Long live the long shots. A favorite earned the win last weekend at the most improbable place — Talladega. That’s 2022 in a nutshell. The Roval, in some aspects, is the Talladega of road courses. A long shot did not come through last week, but the well is far from dry. As always, trust the spreadsheet but also trust your eyes. Here are the best bets for the NASCAR Cup Series Bank of America Roval 400 at Charlotte, which gets underway Sunday, October 9 at 2 p.m. ET.

Don’t say you weren’t warned. This season has been something else, and that’s being kind to NASCAR. It was clear in January that the Next Gen car was not ready. What followed was chaos and unexpected winners. If you’re late to the party, don’t worry because races are only becoming more unpredictable and drivers with long odds are more and more viable. As always, trust the spreadsheet but also trust your eyes. Here are the best bets for the NASCAR Cup Series YellaWood 500 at Talladega, which gets underway Sunday, October 2 at 2 p.m. ET.

The long shots keep coming through. The Best Bets article did not predict the specific long shot winner for the second week in a row at Bristol (it did have Brad Keselowski at +10,000), but the strategy was once again correct. The Next Gen car is a mess and it gets messier every week. Long live the long shot. As always, trust the spreadsheet but also trust your eyes. Here are the best bets for the NASCAR Cup Series AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 500 at Texas, which gets underway Sunday, September 25 at 3:30 p.m. ET.