What a race the Daytona 500 was. Rookie Austin Cindric became the 9th driver to win their first race in Daytona, and the second youngest to ever win the race. Still, oddsmakers don‘t believe in the young driver. Instead, they turn their attention back to last year‘s Cup Series champion, Kyle Larson.
Larson struggled in his first race of the year, finishing 32nd. Still, oddsmakers believe he‘s the strong favorite to win this year‘s WISE Power 400. Larson is given +400 odds, or an implied 20% chance to take home the victory. His biggest competition is believed to be Chase Elliot and Kyle Busch. The two are given +800 odds, or an 11.1% chance to win the race. Denny Hamlin isn‘t far behind at +850, or an implied 10.5% chance.
As for Cindric, oddsmakers aren‘t believers yet. The rookie is given +5000 odds, or an implied 2% chance to win the race. Second place finisher Bubba Wallace is given +20000 odds, or an implied 0.5% chance. 3rd place finisher Chase Briscoe is given +10000 odds, or an implied 1% chance. So, oddsmakers clearly aren‘t putting much stock into the results of the Daytona 500.
Quote from OddsChecker spokesman Kyle Newman, “Daytona was a pretty good predictor last year. Of the eventual top-5 finishers in the Cups Series, 3 finished top-5. Only one finished outside the top-10, and that was Martin Truex Jr. In 2020, two of the top-5 were top-5 finishers at Daytona. Though the top-3 finishers all finished outside the top-15 at Daytona. In 2019, once again 3 of the top-5 finished top-5 at Daytona. So, to dismiss the finishes there doesn‘t seem to be the way to go. Even if this year‘s top-5 at Daytona is mostly unproven.”
WISE POWER 400 WINNER ODDS
Driver Odds Implied chance Kyle Larson+40020%Chase Elliot+80011.1%Kyle Busch+80011.1%Denny Hamlin+85010.5%Martin Truex Jr.+10009.1%Ryan Blaney+12007.7%William Byron+12007.7%Alex Bowman+14006.7%Joey Logano+14006.7%Kevin Harvick+16005.9%
— OddsChecker —
