Daytona – Coke Zero 400 Predictions
The NASCAR Sprint Cup series will celebrate the 4th of July Holiday weekend in Daytona Beach with the running of the Coke Zero 400 at the fabled Daytona International Speedway. For the second week in-a-row they will be racing under the lights with the start of Saturday night’s race set for 7:30 p.m.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Coke Zero 400 Preview and Prediction
Race: Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway
Date: Saturday, July 6, 2013
Time: 7:30 p.m. (ET)
Broadcast: TNT
The Coke Zero 400 will be broadcast nationally on TNT.
Last Saturday night in Kentucky, Matt Kenseth laid claim to his fourth checkered flag of the season with the victory. Jamie McMurray took second in that race and Clint Bowyer ended-up third.
The following is a closer look at our favorite, contender, and longshot picks for this Saturday night’s race with odds provided by Sportsbook.ag.
The Favorite (odd of less than 10/1)
There is only one driver in this category this week as the Oddsmakers decided to ride a hot hand of Matt Kenseth by listing him as a +800 favorite to win again this Saturday night. His four point-race victories are the most in the Sprint Cup series this season and have helped to put the No.20 car in fifth-place in the current standings with 528 points.
Kenseth’s recent performance at Daytona adds even more value to these odds.
Going back to the 2011 season, he finished second in the Coke Zero 400 and in 2012 he won the Daytona 500 and finished third in this race. [ad-8757089]
The Contender (odds from 10/1 to 19/1)
It has been a pretty solid season for Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the No. 88 car with nine top-10 finishes in the first 17 point races of the season that have the team in sixth place in the Sprint Cup standings with 512 points.
The one drain on his +1000 odds to win on Saturday night is the fact that he only has one Sprint Cup point-race victory in the past five seasons. What makes Dale Jr. an interesting pick as a contender is the fact that he has ended-up in second place in three of the last four Daytona 500’s and in 2010 he raced his way to a fourth-place finish in this race.
You cannot help but get the feeling that Junior is long overdue for a win this time around.
The Longshot (odds 20/1 or greater)
Last week we went with Greg Biffle as our top longshot at +2000 and he stumbled to a 34th-place finish at Kentucky. While there are a number of interesting drivers with longer odds for this week’s race, we are once again going with him as our pick at the same exact odds.
He has the No. 16 car in ninth-place in the standings with 489 points and along with winning at Michigan in mid-June, he took second-place at Pocono a week earlier.
We also see value in the odds given Biffle’s recent performance at this track. He posted a third-place finish in the 2012 Daytona 500 and finished sixth in that race this season.
Odds from Bovada
- MATT KENSETH 8-1
- DALE EARNHARDT JR 10-1
- KEVIN HARVICK 12-1
- KYLE BUSCH 12-1
- JIMMIE JOHNSON 12-1
- CLINT BOWYER 15-1
- KASEY KAHNE 15-1
- JEFF GORDON 15-1
- TONY STEWART 15-1
- BRAD KESELOWSKI 18-1
- DENNY HAMLIN 18-1
- CARL EDWARDS 18-1
- MARTIN TRUEX JR 18-1
- KURT BUSCH 18-1
- GREG BIFFLE 20-1
- JOEY LOGANO 25-1
- JAMIE McMURRAY 25-1
- JEFF BURTON 30-1
- PAUL MENARD 30-1
- RYAN NEWMAN 30-1
- JUAN MONTOYA 30-1
- DANICA PATRICK 30-1
- MICHAEL WALTRIP 30-1
- MARCOS AMBROSE 40-1
- RICKY STENHOUSE JR 40 -1
- ARIC ALMIROLA 50-1
- TREVOR BAYNE 50-1
- DAVID GILLILAND 75-1
- DAVID RAGAN 75-1
- AJ ALLMENDINGER 75-1
- BOBBY LABONTE 100-1
- DAVE BLANEY 200-1
- TRAVIS KVAPIL 200-1
- FIELD 30-1
