2018 Daytona 500 Odds

1. Odds Daytona 500 Vegas
2. What Are The Odds On The Daytona 500
3. 2018 Daytona 500 Odds 2020

NASCAR Cup Betting Resources
Daytona 500 Picks

One of the non-big-names to win the Daytona 500 in the past decade is Austin Dillon (+2000) back in 2018. We've seen Richard Childress Racing come through here before, and we're not talking about. 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.

• Date: Sunday, February 14, 2021
• TV-Time: FOX, 2:30 p.m. ET
• Venue: Daytona International Speedway
• Location: Daytona Beach, Florida

Handicapping NASCAR at Daytona

In the previous 62 Daytona 500s, no driver has won three straight of NASCAR’s most prestigious race and we haven’t seen anyone get the opportunity since Sterling Marlin tried in the 1996 event. But 2021 gives us a chance to watch history as Denny Hamlin will try to win his third straight Daytona 500 on Sunday and he’s fully aware of what is at stake.

'I hope that I'm around (don't wreck early), that I give myself a chance to make history because ultimately, that's what I'm here for,' Hamlin said. 'Making history, doing something that no one else has ever done, that's what motivates me to want to get this one.'

He also will be shooting for his fourth Daytona 500 which would tie him with Cale Yarborough for second-most behind Richard Petty’s seven wins. He has a chance to make history and that’s the main theme coming into the 63rd running of the race.

There are only five active drivers other than Hamlin to win a Daytona 500 and all of them have one win each. Some of the best superspeedway drivers, or those from the restrictor-plate era, have retired and taken their secrets of manipulating the air in the draft. But the 40-year-old Hamlin learned in his younger years by watching the greats and finally won a superspeedway race in his ninth season racing on them at Talladega in 2014.

Now he’s got five superspeedway wins, winning two of four last season -- top-four in all four -- closing out with a Talladega win. He led laps in all four superspeedway races last season and used different strategies in all. He’d either get upfront and lead to keep the ‘Big One’ behind him or fall behind to keep an eye in front of him with enough room to avoid the inevitable pile up that always happens on superspeedways. He’s been successful at both.

He’s also got Joe Gibbs Racing equipment which has worked hard to be competitive in the opener at Daytona. Matt Kenseth led a bunch of laps on superspeedways for JGR, Erik Jones got a summer Daytona win in 2018, and Kyle Busch has the top Daytona rating (91.1) among all drivers since NASCAR's Loop Data started keeping track in 2005. Hamlin is rated No. 2 (88.7) over that span.

In Wednesday morning’s first practice before qualifying, JGR equipment posted the top-five speeds with the new 2021 entry, Bubba Wallace, fastest with his Michael Jordan-Hamlin-owned No. 23.

The point is that it hasn’t all been Hamlin, but he’s been the one to use his skills the best and get out front lately. He uses the side-draft better than anyone and he blocks while leading better than anyone which is why we’re talking about him possibly winning for the third straight season. The car rules and race packages are the same as 2020, although Hamlin’s winning Daytona 500 car from last season is on display at Daytona USA.

NASCAR Cup Odds - Daytona

• Denny Hamlin +800
• Chase Elliott +1000
• Joey Logano +1000
• Ryan Blaney +1000
• Brad Keselowski +1400
• William Byron +1400
• (Odds Subject to Change)

William Hill sportsbooks have him listed as the 8-to-1 favorite while Circa Sports updated numbers Wednesday have him favored at 11-to-1 odds, the best number in the world.

I’ve been saying for years to be careful and be smart wagering every time there’s a superspeedway race. It’s repetitive but I feel it’s important to remind you all that the volatility of these two tracks changes the true driver rating for each driver because they’re more susceptible to being caught up in a wreck at no fault of their than other tracks.

That’s why I say ditch the props and driver match-ups, but spend some more than usual on odds to win mixing in weighted amounts on a couple of favorites like Hamlin or Ryan Blaney (14/1), middle of the board drivers like Kyle Busch (19/1), Wallace (28/1), Chris Buescher (51/1), and a long shot like Jones (60/1) or Ryan Newman (60/1).

The sportsbooks know this as well which is why they don’t offer any huge odds on the long shots but offer big odds on the favorites. It’s the randomness, the crapshoot of it all where any driver can win. As the wrecks start happening, you start throwing bet tickets away, but for the final five laps, you may have three of the 10 drivers in the lead pack and have just as good of a shot as any.

Last season I had tickets on Hamlin and Newman in that situation and I got lucky, but I believed in Newman and the Roush equipment for superspeedways. I still do to an extent with Newman and Buescher, who finished third in the Daytona 500.

Let’s talk about some contenders to derail Hamlin’s quest for history beginning with his new employee Wallace who William Hill is offering at 28-to-1 odds.

Daytona 500 Contenders

Odds Daytona 500 Vegas

The Toyota’s have the least amount of friends and the drivers always choose manufacturers of their own to draft with which is all the more reason to be astounded by Hamlin’s success. The Fords and Chevrolets all have more cars on the track than Toyota. But Hamlin just got a new wingman with Wallace in case Martin Truex, Jr., Busch, or Christopher Bell aren’t around to push him.

Wallace had three top-fives in his three seasons with Richard Petty Motorsports and two of them came at Daytona, including a runner-up as a rookie in 2018. It’s the only type of racing he had success with continuously where he could find his way to the front. But now he has basically a JGR car with Michael Jordan money attached and crew chief Mike Wheeler who was chief for Hamlin in the 2016 Daytona 500 win. This car is going to be fast and contending for the win while also pushing or being pushed by Hamlin.

