NASCAR Cup Championship Predictions, Odds, Picks 2025: Bell Looks for Bounce-Back Year

• With a great start at Bowman Gray, Chase Elliott can’t be overlooked this year

• It’s an odd-numbered year, so you can forget about Joey Logano in 2025

• Rejuvenated by success on dirt, Christopher Bell has his eyes on the top prize

NASCAR Cup Championship Betting Odds

Odds taken from bet365 Sportsbook. Head over to bet365 to place your bets on the NASCAR Cup Championship and claim the bonus of your choice: $1,000 Safety Net Bet OR $150 in Bonus Bets.

NASCAR Cup Championship My Pick

• Christopher Bell to win the NASCAR Cup Series championship at (+550) at bet365.

NASCAR Cup Championship Predictions

Chase Elliott Gains Confidence with Solid Start at Bowman Gray

It difficult to draw a meaningful inference from an exhibition race on a quarter-mile short track, but Chase Elliott’s performance in the Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium on Groundhog Day certainly is worthy of notice.

Elliott was fastest in practice the day before the Clash, and he won his heat race wire-to-wire to secure the pole for the main event.

In the Clash, Elliott outdueled Denny Hamlin early in the second 100-lap segment and held off Ryan Blaney in the late going to win the season-opening exhibition event for the first time.

From every indication, Elliott and crew chief Alan Gustafson are closely aligned to start the 2025 season after a hit-or-miss 2024.

We expect the Cup Series’ seven-time most popular driver to qualify for the Championship 4 race at the end of the season. We just don’t expect him to win it at +1000 via bet365 Sportsbook.

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It’s an Odd-Numbered Year, So Don’t Worry About Joey Logano

For a number of reasons, once the Championship 4 lineup for Phoenix Raceway was settled last year, Joey Logano was our pick to win his third title at +280 via bet365.

First, Team Penske had shown great late-season strength for the third straight year. The marquee Ford team was going for it third straight Cup title.

Second, it was an even-numbered year. Since the inception of NASCAR’s elimination Playoff format in 2014, Logano has made the Championship 4 in each of the even-numbered seasons. He has failed to qualify for the Championship 4 in each of the odd-numbered years.

Consequently, we’d be crazy to back Logano this season, wouldn’t we? The oddsmakers seem to have noticed the pattern, too—the driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford is offered at +900 via bet365.

The odds aren’t longer than that because Penske has won three straight titles, and Logano is the only full-time active driver in the Cup Series with as many as three championships.

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“Unchained” Christopher Bell Is Loving Life and Racing Right Now

Joe Gibbs Racing driver Christopher Bell got the racing equivalent of a get-out-of-jail-free card at the end of the 2024 season.

Team owner—and three-time Super Bowl winning football coach—Joe Gibbs lifted the embargo against dirt racing that had constrained his Cup Series drivers. Bell promptly won the Non-Wing Outlaw championship event at the Tulsa Shootout, beating NASCAR Cup rival Kyle Larson to the checkered flag.

Bell beat Larson again on Feb. 6 to win the World of Outlaws 410 Winged Sprint Car feature at Volusia Speedway in Florida.

We think the offseason dirt activities are prelude to the upcoming NASCAR season, with Bell (+550 via bet365) and Larson (favored at +500 via bet365) battling for the title. Bell made the final four in 2022 and 2023 and narrowly missed last year after a penalty at Martinsville.

Larson may win the most races for the second straight season—he claimed six victories in 2025—but we expect Bell to hoist the Bill France Cup after the season finale.

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