That sound you hear is the collective roar of revving engines of drivers, all vying to win the 60th edition of the Daytona 500 at the Daytona International Speedway this coming February 18th. Kurt Busch won the event last year, but will any of the drivers we have mentioned below in our preview take first the checkered flag?
Most Up to Date NASCAR Betting Preview for the 2018 Daytona 500
Where: Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida.
Brad Keselowski has been frustrated a lot of times in Daytona 500, but that has not prevented oddsmakers from making him the favorite to win the race this year. Keselowski is being priced at +700 to win his very first race in Daytona 500 this year. In 2017, the 33-year-old driver of Penske Racing finished fourth in the Duel 1 race, but he finished just 27th in the final race. That said, Keselowski has won before at the trace. That was when he placed first in the 2016 edition of the The Coke Zero 400. In 17 career races at the Daytona International Speedway, Keselowski has three top five finishes and four top 10s.
Not far behind Keselowski on the betting board is Chase Elliott, who is sitting on odds of +800 to emerge victorious in Daytona 500. Elliott only has four career races at the track, but he already has won the event once, when he topped the field last year. Each of his other three races there, however, did not have him finishing higher than 22nd.
A number of experts are touting 2018 as the year Ryan Blaney would break out. If so, then we all have to keep an eye on Blaney’s performance in Daytona. Blaney captured his first win last year, when he topped the Axalta Presents the Pocono 400 in June. He also had 25 top 10 finishes last year, so you know that he’ll always be hanging around in races, especially at the Daytona International Speedway. Speaking of that, Blaney finished second in the 2017 Daytona 500 and 26th at the same track in July during the Coke Zero 400. So far in his career, Blaney has two top five finishes, three top 10s, and seven top 20s in 12 races in restrictor plate tracks. Blaney has odds of +1,800 to win it all on Feb. 18.
The only driver of Germain Racing has odds of +8,000 to finish first in the Daytona 500. That makes him a very improbable driver to take home the win. He placed just 30th in last year’s Daytona 500 and only has one top 20 finish at the track — he was 16th in the 2017 Daytona 500 – while he finished no higher than 25th in his other three races there. But before bettors avoid Dillon as though he was some sort of serious contagious disease, consider that he’s been fairly competitive overall in restrictor track races. He had three top 20 finishes in the said track type, which includes his 11th finish in October during the Alabama 500 at the Talladega Superspeedway.
Writer’s Prediction
Ryan Blaney (+1800) will win the 2018 Daytona 500.
