2022 Daytona 500 Prediction and Odds (Can Hamlin win Fourth Race at Daytona?)

The NASCAR season opens on February 20th with the 63rd running of the Daytona 500. It’s a bit odd that they choose to start the year off with their most popular event but either way, we’re going racing this weekend! As we have a habit of doing, we turned right to the odds board when the numbers were released and crafted a betting preview for this weekend’s big race. 

First up, let’s review the current odds. WynnBET does not yet have them up to be here are the consensus numbers floating around.

Denny Hamlin | +850

Chase Elliott | +1,000

Kyle Larson | +1,100

Joey Logano | +1,200

Ryan Blaney | +1,200

William Byron | +1,500

Brad Keselowski | +1,600

Kurt Busch | +1,700

Kyle Busch | +1,700

Austin Dillon |+1,800

Kevin Harvick | +1,800

Alex Bowman | +1,800

Martin Truex Jr. | +2,000

Bubba Wallace | +2,000

It should come in as little surprise to racing fans that Hamlin is at the pole position of the Dayton 500 odds. He is considered one of the greatest racers at this track and has won the event three times since 2016. He finished outside of the podium last year but managed a top 10 day at fifth. Many are betting on him this year to make it four total, and at +850, you could do a lot worse.

That’s the thing about betting on racing and the like, the odds for everyone are high-value because the winner of the race is so hard to predict. Last year’s winner, Michael McDowell for example, entered the race with +6600 odds to win.

Chase Elliott is another tempting favorite after finishing second in last year’s race. But, up until then, he had finished 15th or worse in his five other trips to Daytona. Kyle Larson, the third favorite to win, is less intriguing to me despite winning 10 races last year and winning the playoffs. But he finished 10th at Daytona and never better than sixth there. 

Based on his history and recent close call, I am happy to take Hamlin here at +850 to go for four Daytona wins in a career and pull even with Cale Yarborough with four Daytona 500 wins. Richard Petty is untouchable at eight wins. I know betting the favorite is not the most exciting move, but I do think it holds a great amount of value. 

Predictions: Denny Hamlin +850 to win