The start to the season has been up and down for Ryan Blaney, and it currently has him 7th in the Cup standings. Oddsmakers don’t expect that to last, as they’re backing him to win his first race of the season.
Blaney is given +1000 odds, or an implied 9.1% chance to win in Atlanta this weekend. His stiffest competition is expected to be Kyle Larson, whom oddsmakers are giving +1100 odds or an 8.1% chance to win the race.
It doesn’t stop there, in total 9 drivers are given +1500 odds or better to win the race. That makes The Fold of Honor QuikTrip 500 the most unpredictable race of the season so far. No race has had tighter odds yet this year.
Quote from OddsChecker spokesman Kyle Newman, “In the tightest race of the year, oddsmakers are choosing to back the guy who won it last year, and his biggest rival is the guy who finished second. It’s the first time this season that oddsmakers have named last year’s 1st and 2nd place finishers in a race the top-2 favorites to win a race this season. It’s only the second time this year that a driver is favored to win a race they won last season. That just goes to show how unpredictable this weekend’s race is. Oddsmakers have nothing to split these drivers other than their previous results on this track.”
FOLDS OF HONOR QUIKTRIP 500
| Driver | Odds | Implied chance |
| Ryan Blaney | +1000 | 9.1% |
| Kyle Larson | +1100 | 8.1% |
| Joey Logano | +1200 | 7.7% |
| Denny Hamlin | +1200 | 7.7% |
| Chase Elliott | +1300 | 7.1% |
| Kyle Busch | +1300 | 7.1% |
| William Byron | +1500 | 6.3% |
| Kevin Harvick | +1500 | 6.3% |
| Alex Bowman | +1500 | 6.3% |
| Tyler Reddick | +1600 | 5.9% |
— OddsChecker —