Coffey’s Cup
It’s risky to bet on Daytona as the race is highly unpredictable. Though this weekend is not an ideal time for the industry to place wagers due to unpredictability, we plan to participate as competitors. As NASCAR’s official partner, DraftKings’ odds will help us select the drivers we want to bet our units on. We have ten units for each NASCAR Cup Series race this year which we will distribute as five for race winners and five for the Top-5 finishers. If you wish to view all the odds, please click here.
It is challenging to predict the winner at a track like Daytona International Speedway. However, specific trends can be observed. For instance, no Daytona 500 pole winner has won more than one of his races since 2000. Statistics reveal that being in the top 15 positions of the race gives an 83% chance of winning the 500.
The 2024 edition will be the 66th running of the Daytona 500, and only 12 drivers have won more than one Daytona 500. Among them, Jimmie Johnson with two wins and Denny Hamlin with three.
Denny Hamlin
Denny Hamlin is expected to have good odds in the Daytona 500, with a projected +800 to win and +100 for a top-five finish. He has an average finish of 13.611 out of 18 races and has led for 480 of 3,473 laps.
During the 500, he will be around Daytona for 14%. The Toyota drivers also show good drafting skills, as seen in practice. Given his odds, I will place one unit bet for Hamlin to win and another for him to finish in the top five.
AJ Allmendinger
My next pick is AJ Allmendinger. He is surprisingly good at superspeedways and has a great value with +5,000 odds to win. Allmendinger could take the checkered flag today or finish in the garage. Although it’s a risky bet, I’m willing to take the chance. If he wins, I’ll earn 51 units for every 1 unit invested, but he won’t place in the top five.
Chase Elliott
Chase Elliott is my next wager. He is listed at +1200 to win and +150 for a top five. There is just something about the Hendrick Motorsports team that it’s hard not to wager for at Daytona. Rick Hendrick has made it known that they have not won a Daytona 500 since Johnson and he wants to win it badly.
Elliott is coming back in 2024 after a down 2023, and this could be a stepping stone to giving him a run at the title this season. He will be receiving one unit for the win and one unit for the top five.
Safe Bets or Go Big
My other picks for the win are risky as I am trying to increase my return on investment. If you are looking for a safe bet, go with Joey Logano at +900 or Brad Keselowski at +1000.
Peronally, I’m trying to earn big this weekend, so I was searching for better odds. First on my list is Justin Haley at +8000. He already has one win at Daytona and he could come out on top at the Daytona 500 this weekend, just like Ricky last year. Additionally, I like Erik Jones at +3000 and Bubba Wallace at +2000. I am comfortable risking some units on these three, along with Chase Elliott, Denny Hamlin, and AJ Allmendinger, to win. However, as I mentioned earlier, Daytona is an unpredictable race.
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