Daytona 500 Odds: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Betting Favorite For NASCAR’s Big Race
Having locked up the No. 2 spot in the starting lineup, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is the +450 favorite to claim his third career Daytona 500 win Sunday at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Earnhardt?s 2017 campaign is off to a fast start after he missed the second half of the 2016 season due to a concussion, as he looks to earn his first Cup Series victory since November 2015 in the 59th running of the Great American Race on Sunday at Daytona International Speedway.
The 42-year-old NASCAR veteran last competed in a Cup Series event at last July?s Quaker State 400, capping a disappointing season that featured four second-place finishes and no victories.
Earnhardt?s last Cup Series win came at the 2015 Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500. However, he has enjoyed considerable success at the Daytona 500, where he took the checkered flag in 2004 and 2014, and finished in the top two in four of his past seven appearances.
After sitting alongside Earnhardt atop the Daytona 500 odds for most of the week, Brad Keselowski has taken a step back after earning the No. 7 spot on Sunday?s starting grid, set at +700 odds to win the race.
Keselowski fell to 12th in last year?s Cup Series standings after failing to finish in the top 10 in five of his final six races, but he picked up one of his four 2016 wins in the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway.
Joey Logano, who won the 2015 Daytona 500, starts Sunday?s race from the middle of the pack in the No. 15 position, but joins the favorites on the 2017 Daytona 500 odds at +900, followed by Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch, who are knotted at +1000.
Logano looked strong down the stretch last season, posting top-three finishes in four of his final six races to claim second place in the Cup Series standings, and he finished sixth in last year?s running of the Daytona 500 after starting in the No. 12 position.
Johnson has two career Daytona 500 victories to his credit, but finished a distance 16th last year, while Busch looks to build on last year?s third-place finish.
Three drivers are deadlocked at +1200, including pole-sitter Chase Elliott, last year?s Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin and 2007 winner — and 2017 Cup championship favorite — Kevin Harvick. They are followed by Matt Kenseth, who sits alongside Martin Truex Jr. at +1400.
Clint Bowyer trails at +1800, ahead of Kyle Larson at +2200 and Kurt Busch at +2500, while 2010 winner Jamie McMurray sports +2800 odds.
Thumbnail photo via Jasen Vinlove/USA TODAY Sports Images
