Daytona 500 Best Bets
The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series drops the green flag on their 2021 season with the 63rd running of The Great American Race. That also means the NASCAR wagering season also begins. Each week I will post my “Best Bets” for each race. It all begins this week at the Daytona 500.
- Daytona 500 Best Bets No Deposit
- Who Is Favored To Win Daytona 500
- Who's Favored To Win Daytona 500
- Daytona 500 Best Bets Odds
Races on the Superspeedway are the toughest to predict but it is getting easier. There are a handful of drivers who have consistently finished upfront at Daytona. These are the drivers we need to be targeting Sunday and there are a few long shots who make a lot of sense to put some money on.
Feb 14, 2021 With back-to-back Daytona 500 wins, including victories in three of the past five events, Denny Hamlin is considered the race favorite by fans, analysts and the betting market. However, despite wins at the Daytona 500 and fall race at Talladega in 2020, Hamlin did not produce the Cup Series’ best driver rating at the four superspeedways last. Feb 14, 2021 Martin Truex Jr. Is the odds favorite among the Toyota drivers, but make no mistake — the best bet in that camp remains Hamlin, who over the past 10 races at Daytona has collected more points than anyone else. That track record, plus that relative value, equal a no-brainer. 20% Deposit Bonus up to $1000.
DraftKings Odds for Daytona 500
* The odds could change between the time of this article and the time you place your bet
** The first number is the amount of money based on the second number (the amount of the wager). So if you bet $1 on Denny Hamlin, you will win $7.
Here are my “Best Bets” for the Daytona 500…
Danny Hamlin (7-1): It is no fun to bet the favorite but it is hard to overlook what Hamlin has done at Daytona. He has finished 1st, 1st, 3rd, 17th and 1st in his last five Daytona 500’s. He has also finished 1st, 3rd, 4th, 1st and 3rd in his last Superspeedway races. That is a lot of trips to Victory Lane. 7-1 odds are not too bad for a driver who is clearly the class of the field Sunday.
Ryan Blaney (11-1): Blaney has become the second-best driver on the Superspeedways behind Denny Hamlin. He won races at Talladega in 2020 and in 2019. Blaney has also been knocking on Victory Lane’s door at Daytona. Blaney finished second in the Daytona 500 last year and he finished sixth in the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona in 2020. Blaney is the 2021 version of Chase Elliott. I expect a big season from Blaney and it could start with a trip to Victory Lane in the Great American Race.
William Byron (14-1): We want to put our money on drivers who know how to get to Victory Lane at Daytona. Byron is one of those drivers. He won the last race at Daytona (Coke Zero 400 last August) and he won his Duel race at Daytona last year. Byron also finished second at Daytona in 2019. Hendrick Motorsports is a team on the rise. They are no stranger to finishing #1, #2 and #3 in the Daytona 500. I am hoping they can do it again with Byron leading the pack across the start/finish line.
Kyle Larson (18-1): This pick is more of a gut feeling than anything else. So what has Larson done since he left NASCAR last year? He won almost every race he entered. I am hoping his win streak continues in the Daytona 500. Larson has an 11th-place average finishing position in his last five Daytona 500’s. He had a good chance to win a couple of those races. Larson will have the best handling car and the best teammates he has ever had at Daytona. I would not be surprised to see Larson win the Daytona 500.
Ryan Newman (40-1): Wow, 40-1 odds for the driver who nearly won the last Daytona 500. Newman finished 9th, 14th and 8th in the current aero package in the Daytona 500. He usually stays in the back-third of the pack until the end of the race. Newman is smart enough to know that the big wrecks tend to occur up front between the drivers battling for the lead. In order to win the race, a driver must finish the race. Newman is very good at finishing the race. A trip to Victory Lane for Newman would be a perfect final chapter to his career at Daytona. * Newman’s teammate Chris Buescher is also a great bet at 50-1 odds.
Long-Shot Special: My Long-Shot Special this week is Michael McDowell (66-1). Which driver has the best average finishing position at Daytona of the last 10 races? It is not Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano or Ryan Blaney… It is McDowell and his 12.5 average finishing position. McDowell finished 5th in the 2019 Daytona 500 and 9th in 2018. I will bet a few bucks on McDowell Sunday and hope he sneaks into Victory Lane.
