Saturday, February 22, 2014

Final 2014 Daytona 500 Driver Ratings following all practices

Micah Roberts Top-10 Driver Ratings
2014 Daytona 500
Daytona International Speedway
Sunday, February 23, 2014 - 10:16 am 
RATING       DRIVER   ODDS            SPRINT*      DUELS*     PRAC 3**    PRAC 4**
1. Matt Kenseth 10/1         10th        1st        16th         9th
Two-time Daytona 500 winner; eighth or better in seven of nine Daytona point races prior to 2013.
2. Kevin Harvick 10/1         5th         2nd       24th        DNP
2007 Daytona 500 winner, also won in summer 2010; has proved to be the new master of the draft.
3. Denny Hamlin 10/1        1st          1st        17th        1st 
Four Daytona wins, but none during regular season. No driver ever won the triple (Unlimited, Duel, 500).
4. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 10/1  9th         5th        DNP        12th 
2004 Daytona 500 winner; last plate win was 2004 (Talladega); using new chassis (raced in Duel)
5. Kyle Busch 12/1             3rd         21st      22nd       31st  
2008 summer race winner with 18.6 average finish in 18 career starts; too good not to win the 500 yet.
6. Jeff Gordon 18/1           12th        2nd      33rd         14th 
NASCAR record 12 restrictor-plate race wins, six each at Daytona and Talladega; still has the knack.
7. Ryan Newman 30/1       8th         10th      DNP         34th 
2008 Daytona 500 winner; four top-5 finishes in 24 starts. Will be driving brand new RCR No. 31 chassis.
8. Kurt Busch    22/1         14th        3rd       28th         36th 
Two-time Daytona 500 runner-up; using SHR chassis that ran as the No. 39 and twice finished fifth at Daytona
9. Carl Edwards 20/1         13th      15th       27th        19th 
2011 Daytona 500 runner-up; finished ninth or better in seven of nine Daytona races from 2007-12
10. Jamie McMurray 30/1    6th      11th        7th          37th 
2010 Daytona 500 winner; four of his seven career career Cup wins have come in restrictor-plate races.
* THE SPRINT UNLIMITED RAN LAST SATURDAY - 18 SELECT DRIVERS COMPETED FOR 75 LAPS. THE BUDWEISER DUELS QUALIFYING RACES RAN THURSDAY AND FINALIZED THE DAYTONA 500 STARTING LINEUP.
** PRACTICES 3 AND 4 RAN WEDNESDAY AND FEATURED THE MOST RACE SIMULATED RUNS. THE EARLY SESSIONS WERE MOSTLY SINGLE CAR MOCK QUALIFYING RUNS, WHILE FRIDAY'S FINAL PRACTICE WAS CAUTIOUS APPROACH TO NOT WRECK; 14 DRIVERS DIDN'T PARTICIPATE.
ODDS COURTESY OF LVH SUPERBOOK
Micah Roberts, a former race and sports book director in Las Vegas, has been setting NASCAR odds since 1995. 
For more post-practice analysis, visit the Linemakers on SportingNews.com or follow MicahRoberts7 on Twitter.

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