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The NASCAR Cup Series returns to the Daytona International Speedway on Saturday for the 2024 Coke Zero Sugar 400. Green flag is slated to drop shortly after 7:30 p.m. ET (NBC). Let’s analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s lines around the 2024 Coke Zero Sugar 400 odds, and make our expert NASCAR picks and predictions.
2024 Coke Zero Sugar 400: What you need to know
- RFK Racing’s Chris Buescher won last season’s summer race at Daytona with an average speed of 158.389 mph, the highest average speed in the 400 since July 2011
- Ford and Chevrolet have dominated the 400 at Daytona, winning 14 of the past 15 starts in the summer race. In that span, Chevy has 8 wins, and Ford has 6, with Toyota’s lone win coming courtesy of Erik Jones in July 2018
- 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace leads all active drivers with a 12.4 Average-Finish Position (AFP) with a minimum of 4 starts. He has 5 top-5 finishes and 31 laps led in 14 Cup starts, but also 3 DNFs
- Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin leads all drivers with 3 career Daytona wins (all the 500), with 11 top-5 finishes and 12 top-10 runs with 676 laps led in Cup starts with a 17.1 AFP
- Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon has 2 career wins at the track, while posting 4 top-5 finishes and 9 top-10 results with 85 laps led and a 17.4 AFP in 22 Cup starts
- JTG Daugherty Racing’s Ricky Stenhouse Jr., winner of the 2023 Daytona 500, has 2 career Cup wins at the track. He has 148 laps led with a 20.4 AFP in 24 Cup starts, but also 7 DNFs
- Hendrick Motorsports driver Alex Bowman has a solid 15.2 AFP in 16 career Cup starts in Daytona, but he has never posted a win. He has been a runner-up before, while posting 2 top-5 finishes
- Team Penske’s Austin Cindric, winner of the 2022 Daytona 500, has a respectable 16.8 AFP in 6 career Cup starts at the superspeedway, while posting 2 top-5 runs and 49 laps led
- Legacy Motor Club’s John Hunter Nemechek is on the entry list, and he has managed finishes of 7th, 11th and 11th in his 3 career Cup starts at Daytona
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2024 Coke Sugar Zero 400 – Expert pick
Odds provided by BetMGM Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated Friday at 7:51 p.m. ET.
RFK Racing’s BRAD KESELOWSKI (+1300) is always a threat on the high-bank superspeedways. He is a speed demon at Talladega, and he has fared well over the years at Daytona International Speedway, too.
While Kes has plenty of DNFs at Daytona — 14 to be exact — he has a win, 4 top-5 finishes and 348 laps led in 30 career Cup starts.
Keselowski is a high-risk, high-reward type driver at Daytona, but that’s why it’s called gambling. He could be leading the race or contending on the final lap only to be collected in the “Big One.” We’ve seen it before, and we’ll undoubtedly see carnage late, changing the finishing order dramatically, likely on a green-white-checker finish.
Check out Motorsports Wire: For the auto racing fan, USA TODAY Sports Media Group’s website covers NASCAR, F1, IndyCar and more.
2024 Coke Zero Sugar 400 – Contender
BUBBA WALLACE (+1600) has fared well over the years at Daytona International Speedway and at the superspeedways in general. He is as good of a bet as any to get to Victory Lane in what could be a chaotic race, especially as this is the penultimate race before the Round of 16 playoffs begin at Atlanta Motor Speedway Sept. 8.
Wallace has 14 career Cup starts at DIS, with 5 top-5 finishes, a 12.4 AFP and an 80.2 driver rating. While he does have 3 DNFs, he seems to keep his nose relatively clean on the superspeedways, picking and choosing his spot to be there contending in the end.
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