NASCAR at COTA 2022: Odds, Preview and Top Storylines

The NASCAR Cup Series makes its first trip of the season to a road course on Sunday. 

The Cup Series visits the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, for the second time in its history.

Chase Elliott won the first Cup Series trip around COTA last May, and he should be one of the drivers in front of the field on Sunday.

Elliott is third all-time in road course wins in the Cup Series behind Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart. 

A win by the No. 9 car on Sunday would put all four Hendrick Motorsports cars in the NASCAR playoffs before the start of April.

Kyle Larson, Alex Bowman and William Byron have one victory each from the first five races of the 2022 campaign. 

In total, there have been five different winners to start the NASCAR season. A surprise winner could emerge from Sunday's EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix because of how tough the road course at COTA can be on drivers. 

EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix Info

Date: Sunday, March 27

Start Time: 3:30 p.m. ET 

TV: Fox

Live Stream: FoxSports.com and Fox Sports app

Odds

Via DraftKings Sportsbook

Chase Elliott (+250; bet $100 to win $250)

Kyle Larson (+300)

Martin Truex Jr. (+1000)

Kyle Busch (+1000)

Austin Cindric (+1400)

Denny Hamlin (+1600)

Christopher Bell (+1600)

Chase Briscoe (+1600)

A.J. Allmendinger (+1600)

William Byron (+1900)

Ryan Blaney (+1900)

Storylines to Watch

Will Chase Elliott Keep Up Hendrick Dominance? 

Hendrick Motorsports established itself as the team to beat through the first five weeks. 

Kyle Larson won at California, Alex Bowman took first at Las Vegas and William Byron captured the checkered flag last Sunday at Atlanta. 

Chase Elliott is the lone member of the Hendrick quartet without a victory in 2022, but that could change on Sunday because of how strong he is on road courses. 

Elliott has seven total road course wins in his career, including a first-place finish in the Cup Series' first-ever trip to COTA last May. 

Elliott worked his way up from the eighth starting position to the front of the field over 54 laps to take the victory.

Sunday's race is expanded to 68 laps, and the starting grid will be set on Saturday afternoon through a round of qualifying. 

Elliott is expected to put his car in contention for the win no matter where he lands on the grid because of how well he has driven on all road courses in his career. 

Elliott is not the only Hendrick driver to watch for at COTA. Larson finished second behind the No. 9 car last season, and he may become the first driver to win multiple races this season. 

Will A Surprise Winner Emerge From the Field? 

Two surprises came from road-course racing during the 2021 Cup Series season. 

Christopher Bell won the second race of the year on the Daytona road course, and A.J. Allmendinger won on the Indianapolis circuit. 

Those two drivers could be in the mix for a victory once again on Sunday. A few other potential surprise winners must be considered. 

Ross Chastain, who is off to the most surprising start in Cup Series, finished fourth at COTA behind Elliott, Larson and Joey Logano last May.

Chastain is coming off a second-place finish to Byron at Atlanta, and he sits in the top 10 in the points standings going into Sunday. 

Austin Cindric is another young driver to watch. He captured victories on the Daytona and Indianapolis road courses in the Xfinity Series before he made the full-time jump to the Cup Series for this season.

Cindric already has one win under his belt from the Daytona 500, and he could be a new competitor to Elliott's road-course throne. 

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