Following a high-speed, rain-delayed race at Chicagoland Speedway, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series continues its pedal to the metal Strategy in Daytona International Speedway this Saturday night at the Coke Zero Sugar 400.
Alex Bowman earned his first Cup series victory last week and he’s +1800 odds to replicate, however, it’s Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski with chances of +700 who top the oddsboard.
Intertops includes Logano and Keselowski since the favorites at +700 followed closely by Denny Hamlin in +1000, Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott and Kevin Harvick in +1100 and Kurt Busch, Ryan Blaney and Clint Bowyer in +1400 to round out the leading drivers on the oddsboard.
Standout Stats
Ford has won five of the last ten races in Daytona and Toyota has won three runnings over that interval, including the last two in a row, while Chevrolet has only two victories.
There has not been a repeat winner in this course since Jimmie Johnson did so from the 2 races in 2013. Denny Hamlin looks to become the latest driver to perform it as he won the Daytona 500 in February.
Just once over the past 17 races in Daytona has the winner started on the pole and that was Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 2015. The average starting position for the driver who transported the checkered flag over that span was 12.53.
Alex Bowman (+1800) picked up the first checkered flag of his Cup series livelihood last week in Chicagoland and has had good qualifying speed at Daytona recently. He has begun first or second in each of the past three runnings in this track, but has finished 10th or worse, therefore until he can find the exact same rate from the race, I’ll stay away.
Logano (+700) has had better success during the Daytona 500 than he has at the midseason race in this track. In the 500, he’s an average finish position of 13.28, including winning in 2015, but he’s an average finish position of 21.2 in the July race and has crashed in each of the past two runnings.
Keselowski (+700) has experienced a string of bad luck at Daytona recently, having dropped in four of the last five races there, but six races back in this course, he drove to victory lane. He has five wins at Talladega, yet another restrictor-plate monitor, so that he knows how to compete in those races. Look for him to be at the hunt Saturday night.
Kyle Busch (+1100) not as a favorite sounds to be an automatic bet, but Daytona has gotten the better of him for most of his career. Busch won the July race in 2008, marking the only time he’s driven to victory lane at Daytona, and he’s only three top-five endings there on the last 14 races, however he had been the most runner-up in this season’s Daytona 500.
I’ve been fading Kevin Harvick (+1100) all season long since he had not shown evidence of his former leading self until last week. He seemed strong at Chicagoland, leading 132 of the 267 laps, but ultimately finished 14th. Harvick has crashed in four of those five races in Daytona since switching to Ford in 2017 but he led multiple laps in three of these runnings. Assuming he keeps his nose clean, this could be a good spot for Harvick.
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