Denny Hamlin nearly took the NASCAR Cup Series lead in victories this season last week, but he settled for runner-up to Ryan Blaney, finishing 1.312 seconds behind the reigning series champion. Hamlin makes another attempt at breaking the four-way tie for first when he participates in the 2024 Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday. The 43-year-old, who is even in victories with William Byron, Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell, has yet to make his way to Victory Lane at Indianapolis, but has posted eight top-10 finishes in 15 Cup Series starts. Hamlin is the 15-4 favorite in the latest 2024 Brickyard 400 odds.
Larson is 6-1, while 2018 race winner Brad Keselowski and Blaney are 8-1. Chase Elliott, who enters as the points leader this season, rounds out the top five 2024 NASCAR at Indianapolis contenders at 9-1. Sunday's race is scheduled to start at 2:30 p.m. ET. Before making any 2024 Brickyard 400 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 Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez's breakthrough wins in 2022.
Taranto has been red-hot for SportsLine in 2024, nailing 10 winners in his best bets, including 16-1 longshot William Byron at the Daytona 500 and 14-1 longshot Elliott at Texas. Anyone following his NASCAR picks has seen huge returns.
Now, Taranto has analyzed the starting lineup and odds for Sunday's Brickyard 400. He's sharing his best bets at SportsLine.
2024 Brickyard 400 expert picks
For the 2024 Brickyard 400, Taranto is high on Joey Logano, even though he's a longshot at 15-1. The 34-year-old Connecticut native's Cup Series career at Indianapolis did not get off to a good start, as he was no better than ninth in his first four outings. But Logano has performed much better at the track since that rough stretch, posting seven top-10 finishes in his last eight races there.
Logano has yet to capture a checkered flag at Indianapolis but was runner-up on two occasions. The closest he came to victory was in 2015, when he finished 0.332 seconds behind winner Kyle Busch. A two-time Cup Series champion, Logano has had a below-average season but has shown signs of turning it around as he picked up his first win of the year three weeks ago at Nashville and finished fifth at Pocono last weekend.
Another surprise: Taranto is fading Brad Keselowski, even though he's a past winner of this race. The 40-year-old from Michigan will be one of three drivers in the 2024 NASCAR at Indianapolis starting lineup that has captured the checkered flag in this race, as he accomplished the feat in 2018 to join Jimmie Johnson (four times) and Kyle Busch (twice). In fact, Keselowski has finished fourth or better in three of his last four starts at Indianapolis and posted six top-10s in 11 career Cup Series starts at the track.
Keselowski also won his only Xfinity Series race at Indy in 2012, the same year he won the Cup Series championship. However, he has had difficulty following a stretch during which he finished fourth or better seven times in 12 starts. After recording a victory at Darlington, a runner-up at Charlotte and a third-place at Gateway in a span of three weeks, Keselowski was 10th or worse in five consecutive races before finishing seventh at Pocono last weekend. See what other NASCAR picks he likes at SportsLine.
How to make 2024 Brickyard 400 predictions
Taranto has also identified four other drivers in his 2024 NASCAR at Indianapolis best bets. He's also high on a huge NASCAR longshot who's going off at more than 45-1, potentially netting any backer a huge payday. You can only see who they are here.
So who wins the Brickyard 400 2024, and which massive longshot could stun NASCAR? Visit SportsLine now to see the 2024 NASCAR at Indianapolis picks and best bets from a NASCAR insider who has already nailed a colossal 10 winners this year, and find out.
2024 Brickyard 400 odds, field
See full NASCAR at Indianapolis picks at SportsLine
Denny Hamlin 15-4
Kyle Larson 6-1
Ryan Blaney 8-1
Brad Keselowski 8-1
Chase Elliott 9-1
Christopher Bell 12-1
William Byron 12-1
Tyler Reddick 12-1
Martin Truex Jr. 12-1
Joey Logano 15-1
Chris Buescher 16-1
Ty Gibbs 16-1
Alex Bowman 28-1
Bubba Wallace 28-1
Kyle Busch 35-1
Ross Chastain 35-1
Josh Berry 40-1
Austin Cindric 60-1
Erik Jones 65-1
Daniel Suarez 80-1
Michael McDowell 100-1
Noah Gragson 125-1
Carson Hocevar 125-1
A.J. Allmendinger 150-1
Chase Briscoe 150-1
Todd Gilliland 200-1
John Hunter Nemechek 250-1
Austin Dillon 300-1
Justin Haley 300-1
Zane Smith 300-1
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 350-1
Corey LaJoie 400-1
Ty Dillon 500-1
Jimmie Johnson 500-1
Ryan Preece 500-1
Harrison Burton 1000-1
Daniel Hemric 2500-1
B.J. McLeod 5000-1
Cody Ware 5000-1
