Exciting Insights on Daytona 500 Betting and Racers

SportsGrid

Watch Exciting Insights on Daytona 500 Betting and Racers - SportsGrid on Dailymotion

Transcript

00:00Welcome back to NewsWire.

00:01So this is the most transparent I could ever be

00:04with you here on NewsWire.

00:05So I'm watching the Super Bowl last Sunday,

00:08and they show a commercial for the upcoming Daytona 500.

00:13Immediately, I think, all right, got to fire up Jim Santos

00:16and get him back on the show.

00:17It's been a while.

00:18And now we got Jim back.

00:19Always, always so good to us, making appearances here.

00:23So versatile.

00:24I know we're going to get good plays coming up

00:26this weekend, Daytona 500.

00:28We had to do it, Jim.

00:29Thanks again for coming on.

00:30I know it's a busy day, Valentine's Day

00:32and everything else.

00:32Appreciate the time.

00:34Yeah, it's a delight to be here.

00:35Always love talking some NASCAR with you, Craig.

00:37So it's been a while.

00:38How you been?

00:40Man, I am doing great.

00:41You know, when football season ends,

00:43it means baseball season's coming.

00:44So that's awesome for me.

00:46But in the interim, you know, we got some things to settle.

00:49Some NASCAR, some golf, some NCAA tournament.

00:52But let's start off with the Daytona 500.

00:54I know that that is the big betting event this weekend.

00:57And of course, I saw a lot of changes here.

00:59And the first thing I want to do is

01:01actually go over that with you.

01:03Did I see that Helio Castroneves is racing the Daytona 500,

01:08and there are 41 cars this year?

01:10Like, how did that happen?

01:12I didn't even know that this was going on.

01:14So it started a couple of years ago.

01:16Helio was running in, like, a different series called SRX,

01:19which I believe is now defunct.

01:20And he won a race there.

01:21And like, kind of like the deal was, he said, OK,

01:24if I win an oval race in SRX, I need

01:26someone to give me a Daytona 500 ride.

01:28And it didn't happen last year.

01:29But Trackhouse is giving him a ride for this year.

01:32And they were the ones that gave Shane Van Gisbergen

01:34the ride for the Chicago Street Race a couple of years ago

01:36when he won.

01:37So it's a good team.

01:38And Helio comes in.

01:40He runs the dual race last night.

01:42And, you know, partly bad luck, but also partly,

01:47you know, inexperience.

01:49Got involved in a crash in last night's race.

01:51So didn't get a lot of on-track time, unfortunately.

01:54But, yeah, Helio Castro Neves, an 8500 champion,

01:58running the Daytona 500.

01:59We had Travis Pastrana in the field a couple of years ago.

02:02That was pretty fun, too.

02:03Jimmy Johnson's back.

02:04Martin Truex Jr. coming out of a retirement,

02:07even though he never actually stopped racing.

02:09So it's a pretty fun and weird field this year.

02:11Yeah.

02:13Yeah, definitely so.

02:1441 drivers this year in cars.

02:17And, you know, I think if we go back

02:19and we take a look at who won last year,

02:21it was a little bit of a surprise

02:22that William Byron ended up winning.

02:24Ricky Stenhouse won in 23.

02:26Cendric in 22.

02:27McDowell in 21.

02:29And, you know, from doing my bit of research,

02:32it feels like a lot of people are backing the 2020 winner,

02:36Denny Hamlin, this time around on Sunday.

02:39So I'll turn it over to you and tell me if that's accurate.

02:41Yeah, I mean, Denny's always a guy

02:43you can turn towards on the super speedway

02:45because he's proven he can be a winner at this track

02:48and he gets the job done when it matters.

02:49I actually, personally, Craig,

02:51like a guy who was also on that list,

02:53a former Daytona 500 champion in Austin Cendric.

02:55Now he's 24 to one to win at FanDuel Sportsbook.

02:58And I'm honestly surprised he's still there

03:01because I liked that on Wednesday before qualifying

03:04and then Cendric went out and qualified second.

03:05So he got his spot locked in for the 500.

03:08He didn't do anything last night in the dual race,

03:10but he still won the dual race anyway,

03:12basically just for funsies.

03:14And that's pretty fun.

03:16And yet he's still there 24 to one to win this race.

03:19Cendric is a guy driving for Team Penske

03:21who has always been really, really good

03:24on the super speedways.

03:25Of course, won that 2022 Daytona 500,

03:27his first race as a full-time driver in the Cup Series.

03:30He had a podium later that year at Daytona as well,

03:33I believe in last year, there were six pack races.

03:37So Daytona, Talladega, or Atlanta,

03:40in those six pack races,

03:41Cendric's worst average running position was 12.

03:43So he runs up front, he leads laps,

03:46and he's proven, as we saw in Daytona,

03:48he can get the job done at the end.

03:50He was also an Xfinity Series winner in Daytona back in 2021.

03:52So honestly, I'm surprised he's still 24 to one.

03:56He is among the favorites in my betting model for this week.

04:00It's him and his two Penske teammates.

04:02It's weird how that worked out,

04:03but it's him, Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano,

04:05the favorites by my numbers.

04:07Cendric, not there.

04:07You do have Logano sitting at 13 to one

04:10at FanDuel Sportsbook,

04:11and then Blaney is also 13 to one,

04:13whereas Cendric is 24.

04:15I think he should be, you know, not 13,

04:17because I think both those guys are a bit overvalued,

04:20but he should be a lot shorter than 24 to one

04:22based on my numbers.

04:23And I think that what we've seen so far on track

04:25has validated Cendric being in contention.

04:28Yeah, and tell me who Chris Buescher is at 28 to one.

04:31That's not a name I'm familiar with.

04:33Yeah, Buescher's been in the Cup Series for a while,

04:35but he's not like a superstar.

04:36He's a guy that I've always thought

04:38has been underappreciated as a driver,

04:41like a good talent,

04:42and he's specifically good on pack tracks.

04:44He actually did win in Daytona back in 2023 as well,

04:47a stretch where he won three races that year

04:51at three very different track types,

04:52running for RFK Racing,

04:55so driving alongside Brad Keselowski and Ryan Preece.

04:58It's another Ford team,

04:59and Fords traditionally have done very well

05:00in super speedways.

05:01They're very coordinated.

05:02They've got a lot of fast cars.

05:03The way that their bumpers work

05:06is actually very interesting,

05:07like the anatomy of the bumper

05:09is actually pretty conducive

05:11to making them good on pack tracks.

05:12It's been really, really fun.

05:15Buescher, 28 to one.

05:16I think a guy who can definitely get the job done here.

05:18All right, thanks, Jim, for making the appearance.

05:20Enjoy the race this weekend.

05:21We'll talk again soon.

05:23Thank you, appreciate it.

Category

Transcript

Recommended