Denny Hamlin acknowledged Chase Elliott’s recent rise to a No. 1 ranking in the NASCAR Cup Series’ drivers’ standings.
Last Sunday’s winner at Dover Motor Speedway remains impressed.
“Six weeks ago, he was 10th to 15th every week and then would finish in the top 10 because attrition and whatever, and now he’s leading,” Hamlin said on his “Actions Detrimental” podcast. “A lot of it is (William) Byron‘s had a very tough couple of months. All of us guys at the top, there were three or four of us that had major issues. Chase doesn’t have those.”
Elliott dominated much of the event at the “Monster Mile,” leading 238 of the 407 laps, but finished P6. Elliott registered five top-six finishes in his past six starts. His worst finish – P20 – came at Atlanta last February.
Alan Gustafson called for Elliott to surrender his advantage for a two-tire pit stop before the first of two rain delays. Elliott’s crew chief drew sharp social media criticism, but Hamlin said he understood the move. The risk didn’t pan out.
“I get it,” Hamlin said. “It’s always got to be someone’s fault why you didn’t win that day. But sometimes s*** just doesn’t work out. It’s called racing.”
Entering next Sunday’s event at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Elliott has two top-10s in seven outings at the iconic track.
Elliott, Tyler Reddick and William Byron each drew sports-betting odds of +1000 to capture the Brickyard 400, according to FanDuel Sportsbook. Hamlin (+440) was listed as the favorite.
Below, we’ll preview the top storylines heading into Sunday’s Brickyard 400 Presented by PPG at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, go over the odds, and give our best bets for the 22nd race on the 2025 NASCAR schedule.
Burn it down in Dover. 💨 pic.twitter.com/0kJVXb7Toh
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) July 21, 2025
Brickyard 400 Presented By PPG Storylines
- With back-to-back P2s, Chase Briscoe is clapping back at those who questioned Joe Gibbs Racing’s decision to replace the retiring Ryan Truex Jr. with Briscoe last offseason. After posting just 13 top-five finishes in his initial 144 Cup starts, he registered eight top fives in 21 outings in the No. 19 Toyota.
- Winless since claiming the 2024 Chicago Street Race, Alex Bowman moved up from No. 12 to No. 9 in the drivers’ standing after finishing P3 last Sunday at Dover. Rebounding from a slow start, the No. 48 Chevrolet team collected five top-five finishes in its past six starts.
- Benefitting from William Byron’s overtime crash at Dover, Chase Elliott passed his Hendrick Motorsports teammate and moved into the top spot in the points race. With five regular-season events remaining, Elliott leads Byron, 702-686. Teammate Kyle Larson ranks third with 664 points.
Plotting the next move. 💭 @chaseelliott pic.twitter.com/KjYWYT1sgn
— Dover Motor Speedway (@MonsterMile) July 20, 2025
Brickyard 400 Presented By PPG Driver Odds
Here is an early look at the drivers’ odds for the Brickyard 400 Presented by PPG at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, according to FanDuel Sportsbook:
| Driver | NASCAR Cup Series’ Brickyard 400 Presented by PPG Odds |
|---|---|
| Denny Hamlin | +440 |
| Kyle Larson | +600 |
| Ryan Blaney | +700 |
| Tyler Reddick | +1000 |
| Chase Elliott | +1000 |
| William Byron | +1000 |
| Christopher Bell | +1200 |
| Chris Buescher | +1200 |
| Chase Briscoe | +1300 |
| Ty Gibbs | +1900 |
| Brad Keselowski | +2100 |
| Joey Logano | +2700 |
| Carson Hocevar | +2900 |
| Bubba Wallace | +3100 |
| Ross Chastain | +3200 |
| Alex Bowman | +3200 |
| Kyle Busch | +4000 |
| Josh Berry | +5000 |
| Austin Cindric | +6000 |
| John Hunter Nemechek | +7500 |
| Erik Jones | +7500 |
| Ryan Preece | +7500 |
| Daniel Suarez | +10000 |
| AJ Allmendinger | +18000 |
| Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | +24000 |
| Austin Dillon | +24000 |
| Michael McDowell | +28000 |
| Jesse Love | +28000 |
| Noah Gragson | +28000 |
| Zane Smith | +28000 |
| Shane van Gisbergen | +34000 |
| Justin Haley | +36000 |
| Todd Gilliland | +38000 |
| Ty Dillon | +50000 |
| Josh Bilicki | +50000 |
| Cody Ware | +50000 |
| Riley Herbst | +50000 |
| Katherine Legge | +50000 |
*-Odds current at time of publication
Brickyard 400 Presented By PPG Predictions and Picks
Here are our best NASCAR Cup Series bets for the Brickyard 400 Presented by PPG at Indianapolis Motor Speedway:
Kyle Larson (+475)
The opportunistic defending event champion led just eight laps last season, but claimed the title. He snapped a prolonged top-10 slump last Sunday at Dover and appears primed to earn his first win since May 11 at Kansas.
Tyler Reddick (+1000)
Reddick appeared to have the strongest machine during NASCAR’s return to the iconic 2.5-mile track, leading a race-high 40 laps, but settled for P2. Reddick is the lone winless pilot ranked among the top eight.
Bubba Wallace (+3100)
Holding the final playoff spot, Wallace, who posted a P7 at Dover for his first top-10 in six starts, wants to give judicially-challenged 23XI Racing a win. Any kind of win.
Finally some luck for BW 🍀
Check out how @BubbaWallace managed to escape this wreck en route to a Top-10 finish at the @monstermile! pic.twitter.com/EXexUChaTp
— 23XI Racing (@23XIRacing) July 21, 2025
