1 month agoJustin Haley and the word surprise are kind of synonymous. It all started back in 2019, when he surprised the NASCAR world by getting the win at Daytona International Speedway while driving for Spire Motorsports, an underfunded team at the time. Rain played into that, but the factread more...
1 month agoEven though his track record isn't great, Martin Truex Jr. is one driver to keep an eye on during the Daytona 500. Over the course of 37 career starts at this track, Truex has yet to go to victory lane and also has just three top-five finishes (8.1%). To put that into perspective, Chase Elliott has as many top-five finishes at Daytona in 21 less attempts than Truex. With that being said, the NextGen car has boosted Truex's playability at this track. In the four Daytona races with this new car, MTJ has won three of the eight Stages and has finished inside the top 10 in seven of the eight. Additionally, his average finishing position over the last four points-paying races overall at Daytona sits at 15.0, over six positions better than his career average (21.4). The Toyotas look really fast this year at Daytona. Could it finally be Truex's time to shine? He's as long as 25-to-1 to win at some sportsbooks.Source: Racer
1 month agoJoey Logano is one of the drivers that is favored by sportsbooks to win the Daytona 500, but that doesn't make him a good DFS play on sites such as DraftKings and FanDuel. Logano will be leading the Daytona 500 field to the green for Monday afternoon's race, which means he is scored from the first-place starting spot in the daily fantasy games. Because place differential is so important in DFS, this actually makes Logano a bad fantasy choice in these formats because of the risk he could lose so many points by simply falling back from his starting spot. Logano is one of the best superspeedway racers in the field but he is not a good DFS pick for Daytona. Avoid him like the plague.Source: Daytona Beach News-Journal
1 month agoThe NASCAR Cup Series is at a superspeedway track this weekend, and that means it's time to focus a bit more on Corey Lajoie than we normally do. The No. 7 Chevrolet for Spire Motorsports has been one of the best underdog stories we have seen over the last few years, as Lajoie has emerged as one of the best drivers on this type of track. Here at Daytona specifically, Corey has finished between 10th- and 16th-place in three of the four races in the NextGen car, and he has had at least one top-10 finish in four of the last five years at Daytona. For this year's Daytona 500, Lajoie will start from back in 29th-place, which means he has plenty of room to move forward for those valuable place differential FPTS in DraftKings. He's a great DFS option for The Great American Race, especially with such an amazing paint scheme on the car.Source: Fox News
1 month agoThe 66th annual Daytona 500 has officially been postponed until Monday, February 19th, as steady rain has and will continue to impact the Florida region on Sunday. NASCAR has set the green flag for the race to be at 4:00 pm ET. While the postponement of the race is disappointing, this will allow NASCAR to get the full 500 miles in on Monday, as the weather forecast for then looks much drier.Source: Bob Pockrass
1 month agoBrad Keselowski is generally regarded as one of the best drafters in the NASCAR Cup Series and that has not changed since the NextGen car was introduced. He led the most laps in last year's Daytona 500, finished second to his onetime teammate Joey Logano at Atlanta, and pushed his current teammate, Chris Buescher, to the win in the Daytona regular-season finale. However, despite being one of the best drafters of his generation, he has yet to win a Daytona 500, and ranks second in Daytona 500 laps led among active non-winners with 177. The Fords were very fast in qualifying but relatively lackluster in their Duel races. While it seems like the Toyotas stand a better shot, Daytona tends to reward experience, and if the Fords have more speed in the race itself, Keselowski should be a contender.Source: Racing Reference
1 month agoAfter failing to post a time in qualifying due to a shifter issue, Kaz Grala had to advance to the Daytona 500 via his Duel race on Thursday night. He was rather lucky to do so because B.J. McLeod, the driver he was competing against, was faster and outran him for most of the event before he got caught up in the Big One, which allowed Grala to eventually pass McLeod on the last lap and lock himself in. While the Fords were fast in qualifying, including both of Grala's Front Row Motorsports teammates, they weren't very fast in the Duel races relative to the Toyotas. Grala is vastly less experienced on this track type than his teammates, Michael McDowell and Todd Gilliland. Merely making the race was a triumph for Grala, but it's hard to expect much more without Kaz surviving a lot of wrecks.Source: Racing Reference
1 month agoNoah Gragson makes his full-time debut as a driver for Stewart-Haas Racing in the season-opening Daytona 500, but neither he nor the SHR cars in general have shown much speed in either practice or qualifying this weekend. Gragson qualified 16th behind most other Fords and crashed in his Duel race. Gragson's return to the NASCAR Cup Series after his suspension has been a struggle as he was very slow in the Clash at the L.A. Coliseum, finishing four laps down. Although his crew chief, Drew Blickensderfer, has been very strong at drafting tracks, winning the Daytona 500 with Matt Kenseth in 2009 and in 2021 with Michael McDowell, Gragson's lack of speed in the Cup Series, Ford's lack of speed in the Duels, and Gragson having to go to a backup car should combine to make Gragson an extreme longshot who will need to rely on attrition for a good finish.Source: Racing Reference
