2025 Bristol Night Race odds, NASCAR picks: Best bets for the Bristol race from proven racing expert

The second leg of the Round of 16 playoffs heads to Gateway with the 2025 Enjoy Illinois 300 on Sunday. Chase Briscoe won the opening playoff race last week, with Denny Hamlin second at +43 and Kyle Larson third at +38 to lead the 16 drivers in the postseason, which is comprised of four rounds over the final 10 races of the season. Four drivers are eliminated in each of the first three rounds, which consist of three races each. The remaining four drivers compete for the title in the season-ending championship race. 

Ryan Blaney and Christopher Bell are the +500 co-favorites (risk $100 to win $500) in the 2025 Enjoy Illinois 300 odds, while Hamlin is at +650, Larson at +850 and Joey Logano at +950. Other NASCAR at Gateway contenders include Briscoe (+1000) and William Byron (+1200). Sunday's race is scheduled to start at 3 p.m. ET. 

Before making any Bristol Night Race picks, you NEED to see what CBS Sports NASCAR writer Steven Taranto has to say.

Taranto, who moonlights as a sim racer and has 20 career wins in iRacing, is the lead NASCAR writer for CBSSports.com. Taranto was red-hot for SportsLine in 2024 as he nailed 17 winners, including 16-1 longshot William Byron at the Daytona 500 and 14-1 longshot Chase Elliott at Texas. Anybody following his NASCAR picks could have seen HUGE returns!

For the Bristol Night Race, Taranto is high on Denny Hamlin (+500). He also has a head-to-head prop bet, with William Byron (+130) to finish ahead of Kyle Larson (-175). "Given that I had Kyle Larson at the top of my Best Bets, it seems paradoxical for me to give William Byron the edge in this head to head matchup – And, frankly, it is," Taranto said. "But hear me out: If you want to try and bet on the new tire compound creating extreme tire wear and chaos, or at least lessening Larson's stranglehold on the front of the field in Bristol, you might want to consider taking Byron here at +130. Byron has run third at Bristol twice, and he finished sixth here back in the spring."

Taranto has also identified three other drivers in his 2025 Bristol Night Race best bets. He's also high on a huge NASCAR longshot who's around 55-1, potentially netting any backer a HUGE payday! You ABSOLUTELY NEED to see his picks before locking in any NASCAR picks of your own.

So who wins the 2025 Bristol Night Race, and which MASSIVE longshot do you need to target NOW? ...  Join SportsLine right now to see the 2025 NASCAR at Gateway best bets, all from the expert who nailed a colossal 17 race winners last year!