NASCAR Cup Series odds: Erik Jones has best average finish at Darlington

The NASCAR Cup Series hasn't run a race due to the coronavirus pandemic since the FanShield 500 at Phoenix Raceway on Sunday, March 8. The circuit returns – albeit with no fans in attendance for the foreseeable future among other changes – on Sunday afternoon with the Real Heroes 400-mile race at Darlington Raceway in South Carolina. It begins at 3:30 p.m. ET.

The betting favorite for the race, priced +500 on the moneyline odds at William Hill sportsbook, is Kyle Busch. He hasn't won in this season's four races but was third at Phoenix and second the week before in California. In 15 races at Darlington, Busch has an average finish of 11.1 that's fifth among active drivers. He won there in 2008 and was third last September.

Busch is followed on the NASCAR odds by Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin, both at +650.  Hamlin won the season-opening Daytona 500 for the second year in a row but has been 17th, sixth and 20th in the three races since. Hamlin does have two wins at Darlington and an average finish of 7.8 that's third among active drivers.

Harvick has finished in the Top 10 every race this year – the only driver to accomplish that (average finish of sixth) -- but has just one win career in 23 trips at Darlington with an average finish of 14.3.

Mike McClure is a professional daily Fantasy sports player with nearly $2 million in DFS winnings. Now, he's sharing his top NASCAR DFS picks.  

The best value on the board could be Erik Jones at +1800. He won the September 2019 race at Darlington and has finished in the Top 10 all three trips there – his average finish of 4.7 leads active drivers. However, Jones has just one Top 10 this year (he did win the unofficial Busch Clash at Daytona).

Meanwhile, the worst average finish at Darlington among active drivers belongs to Michael McDowell at 32.1. He's a +75000 long shot to get his first career win anywhere. McDowell has posted 61 laps inside the Top 15 so far in 2020. Most of those came at Daytona, where McDowell finished a season-best 14th. He has a scant eight career Top-10 finishes in 321 starts.

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