Kyle Larson Thinks Ryan Blaney Is The NASCAR Cup Series Championship Favorite
Don’t ever tell Kyle Larson the odds. He doesn’t care.
The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Champion will be racing for his second title on Sunday at Phoenix Raceway against Ryan Blaney, William Byron and Christopher Bell.
According to MGMBet, Larson is the favorite to win the race at +175 odds, followed by Blaney (+275), Byron (+325) and Bell (+450). Oddly, their odds to win the championship – which goes to the highest finisher in the race — are slightly different at +175 for Larson, +225 for Blaney, +275 for Byron and +375 for Bell.
“I haven’t seen the odds. I heard that the odds were close,” Larson said during his media day press conferenced on Thursday.
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“I don’t think it matters, no, no. I definitely don’t think it matters. I mean, sure, yeah, we’ve done a great job the last few seasons, but when it comes down to one race, it’s hard to close that out sometimes.”
He actually believes someone else is the favorite.
“I think you can make a case for all of us on why each of us could or should be the champion. I mean, obviously you look at, like, recent speed and stuff, Blaney probably to me stands out to be the best,” Larson said.
“If I was setting odds, I would put him as the favorite potentially. Again, not by much. I think we’re all four pretty equal. It should be a really good race. I think whoever wins on Sunday is a very deserving champion.”
“I’m confident in our race team that we can. I’m not overly confident, though, because I understand how tough all these teams are.”
Blaney was the runner-up to Byron in the spring race at Phoenix, with Larson finishing fourth and Bell sixth.
Larson also doesn’t believe his 2021 success will mean much on Sunday.
“Yeah, I don’t view us having a leg up on the others because we have a championship at all. It was a couple years ago. It’s a totally different race car. Pit stops are different. The race is different. It’s all different,” he said.
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“Yeah, like I’ve been saying, I think all of us have a fairly equal shot. I came into the Championship 4 a couple years ago with no experience in the Round of 4. Really had only been in the Round of 8 one other time before then.”
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