Ryan Blaney was winless through 13 NASCAR Cup Series regular-season starts in 2022 before capturing the checkered flag in the exhibition All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway. He hopes lightning strikes again for him when he competes in the 2024 NASCAR All-Star Race on Sunday at North Wilkesboro Speedway. Blaney finished 2022 without a regular-season win but recorded three last year en route to becoming the NASCAR Cup Series champion. As he did two years ago, the 30-year-old enters the mid-season exhibition race still seeking his first triumph of 2024, and he has posted just one top-10 finish in his last five starts. Blaney performed well in the All-Star Race last season, finishing sixth in the first Cup Series event at North Wilkesboro since 1996.
Blaney is listed at 10-1 and 2015 race winner Denny Hamlin is the 21-4 favorite in the latest 2024 NASCAR All-Star Race odds. William Byron is 25-4, Christopher Bell is 8-1 and Kyle Larson - who won this race for the third time last year - is 9-1, while 2016 winner Joey Logano rounds out the top five 2024 NASCAR at North Wilkesboro contenders at 19-2. Before making any 2024 NASCAR All-Star Race picks or NASCAR predictions, you need to see what NASCAR insider Steven Taranto has to say.
Taranto, who moonlights as a sim racer and has 20 career wins in iRacing, 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 medial credential and also publishes a popular weekly NASCAR predictions column, famously calling Chastain and Daniel Suarez's breakthrough wins in 2022.
Taranto is off to a red-hot start for SportsLine in 2024, nailing six winners in his best bets already, including 16-1 longshot Byron at the Daytona 500 and 14-1 longshot Chase Elliott at Texas last month. Anyone following his NASCAR picks has seen some huge returns.
Now, Taranto has analyzed the field and odds for Sunday's NASCAR All-Star Race. He's sharing his best bets at SportsLine.
2024 NASCAR All-Star Race expert picks
For the 2024 NASCAR All-Star Race, Taranto is high on Chase Elliott, who is listed at 10-1. The 2020 Cup Series champion has been driving extremely well lately, finishing fifth or better in five of his last seven starts. He began the stretch with a fifth-place at Richmond on March 31 and followed with a third-place showing at Martinsville before recording his first win of the season at Texas.
Elliott bounced back from a 15th-place finish at Talladega on Apr. 21 with back-to-back top-fives at Dover and Kansas. He is tied for second this season with five top-fives, one behind leader Kyle Larson, and has registered three in his last four appearances in the All-Star Race. After winning the exhibition race in 2020, the 28-year-old was third the following year and finished fifth at North Wilkesboro last campaign.
Another surprise: Taranto is fading Larson, even though he is one of the favorites at 9-1. Like Elliott, the 31-year-old Larson has been performing well lately. Since finishing 17th at the Circuit of the Americas on March 24, the Californian has been third or better in four of his seven starts. Larson leads all drivers this season with six top-five finishes.
In addition to his three victories, Larson posted two other top-10s in his six All-Star Race appearances. He was runner-up in his debut in 2017 and finished seventh the following year before beginning his stretch of three wins in four starts. A day before his triumph in this race last season, Larson made his lone Truck Series start at North Wilkesboro and captured the checkered flag in the Tyson 250 after leading 138 of the 252 laps. See what other NASCAR picks he likes at SportsLine.
How to make 2024 NASCAR All-Star Race predictions
Taranto has also identified four other drivers in his 2024 NASCAR at North Wilkesboro best bets. He's also high on a driver who has yet to even qualify for the race. You can only see who they are here.
So who wins the NASCAR All-Star Race 2024, and which driver yet to qualify could stun NASCAR? Visit SportsLine now to see the 2024 NASCAR at North Wilkesboro picks and best bets from a NASCAR insider who has already nailed six winners this year, and find out.
2024 NASCAR All-Star Race odds
See full NASCAR at North Wilkesboro picks at SportsLine
Denny Hamlin 21-4
William Byron 25-4
Christopher Bell 8-1
Kyle Larson 9-1
Joey Logano 19-2
Ryan Blaney 10-1
Chase Elliott 10-1
Martin Truex Jr. 10-1
Brad Keselowski 12-1
Tyler Reddick 12-1
Chris Buescher 15-1
Kyle Busch 18-1
Ross Chastain 20-1
Daniel Suarez 35-1
Michael McDowell 75-1
A.J. Allmendinger 175-1
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 250-1
