Earlier this year, things looked good for the NASCAR Ford teams, as they were a pretty safe bet for the 2024 Cup Series championship, especially 2023 champion Ryan Blaney. Now, though, things aren’t looking so good for The Blue Oval. In fact, Ford only just broke its 11-race losing streak, which may not inspire confidence in its performance on-track, a sentiment that is reflected in the updated 2024 championship betting odds recently released on NASCAR.com.
Harrison Burton, driver of the No. 21 Ford Mustang Dark Horse, and Todd Gilliland, driver of the No. 38 Mustang, are now the longest shots in the field with 1,000-1 odds. Justin Haley, driver of the No. 51 Mustang, is next at 800-1, while Ryan Preece, driver of the No. 41 Mustang, plummeted to 400-1 odds.
Rookie Josh Berry, meanwhile, fell from 65-1 to 250-1, despite an impressive performance thus far behind the wheel of the No. 4 NASCAR Ford. Austin Cindric, still winless this year, is a safer bet at 130-1 odds, while Noah Gragson, driver of the No. 10 Mustang, is currently unlisted. Chase Briscoe, No. 14 Mustang, is sitting pretty at 100-1, and Michael McDowell, driver of the No. 34 Mustang, skyrocketed from 300-1 to 100-1.
Chris Buescher’s No. 17 NASCAR Ford is a safe bet, though, at 28-1, while last weekend’s winner, Brad Keselowski, slipped a bit to 18-1 odds. No. 22 Mustang driver Joey Logano also slipped to 16-1, although Blaney, driver of the No. 12 Mustang, is still climbing the ranks at 12-1 odds.
With that in mind, quite a few of the NASCAR Ford teams are being viewed as longshots for this year’s Cup Series championship. While The Blue Oval finally won a race, its racers seem to be struggling to find a balance with the new Dark Horse body style. Growing pains are to be expected, though, especially considering that the Dark Horse didn’t see a lot of track time before its debut at the start of the season.
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