(Getty)
Due to a concussion that cut his 2016 season in half, Dale Earnhardt Jr. hasn’t won a NASCAR Cup Series race since November 15, 2015.
When it comes to the Daytona 500, though, that hardly matters. Junior, who will start next to teammate Chase Elliott on the front row, is being pegged as the oddsmakers’ favorite to win the 2017 Great American Race.
Here’s a complete look at the top drivers’ chances to win next Sunday:
2017 Daytona 500 Odds to Win
Note: Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com
Dale Earnhardt Jr.: +650
Brad Keselowski: +750
Jimmie Johnson: +1000
Joey Logano: +1000
Kevin Harvick: +1000
Kyle Busch: +1000
Denny Hamlin: +1200
Chase Elliott: +1400
Matt Kenseth: +1600
Martin Truex Jr. +1600
Kyle Larson: +2000
Clint Bowyer: +2800
Kurt Busch: +2800
Austin Dillon: +2800
Daniel Suarez: +3000
Erik Jones: +3300
Jamie McMurray: +3300
Kasey Kahne: +3300
Ryan Blaney: +5000
Danica Patrick: +5000
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.: +6600
Ryan Newman: +6600
Trevor Bayne: +6600
A.J. Allmendinger: +7500
Aric Almirola: +10000
Paul Menard: +10000
Ty Dillon: +10000
Chris Buescher: +20000
Preview
For the second year in a row, Elliott (+1400) will start on the pole. While that makes him intriguing as the driver with just the eighth-shortest odds, there’s also reason to be apprehensive.
One, the 21-year-old has yet to win a NASCAR Cup Series race, though he tallied 17 Top-10 finishes as a rookie in 2016. Two, he went from pole sitter to 37th place at least year’s Daytona 500 and failed to finish either of the starts at the famed track. And three, since 2010 the winner of the pole at the Daytona 500 has had an average finish of 18.71 with zero Top-5’s.
Outside of the top favorites, pay close attention to Kyle (+1000) and Kurt Busch (+2800) in the upcoming week. Though neither has won this race, they finished third and 10th, respectively, last year, and have consistently produced good results on restrictor-plate tracks.
Another one to watch will be Joey Logano (+1000). The 26-year-old turned in a surprisingly slow lap during qualifying, but he has racked up three Top-10’s in his last Cup Series races at Daytona–including a win in the 2015 Daytona 500–and won the exhibition Clash last week.
Martin Truex Jr. (+1600) represents pretty solid value considering he was about 10 inches from winning last year, while a couple of former winners, Ryan Newman and Trevor Bayne are well down the list at +6600. Neither has really been close to repeating, though.
