Sunday's Xfinity 500 at Martinsville Speedway (2 p.m. ET, NBC, Peacock, HBO Max, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App) could be a wild one.
Today's race is the final chance for playoff-eligible drivers to punch their tickets to next weekend's championship race at Phoenix.
RELATED: More on today's Round of 8 elimination bout in What to WatchDenny Hamlin and Chase Briscoe have already earned their berths to Phoenix, meaning there are still two spots up for grabs Sunday at Martinsville.
Live NASCAR odds from BetMGM list polesitter William Byron as the race favorite with +350 odds, followed by Denny Hamlin (+475), Chase Elliott (+475), Kyle Larson (+500) and Ryan Blaney (+625) for today's NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs Round of 8 finale. I'm zeroing in on two drivers from this list of favorites, as well as a 20-1 longer-shot pick for my best bets for Martinsville.NASCAR Odds, Best Bet Pick for Talladega
*Odds as of Sunday morningLet's jump right in with my top two favorites to bet for Sunday's race.
Denny Hamlin (+600) to Win -- ESPN BET
I'm not breaking any news by saying I like Hamlin to win today's race.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has six career Cup Series wins at Martinsville, including earlier this season.
But what really caught my eye was an interview with Hamlin during Saturday's on-track activity.
In that interview, Hamlin mentioned that the left-rear tires were burning off in practice, just as they did 15 years ago.
Very few drivers in today's field were in the Cup Series 15 years ago, and considering Hamlin notched four wins at this track from 2008-2010, he'll have the best idea of how to save tires to ensure long-run speed.
Ryan Blaney (+625) to Win -- Caesars
Blaney is known for having pace on long runs at Martinsville and appears to have it again this weekend.
The No. 12 Ford posted the third-fastest 20- and 25-lap averages in practice on Saturday, but Blaney didn't do himself any favors after qualifying a disappointing 31st for today's race.
However, Blaney has won the past two playoff races at Martinsville, and while he didn't start as deep as 31st on the grid, both of those wins came with starting positions outside of the top 10, so I'm willing to buy low(er) on the Team Penske driver despite his poor qualifying effort.
Bubba Wallace (+2,000) to Win -- FanDuel
Wallace has repeatedly said that Martinsville is among his favorite tracks, and he has backed that up with finishes of eighth, ninth, 11th, fourth, 18th and third over his last six races at this circuit.
Wallace appears to have a race pace in his career as well this weekend, ranking fourth in 20- and 25-lap averages and second in the 30-lap average in practice.