Denny Hamlin started last season on a high note with trip to the Winner’s Circle in ‘The Great American Race’ by the tightest margin of victory in the history of the Daytona 500 and Jimmie Johnson finished last season with his seventh career Cup title. Both of these drivers will be in the field of 40 for this Sunday’s race along with all the other top drivers in the Monster Energy Cup Series.
The following is a look at a few of the top favorites to win this Sunday’s Daytona 500 along with my top value pick based on betting odds provided by TopBet.
Daytona 500 Favorites
Dale Earnhardt Jr. missed the second half of last season due to the lingering effects of an earlier concussion, but he has been cleared to race and clearly ready to go as one of two +750 favorites to win this third career Daytona 500 racing title. While there may be some concern with rust behind the wheel of his No. 88 Chevrolet given his long layoff, every driver in this race is coming in fresh to start a new season. Dale Jr,’s past success at this track in general is what keeps him at the top of this list. His average finishing position at Daytona is 13.6 overall, but he has finished third or better in five of his last 10 races here including a victory in this race in 2014.
The other co-favorite at +750 odds is Brad Keselowski. Last season was not one of his best efforts with a 12th-place finish in the final point standings, but he did post four victories overall to go along with another 12 runs inside the top five. The No. 2 Ford has the ability to make some noise in just about every race it runs and when it comes to this Sunday’s track, Keselowski was able to notch his first career victory with a win in second point race at Daytona in 2016. His best career finish in the Daytona 500 was third in 2014.
One of two second-favorites at +900 betting odds is Jimmie Johnson. As mentioned, he comes into this race as the defending series champion so you know getting this No. 48 Chevrolet race team off to a fast start in defense of that title will be a very high priority. Getting hot at the right time of the year is what it takes to win titles in the current elimination format of the playoffs and that is exactly what he was able to do with victories down the stretch at Charlotte, Martinsville and Homestead-Miami in last season’s run. When it comes to Daytona, Johnson won both races here in 2013, but his best finish since then was second place in the second race of the 2015 season.
