William Byron's victory at Austin last week made him the first driver to reach multiple wins in the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule. He'll now try to become the first to three victories at the 2024 Toyota Owners 400 on Sunday at 7 p.m. ET at Richmond Raceway. Others such as Kyle Larson, Christopher Bell and Denny Hamlin also have claimed checkered flags this year, and Larson is the defending race winner for 2024 NASCAR at Richmond. However, he doesn't even crack the top four in terms of the shortest 2024 Toyota Owners 400 odds, as he's listed at 10-1.
The top four is occupied solely by Joe Gibbs Racing drivers. Hamlin and Bell are 17-4 co-favorites, while Martin Truex Jr. is 5-1 and Ty Gibbs is 8-1. Meanwhile, Kyle Busch (18-1) could attract NASCAR at Richmond bets as a five-time winner at this race. Before making any 2024 Toyota Owners 400 picks or NASCAR predictions, you need to see what NASCAR insider Steven Taranto has to say.
Taranto is the lead NASCAR writer for CBSSports.com, and he chronicles stock car racing with the same thoroughness and passion that he's had since becoming a full-time race fan in 2001. He has an annual NASCAR media credential and also publishes a popular weekly NASCAR predictions column, famously calling Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez's breakthrough wins in 2022.
Taranto started this season with a bang by nailing William Byron as a 16-1 longshot in the Daytona 500, Kyle Larson at 4-1 in the Pennzoil 400 and Denny Hamlin at 5-1 in the Food City 500. He also moonlights as a sim racer and has 20 career wins in iRacing.
Now, Taranto has analyzed the field and odds for Sunday's 2024 Toyota Owners 400. He's sharing his best bets at SportsLine.
2024 Toyota Owners 400 expert picks
For the 2024 Toyota Owners 400, Taranto is high on Chris Buescher, even though he's an 11-1 longshot. He's a target for anyone looking for a huge payday. The native Texan is coming off an eighth-place finish at Austin last week, marking his third straight top-10 of the season. Now, he steps onto a track that he was victorious on in his last start there as Buescher claimed the NASCAR Richmond race in July 2023. He started way back in the No. 26 spot but ended up leading for 88 of the final 96 laps for his third Cup Series victory.
Buescher has since added to that tally with five career wins, but another one of those came at a comparable track to Richmond in Bristol in 2022. Over his last four starts at short tracks like Richmond, Buescher has finished in eighth place or better in each start. Additionally, his team in RFK Racing excels on these types of circuits, as its drivers have combined to notch seven top-10s over their last eight starts on short tracks.
Another surprise: Taranto is fading last week's winner, William Byron. He opened the 2024 season with a win in the Daytona 500 and scored his second win of the season at the Circuit of the Americas last week. He did not finish better than 10th place in the four races between those victories, though, and this track has not been friendly to him during his career.
Byron only has one top-five finish in 13 Richmond starts, including two Xfinity Series starts. He has been outside the top 10 in three straight appearances, getting spun out late after leading 117 laps last spring. Byron finished 18th at Phoenix and 35th at Bristol, so Taranto is not interested in backing him on another short track this weekend. See what other NASCAR picks he likes at SportsLine.
How to make 2024 Toyota Owners 400 predictions
Taranto has also identified five other drivers in his 2024 NASCAR at Richmond best bets. He's also high on a massive NASCAR longshot that is priced at 100-1 in this week's NASCAR odds. You can only see who they are here.
So who wins the Toyota Owners 400 2024? And which longshot could stun NASCAR? Visit SportsLine now to see the 2024 NASCAR at Richmond picks and best bets from a NASCAR insider who called Byron's season-opening win in the Daytona 500, Larson's win in the Pennzoil 400 and Hamlin's win in the Food City 500, and find out.
2024 Toyota Owners 400 odds
See full NASCAR at Richmond picks at SportsLine
Denny Hamlin 17-4
Christopher Bell 17-4
Martin Truex Jr. 6-1
Ty Gibbs 8-1
Kyle Larson 10-1
William Byron 12-1
Brad Keselowski 12-1
Chris Buescher 12-1
Tyler Reddick 14-1
Ryan Blaney 16-1
Chase Elliott 18-1
Kyle Busch 18-1
Ross Chastain 20-1
Joey Logano 25-1
Bubba Wallace 45-1
Alex Bowman 50-1
Chase Briscoe 60-1
Austin Dillon 75-1
Josh Berry 100-1
Noah Gragson 100-1
Ryan Preece 100-1
Daniel Suarez 100-1
Michael McDowell 100-1
John Hunter Nemechek 125-1
Erik Jones 125-1
Carson Hocevar 125-1
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 150-1
Austin Cindric 250-1
Corey Lajoie 350-1
Todd Gilliland 500-1
Justin Haley 1000-1
Ty Dillon 2000-1
Harrison Burton 2000-1
Daniel Hemric 2000-1
Zane Smith 2000-1
Kaz Grala 5000-1
