The NASCAR title contender that no one is talking about

The first round of NASCAR's championship race saw regular-season champ Martin Truex Jr. struggle and Denny Hamlin heat up.

Hamlin is now tied with Kyle Larson and William Byron as a betting favorite to win the championship, but it's one of the drivers whose car he co-owns that everyone is sleeping on.

Tyler Reddick has flown under the radar all season long, due to inconsistent results that have often not been his own fault. He was plagued during the regular season by a series of blown tires, unavoidable accidents, and pit crew blunders that limited him to only one win, seven top-fives and 11 top-10s in the first 26 races.

Now his No. 45 team seems to be executing much better, with a runner-up at Darlington to open the playoffs followed by a win at Kansas. Even better for Reddick is how well the upcoming slate of tracks favors him.

The Round of 12 includes Texas Motor Speedway this coming weekend, where Reddick won in 2022. It also includes a road course, the Charlotte Roval, a track type where Reddick is arguably the best driver in the field. He should have a great chance to win or at the very least advance on points.

The Round of 8 sees action at Las Vegas and Homestead, two intermediate tracks where Reddick and his 23XI Racing team should be incredibly fast. He's been successful at Homestead in the past, winning back-to-back Xfinity Series championships there in 2018 and 2019 and having standout Cup performances in 2020 and 2021.

This should give Reddick a great opportunity to race his way into the championship round at Phoenix, where he finished third earlier this season. If he can make it there, he'll be a dangerous man.

Reddick is tied for only the fifth-best title odds right now, grouped with Kyle Busch and Chris Buescher at +900. However, his performance has been much closer to that of the favorites tier consisting of Larson, Byron, Hamlin and Truex Jr., and he is peaking at the right time with the schedule working in his favor.