The NASCAR Cup Series is heading to one of its most iconic tracks in Martinsville, and there could be more excitement at the front than there’s been the past few weeks.
That’s because Hendrick Motorsports star driver Chase Elliott will make his return to the car at one of his favorites tracks after missing the past six races due to a broken leg suffered during a skiing accident back in early March.
Elliott was able to meet the six-week return timeline and admitted that returning to a demanding Martinsville track will be tough, but the oddsmakers still have him as one of the favorites to win.
While we’re not feeling Elliott this week in his return, we’ve got five other drivers that appear to offer value to reach victory lane as well as the complete odds list for all 36 drivers in the field.
FAST FIVE PICKS
Chalk play
William Byron (+650 to win)
Byron is the defending winner of the Martinsville spring race and has been even more impressive so far this season than he was in 2022. He and his teammate Chase Elliott are chalk favorites at +650, but we’re going with Byron since he’s been on a roll to start 2023 as the only Cup Series driver to have won multiple races.
Trending up
Denny Hamlin (+700 to win)
Hamlin is the most accomplished active Cup Series driver at Martinsville, and he’s still among the top contenders even though the Hendrick Motorsports drivers have had more wins as of late. Joe Gibbs Racing won for the first time in 2023 last week, and Hamlin could be the next of their drivers to break through considering he’s won here five times in his career.
Best value
Ross Chastain (+1700 to win)
The last time the Cup Series ran at Martinsville, Chastain’s car was wide open up against the wall on the final lap in a desperation move deemed as the “Hail Melon” to reach the next round of the playoffs. While he didn’t reach victory lane that day, Chastain showed he could run up front at Martinsville and offers serious value at 17-to-1 to win this week.
Mid-pack play
Kevin Harvick (+2500 to win)
This is another value play, as Harvick’s recent Martinsville results have been subpar for his standards, but he’s been competitive in almost every race this season in what’s been an improvement from last year. We’ll take our chances with Harvick at 25-to-1 considering he’s had success here earlier in his career.
Longshot play
Austin Dillon (+5000 to win)
Dillon nearly won the Bristol Dirt Race last week and has established himself as one Cup Series’ better drivers at short tracks. Dillon recorded a top-three finish here in 2022 and should deliver another strong run this time around considering Richard Childress Racing has seen an overall improvement with the addition of Kyle Busch.
2023 NOCO 400 FULL FIELD ODDS
Odds from Caesars Sportsbook, official odds partner of bet.NOLA.com
+650 to win
Chase Elliott
William Byron
+700 to win
Kyle Larson
Christopher Bell
Denny Hamlin
Martin Truex Jr.
+1100 to win
Ryan Blaney
+1200 to win
Joey Logano
+1400 to win
Kyle Busch
+1700 to win
Ross Chastain
+2200 to win
Alex Bowman
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