OddsShopper
ArticlesVideosExpert PicksPromotions
HomeFree ToolsPremium ToolsOffersAccount
Categories NASCAR

NASCAR Coke Zero Sugar 400 Betting Odds, Picks & Predictions: Early Value Bets on Ryan Blaney & Ty Dillon at Daytona

The NASCAR Cup Series heads to warm Daytona Beach, Fla., for Saturday night’s Coke Zero Sugar 400. Daytona, a superspeedway track, forces NASCAR to use a limited-horsepower package that makes drafting essential to a strong performance. It also marks the end of the Cup Series regular season, so any winless drivers looking to sneak into the playoffs have one last chance.

There’s plenty to break down, including taking a look at the Coke Zero Sugar 400 NASCAR betting odds, before getting into expert picks for NASCAR this weekend. With desperation — and precipitation — in the air, here are the top NASCAR Coke Zero Sugar picks and predictions for the Daytona night race.

2022 NASCAR Coke Zero Sugar 400 Picks & Betting Odds

Coke Zero Sugar 400 Betting Odds

Outright Winner: Ryan Blaney | +1200 (0.15 Unit) at DraftKings

If a new full-time driver wins on Saturday night, Blaney and the No. 12 team will miss the playoffs. Unfortunately for Blaney, Daytona International Speedway has quite the reputation for producing wild-card winners. But because the best defense is the best offense, Blaney should race aggressively and try to win the race himself.

Blaney currently owns a 25-point cushion over the next driver in points, Martin Truex Jr. With NASCAR's new stage points, Blaney could increase that gap — or cement a points finish above Truex — before the final stage of Saturday's event. Such an outcome would allow Blaney to aggressively pursue the win at the end.

But this pick isn't all about game theory. Blaney boasts one of the most impressive superspeedway resumes among all active drivers. He has three superspeedway victories, all of which have come since 2019. One of those wins came here last summer, and the other two came at Talladega in 2019.

Furthermore, Blaney has demonstrated the ability to handle superspeedway tracks in the summer, which renders the track surface hotter and slicker than usual. He finished fifth at Atlanta in July and won last year's Daytona night race outright. None of his co-favorites — Chase Elliott, Bubba Wallace and Denny Hamlin — have won a summertime superspeedway race.

Best Longshot Bet: Corey LaJoie | +10000 (0.1 Unit) at DraftKings

LaJoie currently sits 31st in the standings. A whopping 71 points separate him from 30th, which means a win wouldn't secure LaJoie an automatic playoff bid. But LaJoie's mathematical elimination from the playoffs gives him all the more reason to drive aggressively because he has nothing to lose.

This line is far, far too long. LaJoie was just one corner away from winning July's race at Atlanta, which had a similarly slick surface to the one we'll see on Saturday. He crashed out and finished 21st, but he still led 19 laps in the process. He had also scored a top-five finish at Atlanta back in the spring.

LaJoie's recent superspeedway success isn't contained to Atlanta. He has four top-10 finishes at the traditional superspeedway, three of which came at Daytona. LaJoie has done an excellent job of keeping his car clean until the end of these races, and he should contend for the win on Saturday night. He may not win the event, but his odds of doing so are far better than the 1% chance the sportsbooks are giving him. At 100-1, LaJoie is one of the best Daytona night race betting picks.

Top 10 Bet: Justin Haley | +210 at FanDuel

Few drivers have shown more skill at superspeedway tracks than Justin Haley. He dominated at Daytona and Talladega in the Xfinity Series by scoring four wins and nine top-10s in 12 starts. Two of those wins came at Daytona in the summertime. He'll race in Friday's Xfinity Series race as well, which will give him extra track time to prepare for Saturday's Cup event.

Haley has made just nine starts at the traditional superspeedway tracks in his young Cup Series career, and he already owns a win, a top-10 and four top-15s. Both that win and that top-10 came at Daytona in the summer. He also finished seventh in July's Atlanta race. The 23-year-old driver had finished 11th there back in March.

The books are low on Haley because he has scored just two top-10 finishes all year. However, Haley has seven top-15s, including two 11th-place finishes and two 12th-place finishes. But because Haley has finished on the outside looking in so many times, he has far longer odds than his talent demands.

Top 10 Bet: Ty Dillon | +420 (0.5 Unit) at FanDuel

Ty Dillon may not have a full-time ride next season. The 30-year-old driver is fighting for his NASCAR career, but a strong showing at Daytona could help him make his case. He might just have the superspeedway talent to pull it off, too. Dillon has scored five top-10s at superspeedways across his 20 career starts, all of which have come in his last 12 appearances.

The younger Dillon brother has often looked solid in Daytona's summer events. He finished sixth in 2018, fourth in 2019 and 12th in 2020. Dillon crashed out of his last start, which came in 2020, but he has shown enough skill to warrant shorter odds. Because only 37 drivers are entered in Saturday's event, Dillon's implied odds of 19.3% are far worse than his raw mathematical odds of 27%.

The books may have decided to punish Dillon because of his new team, Petty GMS. All of Dillon's top-10 finishes on superspeedways came with Germain Racing, which had always been seen as a solid superspeedway team. However, Dillon finished 11th in the Daytona 500 with Petty GMS earlier this year. His teammate, Erik Jones, even led 10 laps before finishing fourth in July's race in Atlanta. Dillon's No. 42 should have enough speed to compete on Saturday, and the odds on this market are far too long.

Featured Articles

Related Articles