We're more than a month past crowning Ryan Blaney as the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion, but betting on motorsports is a year-round adventure that doesn't stop.
Daytona 500 odds came out right after the season ended, and now that more books have released odds, I've found two drivers that I'm jumping on right now for a multitude of reasons to kick off the 2024 NASCAR season.
Let's dive in.
2024 NASCAR Daytona 500 Picks
*Daytona 500 odds as of Dec. 5
Caesars, DraftKings, BetMGM, bet365 and BetRivers are among the sportsbooks to have released 2024 Daytona 500 odds.
However, SuperBook stands out as having some favorable prices on Erik Jones and Austin Dillon when compared to the rest of these books.
For Jones, only BetMGM has the +4000 line available that SuperBook has while only SuperBook is offering +6000 odds on Dillon.
The next-best number available on Dillon is +4500 at BetRivers, and while I do have value on that, if you have SuperBook available to you, the 60-1 number is excellent value.
While I have yet to run my 2024 Daytona 500 model, I do have my model results for every superspeedway race at Daytona and Talladega in the Next Gen era.
Both Jones and Dillon have shown value at these numbers in every single one of the eight races at these tracks over that span.
The Daytona 500 is exceptionally valuable because these races come down to every driver for themselves in the end.
With such an aggressive mindset among the field of drivers attempting to win the biggest race the sport offers, the extra wrecks and selfishness add an extra element of randomness that brings longer shots into play.
And I'm not even sure Jones and Dillon should be long shots.
Dillon has two career superspeedway wins, including one Daytona 500. Jones has one superspeedway win, the Daytona summer race in 2018 while driving for Joe Gibbs Racing.
Dillon DNF'd all four superspeedway races last year, but in 2022 he had a win and a runner-up finish in two of the four superspeedway races.
Jones, meanwhile, has been one of the best drivers in the Next Gen era, ranking inside the top 10 in laps led, driver rating and average running position.
It's also possible his Legacy Motor Club team's move to Toyota will provide an upgrade in performance over last year as the mid-pack team got lost in the shuffle of Chevys, headlined by Hendrick Motorsports, Trackhouse Racing and Richard Childress Racing.
We're getting two drivers with proven results at superspeedways in solid equipment at odds equal to, or longer than, the average car. It's time to fire my first two bets of the 2024 season – before we even ring in the new year.
The Bets: Erik Jones +4000 (bet to +3000) | Austin Dillon +6000 bet to (+4000)
Are you in North Carolina? With North Carolina sports betting coming online in 2024, you’ll be able to bet legally at major sportsbooks. Learn more.
