Point Spreads - NCAA, Final Four, College Basketball, NBA, MLB, World Series, NFL, College Football, BCS & Super Bowl Point Spreads

If you have never bet on auto racing in the past but follow and understand the sport, it is like betting on golf. Typically a sportsbook will list up to 30 individual drivers along with a field option (all others), at various odds. 

Bet on the biggest race of the year "the Daytona 500" at Bodog.com

You might want to check a variety of sportsbooks for the best betting options. Bodog.com offers odds to win with the basic lineup and field where Nine.com offers odds to win along with match-up odds and Top-5 finish odds. I advise that you shop around for the best offerings. 

The favorite driver to win the 2007 Daytona 500 is Tony Stewart with 3/2 odds at Bodog.com, 3/1 at Nine.com and +400 money line odds at Sportbet.com. 

Stewart has never won the big race, NASCAR’s version of the Super Bowl, after eight tries. Stewart won his 9^th and 10^th race at the track by taking the Budweiser Shoot-Out last Sunday and one of the Dual 150-mile qualifying races on Thursday. Stewart’s previous best finish in the 500 was fourth in 2004. 

I look for a slight upset in Daytona this year and am pulling for someone out of the Ginn Racing team to pull off an upset. Mark Martin at 75/1 odds will join teammates Joe Nemechek (150/1) and Sterling Marlin (field 25/1) when the green flag drops. 

Martin, known as “Mister Consistent”, has never won the big race and with his career winding down is due. Martin, with Roush Racing since 1987, has 35 career NASCAR cup wins and has finished second in the Nextel Cup Series points standings four times. However, after 19 years of racing for Jack Roush, he has never been able to capture the championship or the Daytona 500. 

Martin had a nice run in his new car the 01 US ARMY Racing Chevrolet on Thursday finishing 14^th in one of the Dual 150 qualifying races. 

“I’m ready for the 500,” said Martin after climbing out of his US Army Chevrolet following Thursday’s qualifying race. “Now we are all getting primed for Sunday. That’s what it’s all about here and we want to make our soldiers proud of their car.” 

Robert Yates Racing owns the starting front row with David Gilliland (20/1) in the Pole Position accompanied by second place qualifier Ricky Rudd. Interestingly enough, Rudd, the veteran driver from Chesapeake, Virginia is not listed as a race favorite. 

If you like to bet on former winners, there are six vying for another win on the super speedway in Jeff Gordon (7/1), Dale Earnhardt Jr., (7/1), Jimmy Johnson (7/1), Dale Jarrett (25/1), Ward Burton (25/1), Michael Waltrip (200/1) and Sterling Marlin (field). Waltrip, Marlin and Jarrett have won the race twice while Gordon has visited the winners circle three times. 

Betting the Daytona 500 is fun because its winner can sometimes be a surprise and the win often goes to an underdog. Dale Earnhardt Sr. was the most dominant driver on the NASCAR scene for many years but it took him 20 tries to win the Daytona 500.  On the other hand, Derrike Cope was a driver often driving an under funded car but that didn’t stop him from winning the race in 1990. 

Michael Waltrip had never won a points race on the Nextel Circuit until winning the 2001 Daytona 500 while driving for the Dale Earnhardt team. Unfortunately, the 2001 race is the same race the senior Earnhardt lost his life. Waltrip then came back and won the Daytona 500 two years later in 2003. 

On a closing note, Waltrip might not be a bad bet at 200/1 in his Toyota Camry. Waltrip has demonstrated his ability to win at Daytona and a $10 bet would put a couple of thousand in your pocket at those odds. Good Luck!

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