One of the best — and most underrated — sports betting weekends (including Monday) is upon us, including the Divisional Round of the NFL playoffs and the college football National Championship game.
And while the 2020 Daytona 500 is still more than a month away, odds for this year's edition of the Great American Race are now available at most sportsbooks, providing NASCAR bettors the opportunity to lock in early value, especially with longshots.
I've already grabbed two early Daytona 500 bets, and am ready to add one more right now before the market corrects and odds are adjusted.
Here's my latest Daytona 500 longshot bet, as well as my updated betting card for NASCAR's biggest race.
Odds as of Jan. 10 and via FanDuel, where Action Network users get a risk-free bet up to $500.
2020 Daytona 500 NASCAR Betting Pick
Betting comes at you fast. On Thursday, news broke that Ross Chastain will run the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Cup Series car, one that will be prepared by Chip Ganassi Racing, in the Daytona 500
This provided immense betting value for Chastain, who was 140-1 at FanDuel, and we took advantage of that price, which now sits at 65-1.
But prior to Chastain, I had another driver in mind as my favorite Daytona 500 longshot bet, one that I'm snagging right now.
Similar to Chastain, offseason news regarding Corey LaJoie's team, Go Fas Racing, piqued my already warm interest in betting the driver of the No. 32 Ford for Daytona.
To start, LaJoie showed plenty of promise at the superspeedways in 2019, especially those running the current package used at Daytona and Talladega.
In those three races last season, Corey's average finish of 8.0 ranked third-best in the series. Not bad.
Still, LaJoie's average running position (24.7) in those events was tied for just 28th best, but that does make sense considering his equipment.
Go Fas Racing is a single-car team, meaning he has no other drivers specifically looking to work with him in the draft, which is very important at superspeedway races.
And let's not beat around the bush, Go Fas' equipment was in the bottom tier of the series last year and not particularly capable of running up front with the leaders all race, so LaJoie did all he could at superspeedways — run toward the back for most of the race, avoid wrecks, then snag a good finish by making a late run as laps wound down.
LaJoie made the most of his car at superspeedways in 2019, and there is help on the way this season.
Go Fas Racing will enter a technical alliance with Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), starting with the 2020 Daytona 500.
SHR is one of the Cup Series' powerhouse teams, fielding cars for Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer, Aric Almirola and rookie Cole Custer.
This is a huge boost to Go Fas Racing, which will now receive chassis, data and technical support from SHR, for two reasons:
First, and the most obvious, is that Go Fas will have much-improved equipment this season compared to last, which will certainly level the playing field some between LaJoie and the top cars at Daytona.
And second, LaJoie now has "teammates" to run with in the draft. While not a traditional SHR car, those four SHR drivers will be more willing to work specifically with LaJoie now, especially as the checkered flag approaches.
In a perfect world, I'd prefer to take LaJoie in a top-10 prop instead of an outright winner, so this is a small bet for me, especially compared to how much I have on Chastain despite similar odds.
However, props like top-10s are extremely inconsistent from season to season, and frankly, even from race to race.
With this in mind, let's sprinkle some on LaJoie now, then circle back closer to raceday should books decide to offer props as well.
At the time of writing, very few shops have enough drivers listed to include LaJoie. This means he's included in the "field" option at most sportsbooks offering Daytona 500 odds.
There is no value in betting him as part of the "field," which, for example, is 18-1 at the Westgate SuperBook in Las Vegas.
As a result, I'm placing a small wager on LaJoie 160-1 at FanDuel now and looking to add more via Daytona 500 props closer to raceday.
The Bet: Corey LaJoie (160-1) to Win the Daytona 500[In New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Indiana or West Virginia? Bet LaJoie now at FanDuel]
Updated Daytona 500 Betting Card:
- Chris Buescher (75-1) to win
- Ross Chastain (140-1) to win
- Corey LaJoie (160-1) to win
