2024 GEICO 500 expert picks, best bets, Talladega odds, race time: NASCAR insider backing Kyle Busch

Kyle Busch will try to add Talladega Superspeedway to the list of tracks at which he has recorded at least three NASCAR Cup Series victories when he gets behind the wheel Sunday for the 2024 GEICO 500 at 3 p.m. ET. Busch has made his way to Victory Lane three or more times at eight different tracks, but has done so only twice at Talladega, capturing his first checkered flag there in this race in 2008 and repeating the feat last year. The two-time Cup Series champion has posted six of his eight top-five finishes at the track in this event, as he also has been runner-up twice and was third on two occasions. Busch finished ninth at Texas last weekend for his third top-10 of the season.

Busch is 15-1 and Joey Logano is the 9-1 favorite in the 2024 GEICO 500 odds. Four-time race winner Brad Keselowski is 10-1 and reigning Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney is 11-1. Chase Elliott, William Byron, Denny Hamlin and Bubba Wallace round out the top 2024 NASCAR at Talladega contenders at 12-1. Before making any 2024 GEICO 500 picks or NASCAR predictions, you need to see what NASCAR insider 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, and he chronicles stock car racing with the same thoroughness and passion that he’s had since becoming a full-time race fan in 2001. He has an annual NASCAR medial credential and also publishes a popular weekly NASCAR predictions column, famously calling Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez’s breakthrough wins in 2022.

Taranto is off to a red-hot start for SportsLine in 2024, nailing five winners in his best bets already, including 16-1 longshot Byron at the Daytona 500 and 14-1 longshot Elliott at Texas last weekend. Anyone following his NASCAR picks has seen some huge returns.

Now, Taranto has analyzed the field and odds for Sunday’s GEICO 500. He’s sharing his best bets at SportsLine.

2024 GEICO 500 expert picks

For the 2024 GEICO 500, Taranto is high on Kyle Busch, even though he’s a 15-1 longshot. The two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion opened the season with a 12th-place finish in the Daytona 500 and was third the following week at Atlanta. But he struggled mightily after that, finishing no better than 22nd over his next three starts at his native Las Vegas, Phoenix and Bristol.

The 38-year-old has performed better since that stretch as he posted a pair of top-10 finishes over his next four outings, including last weekend in Fort Worth. Busch hasn’t been especially successful at Talladega during his Cup Series career, recording only 10 top-10s in 37 starts. But he’s notched five of those in his last eight appearances in the spring race at the track and enters Sunday with back-to-back top-three finishes there. 

Another surprise: Taranto is fading reigning Cup Series regular-season champion Martin Truex Jr. The 43-year-old has recorded five top-10 finishes in nine races thus far this year, but he has struggled a bit of late. After finishing fourth at Richmond on March 31, Truex was a season-worst 18th at Martinsville and 14th last weekend at Texas.

Truex hasn’t enjoyed much success at Talladega during his Cup Series career. He has made 38 starts at the track and posted just three top-five finishes and nine top-10s without capturing a checkered flag. Truex has finished in the top 10 only once in his last 16 outings at Talladega, placing fifth in the spring of 2022, but has followed that with 26th-, 27th- and 18th-place results. See what other NASCAR picks he likes at SportsLine.

How to make 2024 GEICO 500 predictions

Taranto has also identified four other drivers in his 2024 NASCAR at Talladega best bets. He’s also high on a massive NASCAR longshot approaching 100-1 NASCAR odds. You can only see who they are here.

So who wins the GEICO 500 2024, and which massive longshot could stun NASCAR? Visit SportsLine now to see the 2024 NASCAR at Talladega picks and best bets from a NASCAR insider who has already nailed five winners this year, and find out.

2024 GEICO 500 odds

See full NASCAR at Talladega picks at SportsLine

Joey Logano 9-1
Brad Keselowski 10-1
Ryan Blaney 11-1
William Byron 12-1
Chase Elliott 12-1
Denny Hamlin 12-1
Bubba Wallace 12-1
Kyle Busch 15-1
Christopher Bell 18-1
Ross Chastain 18-1
Kyle Larson 18-1
Ty Gibbs 20-1
Alex Bowman 22-1
Chris Buescher 22-1
Tyler Reddick 22-1
Martin Truex Jr. 25-1
Erik Jones 28-1
Austin Cindric 30-1
Daniel Suarez 30-1
Chase Briscoe 35-1
Michael McDowell 35-1
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 35-1
Austin Dillon 40-1
Noah Gragson 40-1
Corey LaJoie 40-1
Todd Gilliland 45-1
Ryan Preece 60-1
Justin Haley 70-1
Zane Smith 70-1
Josh Berry 75-1
Carson Hocevar 75-1
John Hunter Nemechek 75-1
Harrison Burton 100-1
Daniel Hemric 100-1
Shane Van Gisbergen 100-1
Anthony Alfredo 250-1
BJ McLeod 500-1
Cody Ware 500-1