2011 Daytona 500 Betting Preview
Date & Time: Sunday, February 20, 2011 – 1:00 pm EST on ESPN
Where: Daytona International Speedway in Daytona, Florida
This Sunday starting at 1 p.m. (ET) the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series kicks off the 2011 racing season with the 53rd running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway in Florida. This is by far NASCAR’s biggest and most prestigious race of the year and just like winning a Major in golf, most drivers would agree that their career would feel incomplete if they did not add this title to their resume.
Part of the allure of the Daytona 500 is the difficulty in surviving the grueling 200 + laps of racing to actually win. Lead changes are extremely common and one small mistake either on the track or in pit row can end a driver’s chances for the day. Only nine drivers in the history of the 500 have won it more than once and the last time somebody won it back-to-back was Sterling Martin in 1994 and 1995.
Turning to this year’s event Bovada.com has opened Dale Earnhardt Jr. as the current odds-on-favorite to win at 8/1. The primary reason is because he has already secured the pole position for the race by posting the fastest lap time in last Sunday’s qualifying run. He is also a sentimental pick to win this year as it is the 10th anniversary of his father’s tragic death in this very race. Earnhardt Jr. has not been a factor in the Sprint Cup point’s race the past few seasons, but he does have a previous win in the Daytona 500 in 2004 and a second-place finish in last year’s race.
The second-favorites are Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch at 9/1. Stewart remains one of the most successful and popular NASCAR drivers on the Sprint Cup circuit with 247 career top 10 finishes and 39 wins including three at this track, but he has never taken the checkered flag in the Daytona 500. His best finish in this race was second-place in 2004. Last year, he finished 22nd after starting from the sixth position.
Kyle Busch has only run the 500 six times in his career, finishing no better than 14th, but he does have one career win and two second-place finishes at this track. His aggressive style of racing has certainly not endeared him to the other Sprint Cup drivers, but Busch remains a threat to win anytime he gets behind the wheel.
Jeff Gordon is the fourth-favorite at 11/1 despite the fact he has not won a Sprint Cup race since April of 2009. He remains a perennial favorite because he is a three-time Daytona 500 champion, but his favorable odds this year can be attributed to qualifying for the outside pole position in Sunday’s qualifying run. The last time Gordon won the 500 was in 2004 and his best finish in recent memory was 10th in 2007.
Last year’s Daytona 500 winner Jamie McMurray joins Denny Hamlin in the next wave of favorites at 12/1. McMurray failed to qualify for the Chase last season, be he did manage to win NASCAR’s second most prestigious race as well, the Brickyard 400.
Hamlin could offer the best betting value in this group as he is already one of NASCAR’s most successful drivers in just five seasons on the Sprint Cup circuit. He came within 39 points of winning last year’s racing title and led the field with eight victories. Daytona has not been kind to Hamlin in the past with just one top five finish in 10 races, but you get the feeling he is due for a breakout performance in this year’s race.
Daytona 500 Odds Update- February 18
The field is set for Sunday’s running of the ‘Great American Race’, the Daytona 500 after the results of yesterday’s Gatorade Duel. The most stunning development of Daytona’s Speed Week leading up to Sunday’s race was Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s wreck in Wednesday’s practice that dropped the pole sitter all the way the to the back of the pack.
Earnhardt Jr. will have to start in last place with a backup car but Bovada.com as of Friday’s line still has him as one of the favorites at 9/1. Kevin Harvick, who will start in seventh position, is the current favorite at 8/1. Kurt Busch won the first Gatorade Duel on Thursday will take Junior’s spot on the pole for the start of the race. He is now listed at 10/1. His brother Kyle will start from the 10th position and listed at 9/1, while Tony Stewart, who has never won a Daytona 500 in his illustrious career, will start back in 25th position and the fifth favorite at 10/1.
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