2014 Coke Zero 400 Odds, Free Picks and Predictions: Vegas Favorites and Drivers to Bet: For the first time since the 2014 season opener, the Cup Series will visit famed Daytona International Speedway. The 2.5-mile superspeedway is the most well-known track on the schedule, and while Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400 doesn’t have the same aura as February’s Daytona 500, any time drivers have a chance to earn a win at NASCAR’s most famous track, the intensity rises just a bit. Of course, the intensity also rises a bit because of rules mandating that teams use restrictor plates to regulate speeds. As a result of the plates, drivers will spend most of the race lumped in a giant pack, and not surprisingly, big wrecks and last-lap passes are staples at Daytona. In fact, races at Daytona are so chaotic that almost any driver that can survive until the final lap has a shot at picking up a win.
The Favorites
He is going for the season sweep at Daytona after winning the Daytona 500 in February, and no driver has been more reliable at the track than Dale Earnhardt Jr. In addition to his three wins, he leads all drivers with a 13.4 average finish. Junior has also reeled off five straight top-15 finishes at Daytona, and his 5.6 average finish during the stretch is more than five spots better than any other driver.
In his last six starts at Daytona, Matt Kenseth has finished sixth or better four times, notching three top-three finishes. He is also a two-time winner of the Daytona 500 in his career. Perhaps more importantly, no driver has spent more time at the front of the field at restrictor plate the last couple of years than Kenseth. His 507 laps led since 2012 are 300 more than any other driver.
Although the Daytona 500 has eluded him, Tony Stewart has been dominant at times in the July race at the track. He has won the summer race at Daytona four times since 2005, and he finished second in last year’s race. Only the late Dale Earnhardt has won more total races at Daytona than Stewart so he knows how to seal the deal, especially in the summer race.
He is the defending winner of this weekend’s race, and Jimmie Johnson and no driver has been better at the track over the past year. He swept both races at Daytona in 2012, giving him three wins at the track overall, and he finished fifth in this year’s Daytona 500. Johnson has led a series-high 126 laps during the last three races at the track, and he is the only driver with three straight top-five finishes at Daytona.
The Dark Horses
Although he has never won at Daytona, Brad Keselowski has been inching closer in recent years. He has three finishes of eighth or better in his last four starts at the track and has two top-four finishes in his last three starts. Keselowski is also a two-time winner at Talladega so he has already shown he can win at a restrictor plate track.
While he hasn’t always been the most consistent performer at plate tracks, there is no denying that Jamie McMurray knows how to seal the deal. After all, he is a three-time winner at plate tracks at the Cup level with two of those wins coming at Daytona. There are plenty of big name drivers that have never won a race at a plate track, and McMurray has won three. He is obviously doing something right.
He is quietly establishing himself as one of the rising stars at restrictor plate tracks, and in seven starts, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has never finished outside the top 20. In fact, he has finished 13th or better in his last six starts at plate tracks and has three straight top-12 finishes at Daytona. Stenhouse finished a career-best seventh at Daytona in February so he only seems to be getting better.
Sleeper Special
Rookie Austin Dillon has endured some ups and down this year, but by far his best performance to date came at the Daytona 500 in February. He won the pole for the race, and he went on to finish in the top 10. Meanwhile, he also finished in the top 15 at Talladega so Dillon has been doing his best work at the plate tracks. If he is going to pull off an upset at this stage in his career, Daytona appears to be the most likely track.
Big Name to Avoid
He has actually finished as high as second at Daytona, but Kasey Kahne’s strong finishes at the track have been few and far between. More concerning is the fact that he always seems to end up wrecked whenever he visits Daytona. In his last seven starts at the track, he has finished 25th or worse five times. Meanwhile, Kahne has finished outside the top 30 in his last three starts at the track.
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