This week the Sprint Cup series returns to the fabled Daytona International Speedway for the running of Coke Zero 400. Saturday night’s race is scheduled to start at 3:30 p.m. (PT) and it will be broadcast nationally on TNT.
Brad Keselowski may not be a household
name when it comes to Sprint Cup racing, but with a victory in last Saturday
night’s Quaker State 400 at Kentucky he became the first three-time winner in
the series this season. Kasey Kayne finished second and our value pick for the
week, Denny Hamlin at 10/1, ended-up third.
NASCAR Betting Preview- Coke Zero 400
The following is a look at a few of the
favorites to watch in Saturday night’s race along with our value pick according to their current odds to win as provided by Bovada.
Favorites
It took Dale Earnhardt Jr. over four years to end a winless streak with a
victory earlier this season at Michigan, but he has been opened as the 9/1
favorite to add another one on Saturday night. The No. 88 car is currently
enjoying its best season in recent memory with six other top-five finishes in
the first 17 races to vault all the way to second in the Sprint Cup standings.
The team has a total of 622 points and is just 11 points out of the lead.
Current form aside, the other reason that Junior is the favorite to win is his
recent performance at Daytona. He has finished in the top five in three of his
last five races here including a second-place finish in this season’s Daytona
500.
Jimmie
Johnson is one of three drivers opened
at 10/1 to win on Saturday night. He is coming off a sixth-place finish in last
week’s race to post his sixth top-10 finish in his last seven outings. This
streak just so happens to include victories at Darlington and Dover. The No. 48
team is now in third-place in the standings with 610 points and just 23 points
behind the current leader, Matt Kenseth. Johnson lasted less than two laps in
this year’s Daytona 500 due to a wreck and has not finished better than 20th
in his last five races here which drains some of the value from his odds. He
still has six career top-five finishes at this track including a second-place
finish in this race in 2009.
The second driver at 10/1 is Tony Stewart. He has been streaky all
season long with two victories in his first five races and two second-place
finishes in his last three races. The No.14 car has seven top-five finishes
this season and is in ninth-place in the standings with 545 points. Stewart has
not cracked the top-10 in his last five races at Daytona, but he did win this
race in 2009 after finishing eighth in that year’s Daytona 500. His overall
finishing position at this track is 16.7 including three career victories.
Earlier this season, Kyle Busch followed-up a checkered flag
at Richmond with three more consecutive top-five finishes, but his best finish
in his last five races was 10th in last week’s race at Kentucky. He
is the third driver to be opened at 10/1 to win this race, but current form
along with his past performance at this track saps some value from his odds.
The No. 18 car did win this race in 2008 and finish fifth in last year’s race,
but has an average finishing position at Daytona of 17.6. Busch is currently 12th
in the standings and is 42 points out of the top 10, but he holds the first
wildcard position for the Chase.
Value
Pick
Matt
Kenseth started this season with a
bang by winning the Daytona 500 and he has had his foot clamped down on the gas
ever since. Coming into this race, he has eight top-five finishes in 17 races
that has him at the top of the leader board with 633 points. Current form along
with a proven ability to win at this track makes Kenseth our value NASCAR pick to win
this week at 12/1. To go along with its victory earlier this season, the No.17
car posted a second-place finish in this race last year and also won the
Daytona 500 in 2009.