Last Sunday on the road course at Sonoma, Kevin Harvick snapped his winless drought this season with a long-awaited trip to Victory Lane. Clint Bowyer remained in the mix and took second while Brad Keselowski rounded out the top three. I went with a hot Kyle Larson at +1200 as my top-valued contender, but he cooled to a 26th-place finish after starting this race from the pole.
The following is a look at a few of the top favorites to win this Saturday night’s race at Daytona along with my top value pick based on betting odds provided by at 5Dimes
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The driver at the top of the futures odds list for Saturday night’s main event at Daytona is Brad Keselowski at +650 in what would be his third point race victory this season after taking the checkered flag at Atlanta and Martinsville. He has also been one of the most consistent Cup Series drivers this season behind the wheel of the No. 2 Ford with another seven runs inside the top five to push his team to fifth in the current standings with a total of 519 points. Keselowski finished a distant 27th in this year’s Daytona 500 as part of a wreck, but he comes into this race as the defending champion.
It may be a case of sentiment combined with past glory at this track that has pushed Dale Earnhardt Jr’s betting odds to win this race to +800 considering that he has only placed inside the top five in one previous Cup Series event this season. What does add some value to those odds is his sixth-place run at Sonoma last Sunday after taking ninth at Michigan the week before. The No. 88 Chevrolet is moving in the right direction and Dale Jr. knows this may be his best chance to post one last point race victory in his final season in Cup Series racing. Daytona has always been one of his favorite tracks with four career victories here, including one in this race in 2015.
Denny Hamlin is one of two drivers at +1000 odds to win on Saturday night along with Joey Logano. Hamlin is still looking for his first victory this season, but his No. 11 Toyota has run well enough to hold down the ninth spot in the standings with 476 total points. His best effort of the season was a third-place finish at Richmond and he is coming off back-to-back fourth-place runs at Michigan and Sonoma as a big plus to his current form. Hamlin won the Daytona 500 in 2016 after placing third in this race the season before.
