Daytona 500 Betting Preview

Joe Gibbs Racing should be very fast in the Daytona 500.

It’s time to grab some dice, sharpen the darts, and dust off the roulette wheel because we have to somehow find a winner for Sunday’s 62nd running of the Daytona 500 where almost every driver has a chance of winning. It’s the type of randomness that also requires some luck to go along with statistical data of each driver’s history on the high-banked 2.5-mile layout.

So pin the tail on the donkey and hopefully, it’s a winner, or hopefully, the tail lands on the No. 11 who looked sharp in last week’s Busch Clash, which ended up being a crash-fest. Denny Hamlin helped push teammate Erik Jones to the win while both of their cars looked as if they were in a demolition derby.

“It was fun. I mean my car was so, so fast," said Hamlin who is a 10/1 co-favorite to win Sunday. "I’m proud of the effort by my FedEx team, and I’m glad we got a JGR team win, too. Our 500 car was fast in practice, too, so I feel good about how we can race on Sunday.”

Despite not winning his fourth Busch Clash, the two-time Daytona 500 winner learned some things that might help him Sunday.

“We just need to stay focused, be patient and make sure that we keep our car on the track and in the race, Hamlin said. “We did try staying out under a caution during the Clash, and lost a tire after some contact, so that will be in the back of our minds come Sunday.”

Watching what happened in last week’s Clash should be part of the equation when making wagers this week. Recent history at Daytona and Talladega should also be thrown into the mix and then narrowing it down to the last three races on those tracks last season should be put on a pedestal because it’s the same package with exception to Chevrolet having a new front end.

I had heard the change gave Chevrolet an advantage but didn’t really see it in play during the Clash as most of Chevrolet drivers were bunched in the back together before wrecking. Crew chief of the No. 88 car, Greg Ives explains the differences from last season.

“It gives me a better balance,” he said. “Basically, we focused on putting more air on the rear spoiler for the ability to free up the race car through the center of the corner.

“We’ll see how that plays out. But a lot of crew chiefs, drivers and engineers know how difficult it is to product rear downforce in these race cars and also continue to keep them turning. Everyone at GM and all the engineers and key partners did a great job of accomplishing that goal that we set out for them. We’ll see when the races start.”

One of the things I like most with Hamlin at Daytona, besides winning the 500 twice in the past four years for me, is how well he utilizes the draft to propel himself quickly through traffic so it doesn’t matter where he’s at. He’s the king of the side-draft. No one does it better. And then he’s got the past data showing his Daytona excellence with finishes of sixth or better in seven of his last 12 starts there and his 442 laps led are the most among active drivers.

So my first draft pick to win the Daytona 500 is Hamlin, but just on the possibility that Chevrolet does have some kind of edge, I should have a few of the guys in bowties on my betting team. They certainly were fast in qualifying with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. on the pole in his new No. 47 ride and Alex Bowman on the front row. It was the sixth straight year a Hendrick Motorsports engine won the Daytona 500 pole.

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