top-five finishes, including seven in his last seven visits. Take away his two worst finishes there, and that average improves to 7.3 in the other 16 races.

If backing a top-three finish carries too much risk, he is +100 for a top-five finish, which is also excellent value given his history at Phoenix.

Chris Buescher to finish in the top ten (+125 at Bovada)

Buescher, who will start 13^th, has finished fifth, second, and ninth in his last three races at Phoenix Raceway. After finishing tenth at Daytona and seventh at COTA, he is good value to keep his decent start going in the Shriners Children’s 500.

Ryan Blaney to win the Shriners Children’s 500

As good as Blaney has been at Phoenix, he has yet to win here. The odds are good that changes today.

In the history of this race, Toyota’s three wins have been followed by a Ford win. Joey Logano has the best starting position among the Fords in the field, as he will start on the front row with Byron. But while the reigning Cup Series champion certainly knows a thing or two about winning at Phoenix, the forecast calls for a ninth different winner in nine years.

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