NASCAR insider Bob Pockrass picks 23XI Racing driver as favorite to win Charlotte Roval race

The 2024 NASCAR Cup Series playoff season heads to the 2.28-mile-long road course for Sunday’s Bank of America ROVAL 400. Ahead of Charlotte Roval, NASCAR insider Bob Pockrass shared his prediction, picking the winner, top-five finishes, and longshot to win the sixth playoff race of the season.

Pockrass picked 23XI Racing driver Tyler Reddick to take the checkered flag at Charlotte Roval. Reddick is a road course veteran with three wins in road course races and will start from second position on Sunday.

Rounding out Pockrass’ top-five predictions are Denny Hamlin, AJ Allmendinger, Shane van Gisbergen, and Kyle Larson. Larson and Hamlin are the playoff-eligible drivers contending for the 2024 NASCAR championship. He also picked Daniel Suarez as a longshot pick.

On X, Pockrass wrote:

“My pick for Charlotte road course: Tyler Reddick ... top-5: Reddick Hamlin Allmendinger SVG Larson ... longshot: Suarez”

Tyler Reddick ran well at the Charlotte Motor Speedway road course. He has scored one top-five and three top-10 finishes with an average of 7.0 in four starts at the road course.

If Reddick manages to win, he will directly advance to the next round of playoffs. He is currently placed seventh in the NASCAR Cup Series championship standings, 14 points above the cutline.

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Kevin Harvick backs Christopher Bell to win Charlotte NASCAR's playoff race

Former driver-tuned commentator Kevin Harvick picks championship contender Christopher Bell as a favorite to win Round of 12’s elimination race at Charlotte Roval.

Sunday’s NASCAR playoff race at a 2.28-mile-long road course. Bell is coming off a top-10 finish and will start 12th on Sunday. The #5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet driver is placed second in the Cup Series playoff standings.

In a recent episode of Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour, when his co-host Kaitlyn Vincie asked to pick his favorite bet for the Charlotte Roval race, Harvick said:

“I think it's gonna be tough to go against SVG and AJ Allmendinger, but I’m gonna go with Christopher Bell. I think he’s got nothing to lose; he beat me a couple years ago with like two laps to go. I think that the [Joe Gibbs Racing] cars on rough race tracks like that always seem to have a better handling package. I’m going with Christopher Bell because I’m tired of everybody sleeping on him.”

Catch Cup Series drivers and teams in action at Charlotte Roval on Sunday, October 13 at 2 pm ET. The event will be telecast on NBC Sports.