2022 Daytona 500 Betting Odds, Predictions and Preview
Daytona 500 Betting Preview
The 2022 NASCAR season kicks off with the Daytona 500 on Sunday, February 20. NASCAR fans, bettors and drivers got their first look at the new Next Gen cars in Los Angeles two weeks ago at the LA Coliseum, but this will be the first test at a superspeedway. Three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin and last year’s series champion Kyle Larson have opened as co-favorites for Sunday’s showdown.
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| 2022 Daytona 500 Odds | Updated on Saturday, February 19, 2022 |
|---|---|
| Denny Hamlin | +900 |
| Kyle Larson | +900 |
| Ryan Blaney | +1000 |
| Chase Elliott | +1100 |
| Joey Logano | +1200 |
| Brad Keselowski | +1400 |
| William Byron | +1500 |
| Kyle Busch | +1500 |
| Alex Bowman | +1800 |
| Austin Dillon | +1800 |
| Martin Truex Jr. | +2000 |
| Bubba Wallace | +2000 |
| Kurt Busch | +2000 |
| Kevin Harvick | +2000 |
| Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | +2500 |
| Austin Cindric | +2500 |
| Chris Buescher | +2500 |
| Tyler Reddick | +2500 |
| Aric Almirola | +2500 |
| Michael McDowell | +2800 |
| Christopher Bell | +3000 |
| Chase Briscoe | +3000 |
| Justin Haley | +3500 |
| Ross Chastain | +3500 |
| Daniel Suarez | +5000 |
| Harrison Burton | +5000 |
| Daniel Hemric | +6000 |
| Erik Jones | +6000 |
| Cole Custer | +7000 |
| Greg Biffle | +7500 |
| Kaz Grala | +10000 |
| Ty Dillon | +10000 |
| Landon Cassill | +10000 |
| Noah Gragson | +10000 |
| Corey Lajoie | +10000 |
| David Ragan | +10000 |
| Jacques Villeneuve | +10000 |
| Todd Gilliland | +15000 |
| Cody Ware | +15000 |
| BJ McLeod | +15000 |
Odds above courtesy of DraftKings.
Interested in placing a bet on Sunday’s Daytona 500? DraftKings is offering a $1,000 Deposit Bonus for first-time bettors in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Indiana, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Tennessee, Michigan, Virginia, Wyoming and Arizona.
Avoiding the Big One
The list of former Daytona 500 winners reads like auto racing royalty: Petty, Earnhardt, Gordon, Allison and Yarborough. That list also contains some names that didn’t find the winners’ circle very often outside of Daytona: Derrike Cope (Won in 1990 and won one other race in his career); Michael Waltrip (won at Daytona twice and only won two races in his career); Trevor Bayne (only career win was at Daytona); and Michael McDowell (only career win was at Daytona).
The Daytona 500 is one of only a handful of races on the NASCAR calendar where 70-percent of the field has a legit shot at winning. If you can stay on the lead lap and avoid “The Big One,” you will have a chance to see the checkered flag in the Daytona 500.
While that makes for a fantastic, entertaining viewing experience for fans, it makes things a nightmare for NASCAR bettors. Your driver could be running in the top-5 for 198 laps on Sunday but it likely won’t mean a thing as the mad dash for the checkered flag commences. Luck often trumps skill at Daytona.
Daytona 500 Pick
At the beginning of the week, I had Chris Buescher (+2500 to win; +800 Top-3; +260 Top-5 at DraftKings) circled because of how well Fords were running in practice and his relationship with Brad Keselowski. Whelp, the cat jumped out of the bag on Thursday night when Buescher won the Bluegreen Vacations Duel.
After the race, Buescher said, “It’s not the big show, but we’ve got a really good hotrod here” (Courtesy NASCAR). Those are some pretty encouraging words. While it’s nice to see that I was on the right path with my analysis earlier in the week, his success on Thursday is also reflected in his decreasing odds.
There’s also been some garage chatter about how well the Fords are running together compared to the Chevrolets. After winning the other Duel on Thursday night, Buescher’s teammate and car owner Keselowski said, “I’ve got to give credit to the other Fords. We worked really well together, Ryan Blaney, Chase Briscoe. We had great strategy… Austin Cindric… and we stuck together and drove away and got ourselves in position where we could control the finish of this race, and I’m happy to see all those Fords up front.”
In the last eight races at Daytona, Buescher has five top-5 finishes (was eventually DQ’d from last summer’s race because of an inspection issue, but nonetheless, still crossed the finish line in the top-5).
Daytona 500 H2H Matchup
Kevin Harvick +130 vs Chase Elliott (Available at DraftKIngs) – Has Kevin Harvick and his team lost a step over the last year-and-a-half? Yeah, it kinda looks that way. But this line is pretty disrespectful for a guy that has enjoyed a lot of success at Daytona.
Harvick has finished top-5 in four of the last seven Daytona 500s. He’s got a great track record at all of the superspeedways, finishing top-10 at both Talladega races and both Pocono races last year (and fourth at last year’s Daytona 500). He’s also in a Ford, which as I mentioned above, seems to be having more success in the draft and pack-racing format at Daytona.
Elliott finished second last year, but outside of that, his best finish in the Daytona 500 is 14th. He finished outside of the top-10 in all four of last year’s superspeedway races at Pocono and Talladega. In 12 races at Daytona, he has an average finishing position of 21st.
Hendrick Motorsports dominated last year, but there’s no way I would be laying -150 with Chase Elliott in this matchup. In a high-variance race like this, I will gladly take the plus-money with Kevin Harvick.
Daytona 500 Prop Betting Preview
How will the new Next Gen cars handle Daytona’s 2.5-mile superspeedway? On Friday’s edition of WagerTalk Today, NASCAR betting specialist Andy Lang joined Prez and Teddy Covers shared his thoughts on Sunday’s race, including an intriguing prop bet that is available: Will the car that receive the white flag on the last lap stay in first to win the race?
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