The Cup Series returns to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the 30th anniversary of the Brickyard 400 on Sunday, July 26. The 2.5-mile oval hosts 160 laps of NASCAR’s American Summer Classic at the Racing Capital of the World. Here are the top NASCAR Best Bets on DraftKings Sportsbook for the race.
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NASCAR Best Bets for the 2026 Brickyard 400
Race Winner — Denny Hamlin +400
The victory lap has been delayed long enough. It’s time for some back-patting. The DK Network NASCAR Best Bets article is red-hot. This article has correctly predicted the winner of seven of the last nine races. The list includes road courses, intermediates, short tracks and exhibitions. The early week article — timing is important for the best odds — predicted a Corey Heim win at San Diego (+9000) and a Joey Logano win at North Wilkesboro (+1000).
While some of the wins were dangerous long shots, some were chalk. Denny Hamlin is safe money. Denny is not winless, and he’s a menace for the faders, haters and chasers of long odds. This is the NASCAR Cup Series. There is parity, but it’s still professional stock car racing. Some cars are faster. Some drivers are better. The cars have changed, but the racing has not. Plymouth Superbirds have never ripped around Indianapolis’ historic 2.5-mile oval. The landscape has changed, but the environment is the same. Like everything in life, there are haves and have-nots. In the long run, the haves win more in life. NASCAR is the same. Hamlin is a have. He has talent and a fast Toyota.
Several of the seven DK Network Best Bets wins were chalk. It’s track-dependent. Indy is a hard swallow. The payout isn’t great, but it’s a payout. This is a Hamlin week. It’s a Hamlin year. He’s on a mission. It’s more than a checkbox, but the Brickyard is a checkbox. In two decades, Hamlin has never won at the Racing Capital of the World. The No. 11 JGR Toyota has five top-five finishes in the last nine races at the Indianapolis 2.5-mile oval.
Race Winner — Kyle Larson +700
Sometimes it’s just gut. It sounds dumb. It doesn’t sound dumb when the win comes. The numbers, the lap times, the extraneous circumstances don’t matter. Tie yourself in a knot or not. The knot has been for naught. The not — not overthinking it — has won a lot. The Gen-7 stock car has leveled the playing field, but wins are still hard. They’re elusive for most of the field. Anyone can finish top 10, but few can win. The numbers don’t lie. The numbers are still numbers. Winners are the winners. It’s the Gen-7 era. Much has changed, but the top has not.
The sample size is small. Indianapolis is a one-off track. For a period of time, NASCAR disastrously experimented with the Indy road course. The Indy GP wasn’t much better than the previous runs on the 2.5-mile box. It was worse. The races were embarrassing, so the Cup Series returned to the monotonous 2.5-miler. NASCAR can’t quit Indy. Drivers, fans, and even the media aren’t excited about the racing, but they love the majesty of the Brickyard.
This is a lot of narrative, but this is NASCAR. The truth is — and no Twitter/YouTube NASCAR experts will say this aloud — that NASCAR is narrative. Look at the results. Being a tenth faster on a 20-lap run in practice is meaningless. Winners win. Analytics work at specific tracks. Two-hour YouTube live stream breakdowns can be educational, but they’re mostly academic. Your uncle, or the lifelong NASCAR fan sitting on the couch who doesn’t know a spreadsheet from a bed sheet, can predict the winner. The touts and statisticians can fight it. They can kick against pricks. Eventually, they will have their Road to Damascus moment. This isn’t MLB, NBA or NFL. Their wills and fates do contrary run as Bill Shakespeare once said. NASCAR created driver ratings several decades ago. This advanced stat is predictably useless. It’s a number to say there is a number. NASCAR is and has always been gut.
Who’s the gut pick? Kyle Larson. If stats matter, Larson won at Brickyard in 2024 and was the runner-up last season. If narrative matters, Indianapolis Motor Speedway is his great antagonist. Larson doesn’t have a rival in any series. As much as Denny Hamlin wants it to be so, Larson has two Cup Series Championships and Hamlin has none in 20 years. Hamlin has wins, but he’s not him. Larson wins on dirt, asphalt and concrete. He wins on road courses, ovals, endurance races and in prototypes. He hasn’t won the big one — the Indianapolis 500. This track is his enemy. It’s the Joker to his Batman. It’s not just another race. Yung Money doesn’t race for the money. It’s honor. It’s glory. Wins at Indy mean more.
