The 2011 Daytona 500 odds still have Kevin Harvick as the favorite, but Dale Earnhardt, Jr. is gaining momentum.

We’ve been tracking the NASCAR odds for the 2011 Daytona 500 throughout the week and it seemed like a good time to update everyone with only a few days before the race gets underway.  2007 Daytona 500 winner Kevin Harvick is the current race favorite at 7/1 odds despite the fact that he was a disappointment in the Budweiser Shootout a week ago.  Despite being listed as the favorite to win that race, Harvick ran into trouble and ended up taking home a 7^th place finish.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was even more of a letdown in the Budweiser Shootout (failed to finish, only 27 laps completed) but that hasn’t stopped his odds in the 2011 Daytona 500  from improving to 9/1 after he was being listed as 12/1 a couple of days ago.  Earnhardt, Jr. won his 2^nd straight Daytona 500 pole and will try to improve on his 2^nd place finish to Jamie McMurray in the 2010 edition of this race. 

Speaking of McMurray, last year’s Daytona 500 winner remains steady at 10/1 odds to pull off the repeat on February 20^th.  Although his 2^nd place finish in the Budweiser Shootout indicates his car is running well, his 27^th place finish in the 2011 Daytona 500 qualifying may seem to indicate that he could struggle on this track.  There hasn’t been a back-to-back Daytona 500 winner since Sterling Marlin won in 1994 and 1995, so banking on McMurray to win this year is not a strong bet historically. 

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Jeff Gordon has won this race in 1997, 1999, and 2005, and there appears to be some value in betting on the other half of the Hendricks Motorsports team that will be starting on the front line of the 2011 Daytona 500.  Gordon was not only impressive in qualifying but he also put up a strong 6^th place showing in the season-opening Budweiser Shootout.  Gordon’s 2011 Daytona 500 odds sit at 10/1 and seem like a nice bet to make when you couple in the strong recent showing with the proven results from the past.

Ryan Newman is a long shot at 30/1 odds but his chances to win the Daytona 500 are not that far off from what I see with Gordon.  Newman is a previous Daytona 500 winner (2008), finished well in qualifying (7^th), and put up a nice race in the Budweiser Shootout (3^rd).  From a purely value betting standpoint, this Stewart-Haas Racing star stands above the pack.

A 3^rd value bet that I’ve found would be taking Greg Biffle at 30/1 odds to win the 2011 Daytona 500.  Biffle has never won this race but he’s been running stronger than these long odds seem to indicate.  He followed up his 5^th place finish in the Budweiser Shootout with a 9^th place run during Daytona 500 qualifying.  Biffle’s first career Sprint Cup win came on this Daytona track (2003 Pepsi 400) and he’s also shown an affinity for the track after earning the Daytona 500 pole in 2004. 

2011 Daytona 500 Odds:

Kevin Harvick 7/1
Tony Stewart 9/1
Kyle Busch 9/1
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 9/1
Jamie McMurray 10/1
Jeff Gordon 10/1
Denny Hamlin 10/1
Carl Edwards 10/1
Jimmie Johnson 12/1
Clint Bowyer 12/1
Kurt Busch 12/1
Juan Pablo Montoya 20/1
Mark Martin 25/1
Joey Logano 25/1
Jeff Burton 25/1
Ryan Newman 30/1
Matt Kenseth 30/1
Greg Biffle 30/1
David Reutimann 30/1
Brian Vickers 40/1
Kasey Kahne 40/1
Martin Truex, Jr. 40/1
Brad Keselowski 40/1
Field (Any Other) 17/1

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