Kyle Busch returned to top racing form last Sunday on the road course at Sonoma with his first Sprint Cup victory of the year. His brother Kurt gave chase all the way by finishing second and Clint Bowyer ended-up third. My top valued pick for this race was Carl Edwards but he only lasted 78 laps to finish near the bottom of the pack in 40th place.
The following is a look at a few of the top favorites to win this Sunday’s Coke Zero 400 at Daytona along with my top value pick based on betting odds provided by Sportsbook.ag.
It is no big surprise that Dale Earnhardt Jr. is at the top of this week’s list at +800 betting odds. Daytona has always been one of his favorite tracks and when it comes to restrictor plate racing he is one of the best in the Sprint Cup series. The No. 88 car’s current form also adds value to these odds with one previous victory at Talladega to go along with seven more top-five finishes this year. The team is currently in fifth-place in the Sprint Cup standings with a total of 545 points. The real value in Dale Jr’s odds to win is his recent performance at this track. He has finished in the top three in four of his last seven races here including a third-place finish in this season’s Daytona 500.
Jimmie Johnson is one of two second-favorites to win on Sunday night at +1000 betting odds. The No. 48 car went on a mad tear this season starting with a victory at Texas in early April. Going back over this team’s last 10 point races, it has won three times and finished third or better in four other races. It is fourth in the overall standings with 546 points, but leading the way in wins with four. Johnson is another driver that has thrived at this track lately with a season-sweep in 2013 followed by a fifth-place finish in his last two runs in the Daytona 500. Last season’s Coke Zero 400 was forgettable with a 42nd-place finish.
The other +1000 second-favorite to win this race is Jeff Gordon. The long-time Sprint Cup veteran would love nothing more than to post his first point-race victory of the season at Daytona in his final full year racing in this series. The No. 24 car has struggled in many of the first 16 races it has run this year with just two top-five finishes. The value in these odds is just not there given the team’s current form as well as its recent past at Daytona. Gordon started from the pole in this year’s Daytona 500 only to fade all the way to 33rd. He was 12th in last year’s race and he has only posted one top-five finish in his last nine runs around this track.
- Dale Earnhardt Jr. No.88 7/1
- Jeff Gordon No.24 11/1
- Jimmie Johnson No.48 11/1
- Kevin Harvick No.4 12/1
- Kurt Busch No.41 12/1
- Martin Truex Jr. No.78 12/1
- Matt Kenseth No.20 12/1
- Brad Keselowski No.2 14/1
- Denny Hamlin No.11 14/1
- Joey Logano No.22 14/1
- Kasey Kahne No.5 14/1
- Kyle Busch No.18 14/1
- Carl Edwards No.19 16/1
- Jamie McMurray No.1 25/1
- Clint Bowyer No.15 28/1
- Kyle Larson No.42 28/1
- Tony Stewart No.14 28/1
- Austin Dillon No.3 33/1
- Paul Menard No.27 33/1
- Ryan Newman No.31 33/1
- Danica Patrick No.10 40/1
- David Ragan No.55 40/1
- Greg Biffle No.16 40/1
- A.J. Allmendinger No.47 50/1
- Aric Almirola No.43 50/1
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr. No.17 50/1
- Ryan Blaney No.21 50/1
- Trevor Bayne No.6 50/1
- Casey Mears No.13 75/1
