The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season gets underway this week with the biggest stock car race of all, the Daytona 500. For NASCAR betting in North Carolina, it’s an event worth savoring.
Bettors who follow NASCAR will know the biggest names to watch on Sunday at Daytona International Speedway (2:30 p.m. Eastern, Fox) and throughout the season: Names such as Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch and defending series champion Joey Logano.
But is there wagering value to be had farther down the pack? You bet! BetCarolina.com, your fastest way to finding real money NC sports betting promos, gives you a guide to which drivers might become better bets in 2025 than they were last year, or maybe ever in their Cup careers.
Driver | Old Team Stats (2022-24) | New Team Stats (2022-24) |
Chase Briscoe | 19.0 avg. finish; 4 wins, 37 top 5s | 15.0 AF; 20 wins, 115 top 5s |
Ryan Preece | 19.0 AF; 4 wins, 37 top 5s | 15.6 AF; 6 wins, 36 top 5s |
Zane Smith | 22.8 AF; 0 wins, 8 top 5s | 20.2 AF; 1 win, 7 top 5s |
Ty Dillon | 22.8 AF; 0 wins, 8 top 5s | 20.5 AF; 1 win, 12 top 5s |
Shane Van Gisbergen | 20.5 AF; 1 win, 12 top 5s | 16.1 AF; 8 wins, 45 top 5s |
Note: Average finish is only calculated from drivers who ran a full season; figures for wins and top-5 finishes includes all drivers who ran for that team in any races from 2022-24.
This analysis is exclusive to BetCarolina as part of our North Carolina sports betting coverage.
We broke down each of our five candidates for driver on the rise and based our stats on entire teams over the past three years. For example, with Chase Briscoe, we calculated the average finish, wins and top-five finishes since 2022 for Stewart-Haas (where Briscoe had driven before the team shut down in the offseason) and his new home, Joe Gibbs Racing. Each team ran four full-time cars in the span we studied, so it’s an even comparison.
A couple of these drivers are moving from part-time rides last year to full-time commitments in 2025. Here is a closer look at our five candidates.
Briscoe hit the jackpot in the offseason, landing the most coveted seat available: The No. 19 car at Joe Gibbs Racing, which was vacated when Martin Truex Jr. stopped driving NASCAR full time. Briscoe had some success at Stewart-Haas, with two wins and 13 top-five finishes in four years. But the team had slipped in the past couple of years and JGR is a championship-caliber operation every year. Briscoe will be expected to earn more wins and make the 16-car field for the NASCAR playoffs. At BetMGM North Carolina Sportsbook, he has +2000 odds to win the series title, tied for 10th.
Preece is another driver who found himself seeking a ride after Stewart-Haas shuttered its doors, only to land on his feet with a better team. RFK Racing – that’s Roush Fenway Keselowski in full – is expanding to a third car for 2025 and hired Preece to drive the No. 60 Ford. Preece has had a stop-and-start career, with 187 starts since 2015 resulting in zero victories. But RFK’s tandem of co-owner Brad Keselowski and Chris Buescher has been a real threat the past couple of seasons.
This might be the best chance for Smith to establish himself in the Cup Series. He ran part-time in 2022 and 2023 before racing full-time for Spire Motorsports in 2024. A move to Front Row Motorsports might not set the world on fire, but remember, we’re looking for NC sportsbook apps wagering value. And that might come into play as soon as this weekend. Smith has three top-15 finishes at Daytona (all in 13th place) and Front Row is very competitive at superspeedways.
Is this the year Ty Dillon stops being just Austin Dillon’s younger brother and establishes himself as a bonafide contender for Cup Series wins? Austin Dillon owns five Cup victories, including the 2018 Daytona 500, driving for his grandfather, Richard Childress. Ty Dillon still seeks his first win after 245 series starts since 2014. He wasn’t even full time last year, with seven starts spread out among three teams, including Kaulig Racing. That team hired him for the No. 10 car for all of 2025.
This might be the most intriguing move of the bunch. Van Gisbergen, 35, won three Supercars titles in Australia before the New Zealand native came to America. He shook up the NASCAR world by winning his series debut at the Chicago street course in 2023. This will be his first full Cup season on ovals – but let’s face it, as a betting prop, you’re here for the five road courses and one street circuit on the Cup schedule. Don’t be shocked if van Gisbergen wins one or more of those. DraftKings North Carolina Sportsbook offers Shane van Gisbergen over 1.5 wins (-140) as a prop.
USA Today photo by Peter Casey
Author
Jim Tomlin has more than 30 years of experience at such publications as the Tampa Bay Times, FanRag, Saturday Down South and Saturday Tradition. He now lends his expertise in sports, betting and the intersection of those two industries to BetCarolina.com, among other sites.
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