Good luck this week!
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Daytona 500 Best Bets No Deposit
The NASCAR Cup Series kicks off the 2021 season at Daytona International Speedway Sunday at 2:30 p.m. ET for the Daytona 500. Below we analyze the Daytona 500 NASCAR odds and lines, with NASCAR picks and tips with odds from BetMGM sportsbook.
Daytona 500: What you need to know
Odds courtesy of BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Saturday at 4:18 p.m. ET.
The Cup Series is scheduled to kick off its 2021 season Sunday for the Great American Race, the Daytona 500. However, we’ll have to keep a close eye on the sky. There is greater than a 60 percent chance of showers from mid-afternoon through the early evening in Daytona Beach, Fla., so a delay and/or postponement seems likely given the ominous forecast.
Monday’s forecast calls for mostly clear in the morning with a 40 percent chance of scattered thunderstorms moving in around 1 p.m. ET. But there is an open window in the event the race is postponed Sunday.
Kyle Busch won the Busch Clash at Daytona on Tuesday night on the road course. While that certainly doesn’t mean sure success on the tri-oval, it gives Busch a springboard into the new season after a disastrous 2020.Busch’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin has won each of the past two Daytona 500 races. In last year’s win, he was originally slotted in the 21st starting position but was moved to the back of the pack due to multiple failed inspections. In 30 career starts at the track he has three wins, 10 top-5 finishes and a 16.33 Average-Finish Position (AFP).Richard Childress Racing’s
Austin Dillon picked up the checkered flag at the 500 in 2018. Good finishes on the restrictor-plate track are nothing new for Dillon. In 15 career starts at DIS, he has the 2018 win, two top-5 finishes, seven top-10 runs and a pole in 2014. He also has a stellar 15.53 AFP on the Florida superspeedway.Bubba Wallace will make his debut for owner Michael Jordan’s 23XI Racing, running in the No. 23 car. He was the runner-up to Dillon in 2018, posting the highest finish by an African-American driver in the 500. Bubba was fastest in Wednesday’s practice.Special Daytona 500 Betting Promotion!
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Who is going to win the Daytona 500?
HAMLIN (+500) is the chalk, but you have to figure it’s time for someone else. The No. 11 has been to Victory Lane in each of the past two seasons in the Super Bowl of Stock Car Racing. Hamlin’s two wins, and three victories in the past five seasons, gives manufacturer Toyota checkered flags in three of the past five Daytona 500 races.
Hamlin joined Sterling Marlin (1994-95), Cale Yarborough (1983-84) and Richard Petty (1973-74) as the only drivers to win the Daytona 500 in consecutive seasons. No one has ever won the Daytona 500 in three straight years.
Stewart-Haas Racing’s KEVIN HARVICK (+1200) has some rather long odds given his previous success at the track. He has made 39 career starts on the Daytona tri-oval, posting two wins, 10 top-5 finishes, 262 laps led and a sharp 17.6 AFP. He also has eight DNFs at the track, second-most among active drivers behind KYLE BUSCH (+1400), so there is some risk.
Penske Racing’s JOEY LOGANO (+900) is looking to get back to Victory Lane at the 500 for the first time since 2015. He owns an impressive 18.17 AFP in 24 career DIS starts, including nine finishes of 10th or better with 156 laps led.
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Daytona 500 long-shot bet
RICKY STENHOUSE JR. (+2500) of JTG Daugherty Racing was on the pole last season and was fifth fastest in qualifying at 189.565 mph. He is always a driver to watch on the superspeedways, especially Daytona. He has a win in 17 career starts, 121 laps led and 10 finishes of 20th or better while going for a solid 19.59 AFP.
Who Is Favored To Win Daytona 500
ARIC ALMIROLA (+1800) doesn’t have quite as long of odds, but he is worth a look. He appeared to be on his way to a win at the 500 in 2018, but he was bumped by Dillon and sent careening into the wall. He does have a career win in Daytona in the summer race, and he has 10 finishes of 20th or better in 18 career starts with a 20.56 AFP.
Who's Favored To Win Daytona 500
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Daytona 500 Best Bets Odds
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