Dale Earnhardht Jr. will attempt to get past his 2009 struggles at a place he probably loves and loathes in equal portions. The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series has returned to Daytona International Speedway for the annual running of the Coke Zero 400. Junior, despite his troubles this year, is being listed as one the favorites to win today's race, coming in at 17/2 odds in Bodog.com's NASCAR Coke Zero 400 Betting Odds.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. has been more than a disappointment this season. The son of the "Intimidator" was expected to contend for a cup championship like his Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon are currently doing. Instead, the North Carolina native is languishing back at 19th in the standings with a total of 1764 points. Not only is he 760 points behind Tony Stewart, he is 286 points away from being in the Chase. However, there is still time for Junior to make a move, but he had better do it this weekend at Daytona.
Since Rick Hendrick decided to make a change at crew chief for the Earnhardt team, things have gradually started to get better. Earnhardt has finished inside the top 14 three times since placing 40th at the Coca-Cola 600 on May 25th, including a 13th place run last week in New Hampshire. He has a good opportunity to continue his improvement at Daytona, a place he has historically performed well at.
Even with his 27th place conclusion at the Daytona 500 in February, Earnhardt has produced an average finish of 14.6 in his last three races at the speedway. He ran eighth and ninth in the two races there last year and in 19 career outings at the track he has two wins, six top fives, and 11 top tens.
Earnhardt, whose last win came at Michigan in June of 2008, has 18 wins, 87 top fives, and 140 top tens in 344 career races. His ratios this season are far below his career totals as he has no wins, one top five, and three top tens in 17 races. However, his numbers at superspeedway tracks make him a contender today, regardless of what he has done this year. In 38 career outings at restrictor plate tracks, Junior has garnered seven wins, 14 top fives, and 22 top ten finishes.
Today's holiday race is set to get underway at 7:30pm ET. The event will be broadcast live on TNT.
Bodog.com NASCAR Coke Zero 400 Betting Odds: Dale Earnhardt Jr
To Win 17/2
Top Three 9/4 (Earnhardt has one top three finish this season)
Bodog.com Coke Zero 400 Betting Odds:
Tony Stewart 13/2
Kyle Busch 6/1
Jeff Gordon 8/1
Dale Earnhardt Jr. 17/2
Jimmie Johnson 9/1
Carl Edwards 13/1
Kurt Busch 13/1
Denny Hamlin 14/1
Mark Martin 15/1
Matt Kenseth 16/1
Ryan Newman 20/1
