2024 Brickyard 400 BellyUp Racing Picks

For the first time in four years, NASCAR returns to the Brickyard 400. Sure, they’ve run at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in recent years. The traditional oval course is also home to a road course that hosted the Verizon 200 in recent years. Since 2021 they’ve run on that, but the famous crowned jewel event returns to NASCAR this weekend. You can expect all the drivers to bring their A-game for the opportunity to kiss the bricks after the checkered flag on Sunday.

As usual, Chris and I are here to give you what we believe are good bets for the weekend. Last week, I once again faded the winner, and Ryan Blaney came home with the victory. But, my pick of Alex Bowman turned into P3 at Pocono, balanced out by Ty Gibbs shooting chocolate milk out of his exhaust pipes. Chris’s picks resulted in a wrecked Ross Chastain, and Brad Keselowski with a P7 Brad Keselowski. He faded P4 William Byron. So all in all, not a great weekend. Here’s to a better weekend at the Brickyard 400!

Chris’s Picks: #6 Brad Keselowski (+750) & #19 Martin Truex Jr (+1400)

I wasn’t expecting Brad to have this good of odds. However, I guess I should’ve when looking at his previous races on this track configuration. In eleven career starts on the oval, his worst finish was 38th and that was due to him being involved in an accident. Plus he’s coming off of a pretty solid seventh-place finish at Pocono. Which seems to be the closest comparison to the Indianapolis Oval. He had a rough three-week stretch where he finished outside the top fifteen. Started turning it around last weekend. So now before a two-week hiatus, I think he can go in and very solidly compete for a top-ten finish. Keep your money safe this week with Brad.

My second veteran driver of choice has become a bit of a frequent pick for me as of late at least. I like Martin here for a lot of the same reason Kaleb likes Joey Logano. Martin is a veteran championship-winning driver who has done it all in this sport. He knows what it takes to make a car fast on a track like Indy, and he knows exactly what to tell his crew chief so they can adjust the car throughout the race. Toyota brought a ton of speed to Pocono last weekend. So, there is no reason why we should expect them to do anything less again this weekend. They’re not crazy odds but I like them enough to bet on Martin. He’s going to get a win this year and it would almost be too perfect for him to do it on a track configuration where the series hasn’t run in four seasons.

Kaleb’s Picks: #22 Joey Logano (+1400) #24 William Byron (+1000)

This race being out of the series for four years, and the next-gen car not running a single race on it, it can be hard to predict what will happen. But we can make good guesses, look at good numbers, and take a swing. I like Joey Logano here for a couple of different reasons. The first is that in every race after 2013, Logano has never finished lower than P13 at the Brickyard. He’s also a veteran driver who’s done it all and seen it all in the world of NASAR. His team owner Roger Penske also bought the racetrack and it could lead to some insider information that other teams don’t have. I like Logano’s odds and the situation he’s in to find some speed and collect his second win of the year.

As for William Byron, he’s due for a big race win. He hasn’t found victory lane since the race at Martinsville in the 1-2-3 Hendrick Motorsports finish. He hasn’t been bad since then. Seven top tens and a P2 at Iowa in the dozen races since then. But this car is due for a big win to remind the world that William Byron is a serious championship contender. So a car this fast typically with these odds is hard to ignore. There’s also the odd coincidence of the 24 car winning races at the Brickyard 400 in 1994 (its debut), 2004, and 2014 under Jeff Gordon. Will William Byron keep up the tradition?

Chris’s Fade: #5 Kyle Larson (+600)

This is almost a dumb pick. I mean even Vegas odds makers know the obvious. Kyle Larson is fast, and probably the best if not one of the best race car drivers in the world. However, he’s the guy I like the least this week. Someone has to be in the spot like Kaleb mentions below. Also, I mean why not roll with a veteran driver who has had better runs on the oval configuration? In his six career starts even in the old generation of Cup cars at Indy Kyle only finished inside the top ten 50% of the time. Will Kyle probably go out and stink the show-up? He probably wants to prove a point after his trip to the famed Indy 500 went wrong a few months ago. It’s possible but again that’s the fun in all of this.

Kaleb’s Fade: #20 Christopher Bell (+1100)

I want to preface this by saying Christopher Bell deserves to be in the championship favorites conversation. I just don’t love his game on intermediate tracks. Pocono the last three years have looked solid with two top tens and a P12 last weekend. But the short ovals and passing cars in traffic are what makes Bell special. It will be incredibly hard to make it through the field at Indianapolis and the Brickyard 400 is known for being a one-lane race. If Bell starts in the top-five and runs well in qualifying this bet could very well go to hell. But the cars that I don’t like have good enough odds they’re not worth advising to bet against. Bell is just the one I like the least of the favorable cars. My track record of fades hasn’t been great. But somebody’s got to make the list.

If you enjoyed this content, or hate it and want to argue with me, follow me on Twitter @KalebMcChesney! Also, read up on the rest of the NASCAR content Belly Up Sports has to offer here! Heck, for all your other sports needs, follow the main page. If you love racing of any shape or form, find Chris on Twitter, and let’s talk!