I instantly thought of the 2001 Daytona 500 when Dale Earnhardt, just before he passed, was blocking for his two DEI cars driven by Michael Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and gave up his chance to win -- he had a fast RCR No. 3 that day -- to let his two cars battle it out. He had never given anybody anything like that in his career.

That scenario won’t play out here because Hamlin is going for three straight, but I’m sure at some point we’ll see Hamlin have a hand at helping Wallace gets his first career Cup win, and if I could bet where it’ll happen I would say on one of the four superspeedway races.

Team Penske has a great superspeedway package but only Joey Logano has a Daytona 500 win (2015). Brad Keselowski has a 2016 win at Daytona in the summer race and five other wins at Talladega.

Ryan Blaney has won at Talladega in each of the last two seasons and was runner-up in the Daytona 500 last season. They all have fast cars and all are also very good at understanding how the draft works. They also have friends from Roush, Front Row Motorsports, Wood Brothers, and Stewart-Haas Racing that drives Fords and can help in the draft.

The Chevy camp comes loaded with speed and young talent. Chevrolet has won the Daytona 500 pole the last eight seasons, and a Hendrick engine has won the last six, five of which were by a Hendrick driver.

William Byron (16/1) won last summer at Daytona for his first career Cup win. He’s a nice pick to take his next logical step into NASCAR stardom in a year that just saw Kenseth, Jimmie Johnson,, and Clint Bowyer retire.

Chase Elliott (14/1) comes off his first championship season and NASCAR is hoping for more to come -- see seven road courses on the 2021 schedule. But he’s never won at Daytona in a points-paying race. This would be a great place for the champ to bust out and gain an even bigger audience of young fans. Chase just has a quiet coolness about him and is hard not to like.

Back to only five active drivers that have Daytona 500 wins other than Hamlin. Earnhardt went almost an entire career racing and dominating all races at Daytona until finally winning the Daytona 500 in 1998. Tony Stewart never won one. Kyle Busch starts his 17th Daytona 500 searching for his first win. Keselowski is also still searching for his trophy, so is Truex, and so is Elliott -- all Cup champions.

As always, I’ll go for the historical moment to happen and I supported Hamlin through the betting window, along with a few other guys I mentioned in this piece. Here are my top-5 selections using odds from Circa Sports Las Vegas:

Daytona 500
Top-5 Finish Prediction

• 1) #11 Denny Hamlin (11/1)
• 2) #12 Ryan Blaney (14/1)
• 3) #10 Aric Almirola (24/1)
• 4) #47 Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. (26/1)
• 5) #24 William Byron (16/1)

NASCAR Cup Series
Weekly Predictions

2018 Daytona 500 Odds, Picks and Predictions – Daytona 500 Favorites: The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series officially kicks off this weekend with the 60th running of the Daytona 500. While it may be the season opener, it is also the most prestigious race of the year. Daytona International Speedway is hallowed ground in auto racing, and “The Great American Race” is the one race that every NASCAR driver wants to win.

From a betting standpoint, the Daytona 500 also happens to be one of the toughest races to predict. Daytona is one of two restrictor-plate tracks on the schedule, and while the plates control speeds and help keep cars from flying into the stands, they also create pack racing and lead to massive, multi-car wrecks.

Races at Daytona are more about survival and timing than pure speed, but as unpredictable as plate racing can be, plenty of big names still manage to win the Daytona 500. I’ll certainly be eyeing my share of longshots this weekend, but there are also some obvious favorites that deserve your attention.

Check out a closer look at all of my favorites for the 2018 Daytona 500.

2018 Daytona 500 Odds, Picks and Predictions: Daytona 500 Favorites

The Favorites

He kicked off Speedweeks with a victory in the Clash, and Brad Keselowski could solidify his status as one of the best plate racers in history with a Daytona 500 win. He already leads all active drivers with six restrictor-plate wins, and three of those wins have come in the last seven races. Keselowski has also led 30-plus laps five times in that stretch, and no driver seems to be able to get out front and stay there as well as he can right now.

Team Penske has been locked in at the plate tracks recently, and Joey Logano has developed into one of the best in the business. He has scored the third-most points in the last 10 plate races, finishing sixth or better six times. Logano has two wins over that span, and he is also the winner of the 2015 Daytona 500. Logano finished second in the Clash last weekend, and he should be right back in the mix for the win this Sunday.

He is the defending winner of the Daytona 500, and no driver has been more dependable at the plate tracks recently than Kurt Busch. His seven Top 10s in the last 10 plate races are the most of any driver, and his 12.0 average finish in that span is also tops in the series. Busch might not have a bunch of restrictor-plate wins, but he is one of the safest bets to be near the front, and it paid off in the form of a Daytona 500 win last year.

What Are The Odds On The Daytona 500

He already has a Daytona 500 win under his belt, and Denny Hamlin could add a second victory this weekend. Since 2015, no driver has scored more points at Daytona, and Hamlin also ranks in the Top 5 in driver points scored over the last 10 plate races. Hamlin is set to start on the front row this weekend, and he is on the short list of elite plate racers in the Cup Series these days.

There are only a handful of tracks where Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is a legitimate threat to reach victory lane, but Daytona is definitely on the list. He won the July race at the track last year and won the spring race at Talladega. In addition to his two plate wins in 2017, Stenhouse has four Top 5s in the last six plate races overall. Stenhouse has emerged as one of the top plate drivers in the series, and a Daytona 500 win would cement his status as one of the elite at the superspeedways.

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2018 Daytona 500 Odds 2020