It may seem hard to believe, but the new NASCAR season is right around the corner. Things might change between now and the official start of the season, but the bookies already have odds up for the Daytona 500 as well as for the Cup Series Championship. The latter of those odds will change as the season progresses, but it gives us a bit of an early insight into who the experts believe will walk away as the champion at the end of the season. You do have to say that the current favorites are not particularly surprising given what they have done over the last couple of seasons. We are going to take a look at the current top 3, their NASCAR Championship odds, and see the likelihood of them winning it all in 2022.

2022 Championship: Top 3 drivers and why they are going to win | NASCAR Betting

Kyle Larson (+270)

As is very often the case with most sports, it is the defending champion who starts the new year as the favorite to repeat. There is certainly no surprise in seeing Larson as the favorite to win it all in 2022 given what he accomplished last season. Heading into 2021, Larson had a lot to prove after being suspended for most of the previous season after an incident that saw him use a racial slur while taking part in an eRacing event. No one really gave him much of a chance to win, but he set the tone early, winning in Las Vegas in the 4^th race of the season. He then went on an astonishing run that saw him finish 2^nd in 3 straight races, which he followed with 3 straight wins. From that point forward, he never looked back, including going on a run that saw him win 4 of the last 5 races on the season. It’ll be tough to match that, but Larson is the man to beat.

Chase Elliott (+400)

Chase Elliott is heading into his 7^th full season in the Cup Series, and you have to say that he has been one of the most consistent drivers in NASCAR during that time. He has never finished outside of the top 10 overall in the driver standings and has made it all the way to the final four in each of the last 2 seasons. He won it all in 2020, winning 5 races during that run to the title. While he had a pair of wins last season, failing to get more wins is probably what hurt him in the long run. Elliott is incredibly consistent, though, and always picks up points that keep him in the mix. He will need to win more often this year if he is to become the champion again.

Denny Hamlin (+700)

Since coming into the Cup Series in the latter part of 2005, Denny Hamlin has done everything except win a championship. In that time, he has landed in the final 4 on 6 different occasions, including in each of the last 2 seasons. This is a driver who appears to be long overdue for a title win, but can he get over the hump this coming season? He is always tough to be against, mostly because he is up among the leaders in almost every race. Like Elliott, he can improve his chances of winning it all by taking more checkered flags this season after winning twice in 2021.

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