1 month agoAfter a wildly disappointing 2023, Austin Cindric started off 2024 with a strong 4th-place qualifying run for the Daytona Duel races and backed it up by following Christopher Bell for a second-place in the Duel race. While the previous generation of Fords dominated the drafting tracks the past couple of years, and the new Mustang Dark Horse dominated in qualifying, their race performance on Thursday night was relatively lackluster compared to the Toyotas and Chevys. The front-row starters of Joey Logano and Michael McDowell (both in Fords) faded to midpack, but they were probably more focused on conserving their equipment to save their front-row starting positions, so we might not know just how quick the Fords are yet. Cindric did have strong finishes in both 2022 races here at Daytona, but more recent history indicates Ford's best shots to win the Daytona 500 are likely his Penske teammates, Michael McDowell, and the RFK cars.Source: Racing Reference
1 month agoKyle Busch once again seeks his first Daytona 500 win in his 19th career start and seems to be well overdue for his first win in the Great American Race. He ranks 11th all-time and first amongst non-winners with 330 laps led in the Daytona 500 specifically, only one lap led behind A.J. Foyt. In last year's race, Busch led the last lap of regulation but lost in overtime in his Richard Childress Racing debut. This year, the No. 8 Chevrolet only had middling speed in the Duel on Thursday before Busch crashed. The RCR Chevys seemed slower than the Toyotas, and the team had to put in extra time to prepare Busch's car for the race. Bet against Rowdy clearing the Daytona 500 goose egg in 2024.Source: Racing Reference
1 month agoChristopher Bell starts fourth in the Daytona 500 after winning the second Duel race thanks to passing his teammate, Denny Hamlin, on the last lap. Despite having never won a points-paying race on a drafting track before, Bell enters as one of the pre-race favorites. In addition to his Duel win and his resulting good starting position, the Toyotas were generally fastest in both races Thursday night, with Bell and Tyler Reddick both winning from starting positions outside the top fifteen despite both of them leading only one lap. Bell himself has led at least twenty laps in two of the last three Daytona 500s. Additionally, Ty Gibbs had the fastest average lap time in the first duel while John Hunter Nemechek did in the second race, further proving Toyota's advantage in speed. All these factors make Bell one of the drivers to watch for the 500.Source: Racing Reference
1 month agoLegacy Motor Club driver Erik Jones will start 11th at Daytona after a great Bluegreen Vacation duel (first race) performance where he finished 5th and led five laps. In 14 starts at Daytona, Jones has one win and seven top-20 finishes including each of the last three August Daytona races. Last season, Jones also had three finishes of 11th or better at tracks with the superspeedway package. Outside of Daytona Duel and Clash races, the last time Jones placed in the Top 10 was the 2019 Daytona 500 when he drove for Joe Gibbs Racing. Although Jones' duel performance and great practice speed (2nd of all drivers) are encouraging, recent history points to Jones being a shaky play for this week's race. Considering his high starting position, Jones is best suited for tournament lineups looking for a contrarian option.Source: Driveraverages.com
1 month agoDaniel Hemric failed to generate a strong performance in the Bluegreen Vacations Duel by placing 21st after running mostly outside of the Top 10 and crashing. As a result, Hemric will be starting 37th at Daytona to mark his first full-time Cup start since 2019. In four starts at Daytona, Hemric has two top-20 finishes with a personal best finish of 12th and collected positive place differential three times. Despite having Cup experience dating back to 2019, Hemric has limited experience with the NextGen car with only nine starts compared to most. While Hemric is one of the safer picks to recognize for DFS due to his start position, he has a small sample size with different teams meaning his performance is not as predictable. It is recommended to have a modest level of exposure in lineups towards the Kaulig Racing driver for Daytona.Source: Driveraverages.com
1 month ago 2018 Daytona 500 champion Austin Dillon will start 33rd in this year's Daytona 500. The driver of the No. 3 Chevrolet is looking to rebound at one of his better tracks after one of his worst statistical seasons of his career. In 21 Cup starts at Daytona, Dillon has two wins and an Average Finish of 16.4, ranking fifth-best of all drivers in the Daytona 500 field this week. Regardless of Dillon scoring only one top-20 finish at tracks with the superspeedway rules package last year, most of his finishes were DNFs due to getting caught in unlucky wrecks. Dillon's performance in the Bluegreen Vacations duel (first race) continues his misfortune at Daytona from last year as he placed 18th with damage. Since his starting position is at the rear, Dillon is a safe, fantastic DFS option to recommend with favorable track history. Source: Driveraverages.com
1 month agoThird-year driver Harrison Burton held his own in the Bluegreen Vacations duel (second race), led one lap, and finished fifth. This finish will have Burton start the Daytona 500 from the 12th position, marking his second Daytona 500 start outside of the Top 10. Burton's start position however makes him a huge DFS risk when factoring his history. In four Daytona starts, Burton's best career Cup finish was 19th, and never finished a race on the lead lap. Burton's Wood Brothers Racing team normally brings competitive cars to Daytona as he led in three of his four appearances there. Despite the speed, Burton is a dangerous risk that deserves limited exposure due to his inability to finish races on the lead lap.
Source: Driveraverages.com