2018 Geico 500 Betting Odds

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NASCAR Betting Online: Over the course of much of the months of March and April, the boys of NASCAR spend a lot of time on short tracks. And now, it's on to something completely different! Talladega is one of storied tracks in the history of NASCAR, and the one thing that it isn't is short. It's a huge superspeedway that requires restrictor plates just to keep the speed and the danger down, but that doesn't mean that it isn't one of the most exhilarating experiences in all of sports. The GEICO 500 is a race that is not to be missed.

Catch all of the high-speed thrills and chills of the 2018 GEICO 500 on Sunday, April 29 at 2 p.m. ET live on FOX.

2018 GEICO 500 At a Glance

Racetrack: Talladega Superspeedway, Lincoln, AL
Track Length: 2.66 miles
Total Laps: 188

The first task at hand at Talladega? Avoid "The Big One." You know it's coming every single year. There are going to be at least seven or eight drivers caught up in a big accident somewhere along the way, and you just never know when that's going to happen. But "The Big One" has happened time and time again at Talladega, and that's how we've ended up with some strange looking winners at the GEICO 500 in the past.

In the event that the GEICO 500 does happen to need NASCAR's edition of "overtime" thanks to caution flags, that's when things can get really exciting. A heck of a lot can happen over the course of a few extra laps at 'Dega, and back in 2010, it took a total of 12 "overtime" laps to finish off one of the most exciting races in the history of NASCAR. There were a total of 88 lead changes on the day, the most in the history of a race at Talladega. That record was tied the very next year in a race that featured the closest margin of victory ever in the history of NASCAR at 0.002 seconds with Jimmie Johnson nipping Clint Bowyer.

List of GEICO 500 Winners (Since 2000)

David Ragan has one career win. It happened to come at the GEICO 500. It also happened in a year when there was a 16-car pileup early in the race that took out Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and some other top contenders. Not only did Ragan win that race, but little-known David Gilliland, man who enters the 2017 season with a grand total of zero career wins, finished second.

You also might have heard of Brad Keselowski before. He's now the premier driver on Team Penske, and he won the GEICO 500 last year. His first race win? That came back in 2009. It was the Jet Ski's fifth career race, and he led just one lap on the day: The one that mattered. In fact, it was also the first time that Keselowski ever led a lap in his NASCAR career.

What does all of that prove? Anything can happen at 'Dega, especially when the wrecks start going down.

Most Career Wins (By Driver) at GEICO 500

It takes a whole heck of a lot to win at the GEICO 500. It takes even more to be a consistent winner here during the restrictor plate era. Jeff Gordon was the best of the best all-time at the GEICO 500 with four career victories, but there are several men nipping at his heels. This is one of the favorite tracks of the Earnhardt family, and with No. 88 back in the saddle, this could be the year that he ties Gordon for the record of GEICO 500 victories with four. Keselowski's first career win was on this track as we mentioned before, and that was only one of his three all-time wins at the GEICO 500.

Most Career Wins (By Team) at GEICO 500

Especially with a team like Joe Gibbs Racing out there, you hate to say that no one is ever going to run down Hendrick Motorsports for the record of GEICO 500 victories, but that might very well end up being the case. Hendrick has seven wins all-time in this race, and it's just so darn hard to predict a team staying together long enough to get lucky enough to win this one more than a few more times. Richard Childress Racing is the next closest amongst active teams with four wins, but to prove just how wild the GEICO 500 has been over the years, a great team like Roush Racing only has two wins, the same number Leo Jackson Racing and Morgan-McClure Motorsports, teams only the most diehard of NASCAR fans from the 1980s and 1990s would have heard of before.

Most Career Wins (By Manufacturer) at GEICO 500

The one thing that was consistent for years and years about the GEICO 500 was the fact that Chevys were always the most likely cars to end up in Victory Lane. From 1999 through 2011, Chevrolet drivers won at Talladega a whopping 11 times, the one exception being in 2008 when Joe Gibbs Racing broke the mold and came through for Toyota's first ever victory in this race. Ford was the dominant machine in the early days of the GEICO 500 and sits second best with 11 career victories, but running down Chevy and its 19 triumphs at the Talladega Spring race will be incredibly tough for any manufacturer.

How to bet on Nascar Geico 500

The odds of a driver to win the Geico 500 will generally look something like:

• Jeff Gordon + 200
• Mark Martin + 250
• Jeff Burton + 300
• Bill Elliott + 700
• Robby Gordon + 700
• Field + 500

These betting odds will be lower when betting on a driver to finish in the top three, as the sportsbook must pay off three different winning bets.

A player would have to bet $10 to win $20 that Jeff Gordon will win the Geico 500, while the bettor wagering on Bill Elliott stands to win $70 on their $10 wager.

Another commonly placed bet in NASCAR is head-to-head finish between two drivers. With this bet, a player doesn't really care what place the driver finishes in, as long as the driver finishes higher than the other driver.

A head-to-head betting line for the Geico 500 will look something like:

• Mark Martin - 130 Jeff Burton + 110

In this bet, players wagering on Martin to finish higher than Burton will be asked to risk $13 to win $10, while bettors believing that Burton will finish higher than Martin will bet $10 to win $11.

Those familiar with sports betting will have no trouble making the transition to NASCAR wagering, while those new to the world of sports betting should be able to pick up the concepts of NASCAR betting without too much hassle.

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