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It is time to head back to Daytona International Speedway for some “Saturday night under the lights” racing! The Coke Zero Sugar 400 winds down the regular season on a track that’s produced a flurry of winners over the last several races and it could happen again this weekend! More on that below.
Denny Hamlin has won two of the last five races on the superspeedway surface and he comes in as the sole favorite at +600. Hamlin has yet to push his Toyota across the finish line for a win this season but he’s come close and his record at Daytona is why oddsmakers are looking his way.
Oddsmakers also seem to be leaning towards more Ford drivers getting into the mix this week following Ryan Blaney’s win last week. Blaney is among a bunch of drivers knotted at +1400 and one of the several Ford mustangs pushed towards the top of the favorites list.
That’s worth making a note of as Ford has won just one of the last seven races held on the high-banked Superspeedway. William Bell, behind the wheel of a Joe Gibbs Toyota (JGR), won the Daytona road course race earlier this season. If you count that, then Ford has just won a single time in eight trips to the venue on two different tracks.
Here are the favorite drivers, through +1200, to win the Coke Zero Sugar 400 outright according to Intertops. One Toyota; Denny Hamlin, two Fords; Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano, and one Chevrolet piloted by Kyle Larson.
Denny Hamlin +600
Joey Logano +900
Brad Keselowski +1000
Kyle Larson +1200
2021 Coke Zero Sugar 400 Preview
Date: Saturday, August 28, 2021, 7:00 pm EST
Track: Daytona International Speedway
Type: Tri-oval, Asphalt, 2.5 miles, 4 turns
Race Distance: 400 miles, 160 laps
Defending Track Winner: Michael McDowell
TV/Radio: NBCS / MRN
About the “flurry” of winners at Daytona as mentioned above. Denny Hamlin has won two of the last six races on the superspeedway surface at Daytona. You would think the other winners from that time would include drivers such as Harvick, Busch – your choice of the two, or Keselowski. Nope, the other four winners were Michael McDowell, William Byron, Justin Haley, and Erik Jones.
Micheal McDowell is listed as the defending track winner as he won the season-opening Daytona 500 on the Daytona Superspeedway surface. Christopher Bell won at Daytona the following week but his victory came on the road course making McDowell the defending track winner.
2021 Coke Zero Sugar 400 Predictions
Denny Hamlin +600
Denny Hamlin is the favorite as he’s been one of the more consistent drivers at Daytona International Speedway over the last ten trips to the superspeedway surface. He has two wins and five top-five finishes with a dominating 266 laps led during that time. Hamlin has 13 Cup Series wins on speedways of 2 miles and longer.
Kevin Harvick +2000
In this instance, Kevin Harvick is one of those drivers that could grab a surprise win. Oddsmakers seem to think Ford drivers will fare well this Saturday and there’s no reason to think Harvick won’t be in the mix – he’s at +2000 which makes him somewhat of a value selection. His last three runs at the Daytona speedway surface include a 3rd , and 4th place finish.
Michael McDowell +3000
Michael McDowell won the season-opening Daytona 500 here and it was not a fluke. He had an extremely fast car and stayed out of trouble during the entire race. According to NASCAR fantasy stats on racing-reference.com, McDowell is the second-best driver at the speedway over the last ten races at the track (behind Denny Hamlin with a win a 5 finishes in the top-ten and 3 in the top-five. Attractive at +3000.
Others: Many people will flip a coin if they are considering Kyle Larson or Chase Elliott this Saturday – both are +1400. But I’m thinking about drivers that may surprise fans this weekend since we are so close to the playoffs. There’s only one more chance to win a playoff spot. I’ll be keeping an eye on Matt Dibenedetto at +2500 and Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr. at +2800.
2021 Coke Zero Sugar 400 Odds
Denny Hamlin +600
Joey Logano +900
Brad Keselowski +1000
Kyle Larson +1200
Chase Elliott +1400
Ryan Blaney +1400
Kyle Busch +1400
William Byron +1400
Austin Dillon +1600
Aric Almirola +1800
Alex Bowman +1800
Kevin Harvick +2000
Ricky Stenhouse Jr +2000
Christopher Bell +2200
Martin Truex Jr +2500
Kurt Busch +2500
Matt Dibenedetto +2500
Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr. +2800
Michael McDowell +3000
Tyler Reddick +3300
Ross Chastain +3500
Ryan Newman +3500
Chris Buescher +4000
Cole Custer +4000
Erik Jones +5000
Chase Briscoe +5000
Daniel Suarez +5000
Ryan Preece +6600
Kaz Grala +6600
Corey Lajoie +9000
Justin Haley +10000
Anthony Alfredo +12500
Landon Cassill +17500
Josh Bilicki +30000
Quinn Houff +30000
BJ McLeod +30000
Cody Ware +40000
Joey Gase +40000
Garrett Smithley +40000
David Starr +40000
