Coke Zero 400 Betting Odds – 2015
Carrie Stroup here with your Coke Zero 400 betting odds. Daytona International Speedway – Daytona Beach, FL
Odds to Win the Race:
After a historic week at the “Road Course” in Sonoma where the Busch brothers finished one-two, the racers head to one of the more historic courses in the circuit for the Coke Zero 400 in Daytona Beach. The Sprint Cup standings look very familiar to past years as Jimmie Johnson leads the way with his four victories and nine top-fives while being followed by Kevin Harvick. They will look to continue their dominance of the sport in Daytona where the Daytona 500 has already been run and won by Joey Logano.
In the past at this event, there have been plenty of multiple winners with the last being Tony Stewart who took the trophy four times (2005, 2006, 2009, 2012). Jeff Gordon is still looking for a victory in his final season, and this is yet another track where he has done well with three victories (1995, 1998, 2004) as he goes against last year’s winner, Aric Almirola, who won in a rain-shortened 112 laps that was postponed a day. The 2.5-mile, tri-oval asphalt track features 31-degree banks and will be looking for the 12th different winner on the season when the checkered flag waves.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. (+800) - Earnhardt Jr. has been having yet another successful season as he sits in sixth in the Sprint Cup standings and owns one win on the year in Talladega. Besides that, he has also jumped into the top-five another seven times, including at this track for the Daytona 500 where he earned a third place. He has always performed well here, getting three career wins and ranking in the top-five a total of 12 times in his 31 attempts with one pole. His driver rating of 91.9 ranks second among the drivers as he owns 2,968 quality passes (2nd-most) and has been in the top-15 for 66% of his laps (2,475 laps, 2nd-most). He is coming off of top-seven showings in each of the last two weeks and should continue his success on Sunday.
Kurt Busch (+1200) - Busch narrowly earned a victory last week in Sonoma, but was eventually outdueled by his brother and came in as the runner-up. He has never won at Daytona International Speedway, but has done well in his 28 attempts, getting into the top-five 11 times and has been in seventh or better at seven of the last nine visits to this particular event. Busch has the third-best driver rating (90.5) at this venue and if he can improve on his average starting position of 21st, there is a good opportunity for him to be very successful. He already has two wins this year, including one a few weeks ago in Michigan, and has done no worse than fifth in each of his last three races, so look for the 36-year-old to perform well on the asphalt Sunday night.
Jamie McMurray (+3000) - McMurray has not been able to add to his seven career victories this year, but will certainly be a nice sleeper to do so this week in Daytona. Of those seven wins, two have come at this track where he is very volatile with only one other top-five and three other top-10s over 25 career visits. His recent races have been his most consistent of the season as McMurray has done no worse than 11th with three seventh place finishes over the past month of competition and he has improved on his pole spot by an average of nine positions during that stretch. With his recent solid racing, the 39-year-old should put himself in contention for his eighth career victory.
Austin Dillon (+4000) - Dillon has been to Daytona just four times in his young Sprint Cup Series career and actually performed quite well with two top-10s and a top-five. He has only ran in this particular event once, and that came last year when he started in 23rd in the pole and ended up flying up the standings for an eventual fifth-place finish. Dillon hasn’t exactly been tearing up the circuit this year with his one top-10 showing, but he did well at Daytona in February with a 14th-place and has done well in qualifying recently with a start in the top-seven in two of the past three races. Expect Dillon to exceed expectations in this one and outpace his current odds. <P>
Casey Mears (+7500) - This is a special place for Mears as he made his Sprint Cup Series debut on the track back in 2003 when he led for one lap but eventually finished in 27th. This year he did well again at the Daytona 500 with his best finish of this season (6th) and he seems to enjoy this venue with six top-10s in his 24 career starts. Recently he has done very well in this event, ranking fourth last year after a pole of 22nd and did well (9th) in 2013 when he had a starting position of 19th. The 13-year veteran has plenty of experience under his belt (432 races), but has just one career victory, so he is certainly a long shot, but his recent success at the course bodes well and he could really surprise when he crosses the finish line.
- Carrie Stroup, Gambling911.com Senior Reporter
