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The NASCAR Cup Series takes center stage Saturday night with the 2023 Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway. The green flag is set to drop shortly after 7 p.m. ET (NBC). Let’s analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s lines around the 2023 Coke Zero Sugar 400 odds, and make our expert NASCAR picks and predictions.
2023 Coke Zero Sugar 400: What you need to know
- Richard Childress Racing driver Austin Dillon won last summer’s Daytona Coke Zero Sugar 400, posting an average speed of 138.943 mph. He goes off 21st Saturday night.
- JTG Daugherty Racing driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. picked up checkers at the Daytona 500 back in February to kick off the season. He’ll start 32nd in the 400
- Stenhouse has 2 Cup victories at Daytona with 4 top-10 finishes, 147 laps led, 5 DNFs and a 19.3 Average-Finish Position (AFP) in his 22 career starts, the ultimate boom-or-bust driver
- Stewart-Haas Racing driver Chase Briscoe starts from the pole position after managing a 181.822 mph best speed, just edging out teammate Aric Almirola (181.693 mph)
- Fords occupy the first 3 starting positions Saturday night as well as the 6th, 8th and 12th spots
- Chevrolet has won the past 2 Cup races at Daytona, and 4 of the past 8 starts, with Ford winning the other 4 events. Toyota hasn’t been to Victory Lane at DIS since Denny Hamlin won the 500 in February 2020
- Front Row Motorsports driver Riley Herbst starts 6th Saturday. In his only previous Cup run at the track, he posted a top-10 finish
- Wood Brothers Racing driver Harrison Burton starts 3rd in the iconic No. 21 machine. He has 3 Cup starts under his belt, finishing 19th, 26th and 39th with 1 DNF, good for a dismal 28th AFP
- 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace is still searching for his 1st Daytona Cup win, but he has been impressive in 12 career starts. He has 4 top-5 runs, 28 laps led and a 13.0 AFP. He starts 4th as the top qualifying Toyota
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2023 Coke Zero Sugar 400 – Expert pick(s)
Odds provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 2:50 p.m. ET.
BUBBA WALLACE (+1600) is a value play in Saturday night’s race. He is traditionally at his best on the superspeedways, and he has runner-up finish at the 500 in February 2022. While a Toyota hasn’t been to Victory Lane since Hamlin’s victory in 2020, Wallace is about to make some people very unhappy with a strong win and a Toyota beating a Chevrolet and Ford to checkers.
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2023 Coke Zero Sugar 400 – Long shot(s)
Hey, why not CHASE BRISCOE (+3000) at this price? While it’s a rarity for a driver to go wire-to-wire at Daytona, or any superspeedway for that matter, he is on the pole and he has an advantageous pit position, too.
Briscoe has had his issues in 5 career Cup starts at Daytona, posting just a single top-5 run with 5 laps led, a 21.8 AFP and 3 DNFs, which is 60% of his starts. But for a chance to multiply up by 30 times, he is worth a roll of the dice.
If you want an even larger long shot, let’s go with RILEY HERBST (+6000). He starts 6th, and he managed a 10th-place run in his Cup debut back in February. This will be just his 3rd career Cup start for SHR, and easily his most advantageous starting position, after going off 38th at the 500. He finished 10th in his 1st Daytona Cup start, and he was a respectable 20th at Talladega in April after going off 36th.
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For more sports betting picks and tips, check out SportsbookWire.com and BetFTW.
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