Daytona 500 Betting Preview: NASCAR Race Odds, Trends

Hendrick Motorsports has the top three starting positions and the top three betting favorites for Sunday's Daytona 500, with Jeff Gordon as the pole-sitter and Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. next on the grid after those two won the Budweiser Duel events on Thursday. 

Earnhardt Jr. (15-2) and Johnson (9-1) sit in the top two spots on the odds to win the Daytona 500 at the sportsbooks, with Gordon and Matt Kenseth each at 10-1 odds.  

Gordon will be racing in the Daytona 500 for the 23rd and final time and has taken the checkered flag three times during his illustrious career. He finished first the only other time he won the pole back in 1999 and placed fourth a year ago, his best finish since last winning the race in 2005.  

This will be his last year as a full-time driver on the NASCAR circuit, making him somewhat of a sentimental bet to win it a fourth time.  

Earnhardt Jr. and Johnson are both two-time winners of the Daytona 500, and they have won each of the past two races after starting from the ninth spot on the grid. Clint Bowyer will be in that position this year and is at 25-1 on the Daytona 500 betting lines.  

Kenseth won the Daytona 500 for the second time in 2012 from the fourth position, but he will be starting from the 35th spot this time around.  

Just one driver has ever won the Daytona 500 from beyond the 34th position on the grid, and that was Kenseth in 2009. He originally started 39th but had to go all the way back to the 43rd spot because he had to change to a backup car after crashing during qualifying. 

Kenseth is one of only five drivers to win the Daytona 500 behind the 19th position. Kyle Busch, at 12-1 at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark, will start from the fourth spot this year and try to become the eighth driver to win it from that position. 

Other drivers to watch include Carl Edwards (12-1), Denny Hamlin (12-1), Kevin Harvick (12-1), Brad Keselowski (14-1), Joey Logano (14-1) and Tony Stewart (16-1). 

Harvick is the lone member of that group to previously win the Daytona 500, while Hamlin spun out the car of Danica Patrick (50-1) in the second duel and nearly cost her a spot in the race. Patrick needed to finish 15th and placed 10th to qualify for the 20th position in the race.