Greg and Eric picked up big wins last weekend in the sense that Eric essentially broke even but Greg winning an astounding $420 off Ryan Blaney’s late race victory in Michigan. CJ had 3-5-7-8-9 but fell to -$984 and falls behind Greg now on the season.
Greg had 1-4-6-14-15-16 in scoring his sixth win of the season.
Eric got his 13th win in getting 1-3-6-7-8-10-13-15-29.
Now, it’s to Daytona for the Coke Zero Sugar 400 (7 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN). It’s a race that could literally go to anyone. Just look at the last few winners of this race. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. earned his second career win in 2017. Erik Jones, Justin Haley and William Byron each won their first career wins in the last three years. Do we see another fluke winner?
Eight drivers below the cutline have never won a Cup race before.
Matt DiBenedetto is winless and was 12th in this race last year but just 33rd in the Daytona 500. He did lead the most laps in the 2019 Daytona 500 though and was seventh and eighth respectively with Go Fas Racing in this very race in 2017 and 2018.
Ross Chastain is winless in Cup but the Florida native did win an Xfinity Series race here in 2019 and was seventh back in February.
Bubba Wallace was fifth in this very race a year ago and had a really fast race car in February.
Ryan Preece had a top six in his Duel in February to race his way in, was second in the first stage and sixth in the Daytona 500.
Corey LaJoie has three top 10 finishes in his last four Daytona starts including a ninth place run in February.
I’d watch out for them. But, they’re not the only ones.
Chris Buescher, has one career Cup win but does have five top 10 finishes in his last eight Daytona tries including three of those being in the top five.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Erik Jones are each past winners of this event and do some their best work on superspeedway’s.
Ryan Newman is a past Daytona 500 champion and has five top 10 finishes in his last eight Daytona starts.
You also have the “Big 3” teams that have won the last seven Busch Clashes on the oval. They’ve won 16 of the last 18 Duels, six of the last nine Daytona 500’s and five of the last eight Coke Zero Sugar 400’s.
But, they went winless in February. SHR and RCR won the Duels with Front Row Motorsports winning the ‘500. But, factor in SHR and RCR into this and you still get 9-for-9 in the Clash, 18-for-18 in Duels, 8-for-9 in the ‘500 and 5-for-8 in the ‘400 since 2013.
That’s 37-for-40.
Denny Hamlin has won 3 of the last 5 Daytona 500’s but has no ‘400 wins to his credit.
Chase Elliott has never won at Daytona but was runner-up in each of the last two points paying races there though too.
William Byron is the defending race winner.
Michael McDowell won the Daytona 500 but just twice since 1982 has someone swept both Daytona races in the same year. But, he was also runner-up at Talladega back in April too.
Team Penske could have went 1-2 in February but crashed out while fighting for the win on the final lap in Turn 3. Brad Keselowski made up for it via a win in Talladega this spring.
Blaney, won the Talladega Fall race in 2019 and spring race in 2020. He was runner-up in the 2020 Daytona 500 and sixth in the 2020 Coke Zero Sugar 400. I like this chances. He’s also riding a wave of momentum off of a win last week and four top five finishes in his last five starts.
Logano, has four points paying superspeedway wins. He won his Duel at Daytona back in February of 2020. He also has six top four finishes since 2013.
Who did we pick? Well find out below.
Race Odds
7-1…D Hamlin
11-1…K Larson
12-1…W Byron, C Elliott and J Logano
13-1…R Blaney
15-1…A Dillon
16-1…Kyle B and B Keselowski
18-1…A Bowman
20-1…A Almirola, C Bell and K Harvick
22-1…R Stenhouse Jr. and M DiBenedetto
25-1…M Truex Jr. and B Wallace Jr.
28-1…Kurt B
30-1…R Newman and T Reddick
35-1…R Chastain and M McDowell
40-1…C Briscoe, C Buescher, C Custer and D Suarez
50-1…K Grala, E Jones and R Preece
60-1…C LaJoie
COKE ZERO SUGAR 400: RACE 26 PICKS
Eric Smith
D Hamlin…7-1…$15 ($105)
W Byron…12-1…$9 ($108)
C Elliott…12-1…$9 ($108)
J Logano…12-1…$9 ($108)
R Blaney…13-1…$9 ($117)
A Dillon…15-1…$7 ($105)
B Keselowski…16-1…$7 ($112)
R Stenhouse Jr…22-1…$5 ($110)
M DiBenedetto…22-1…$7 ($154)
B Wallace…25-1…$5 ($125)
T Reddick…30-1…$4 ($120)
R Chastain…35-1…$3 ($105)
C Briscoe…40-1…$3 ($120)
D Suarez…40-1…$3 ($120)
R Preece…50-1…$3 ($150)
C Lajoie…60-1…$3 ($120)
RECORD: 13 for 25
TOTAL: -556
COKE ZERO SUGAR 400: RACE 26 PICKS
Greg DePalma
D Hamlin…7-1…$50 ($350)
W Byron…12-1…$16 ($192)
R Stenhouse Jr…22-1…$9 ($198)
M DiBenedetto…22-1…$18 ($396)
Kurt B…28-1…$7 ($196)
RECORD: 6 for 25
TOTAL: -929
COKE ZERO SUGAR 400: RACE 26 PICKS
CJ Radune
D Hamlin…7-1…$17 ($119)
W Byron…12-1…$10 ($120)
C Elliott…12-1…$10 ($120)
J Logano…12-1…$10 ($120)
A Dillon…15-1…$8 ($120)
B Keselowski…16-1…$8 ($128)
A Bowman…18-1…$8 ($144)
C Bell…20-1…$6 ($120)
R Stenhouse Jr…22-1…$6 ($132)
M DiBenedetto…22-1…$6 ($132)
B Wallace…25-1…$6 ($150)
T Reddick…30-1…$5 ($150)
RECORD: 11 for 25
TOTAL: -984
Weekly Race Points Standings
Week 24 Michigan
1 Eric +5/-556
2 Greg +350/-929
3 CJ -100/-984
WEEKLY PICKS ARCHIVES
FIREKEEPERS CASINO 400: RACE 25 PICKS
FIREKEEPERS CASINO 400WINNER: RYAN BLANEY
Eric Smith
K Larson…3-1…$40 ($120) …3rd
Kyle B…7-1…$15 ($105) …7th
C Elliott…7-1…$15 ($105) …8th
M Truex Jr…8-1…$13 ($104) …10th
R Blaney…14-1…$7 ($98) …1st
C Bell…25-1…$4 ($100) …13th
T Reddick…40-1…$3 ($120) …29th
M DiBenedetto…80-1…$2 ($160) …6th
C Buescher…125-1…$1 ($125) …15th
RECORD: 1 for 1
TOTAL: +5
FIREKEEPERS CASINO 400: RACE 25 PICKS
CJ Radune
K Larson…3-1…$38 ($114) …3rd
Kyle B…7-1…$17 ($119) …7th
C Elliott…7-1…$17 ($119) …8th
D Hamlin…9-1…$15 ($135) …5th
B Keselowski…12-1…$13 ($156) …9th
RECORD: 0 for 1
TOTAL: -100
FIREKEEPERS CASINO 400: RACE 25 PICKS
Greg DePalma
K Harvick…7-1…$40 ($280) …14th
R Blaney…14-1…$30 ($420) …1st
A Bowman…20-1…$10 ($200) …16th
Kurt B…25-1…$10 ($250) …4th
M DiBenedetto…80-1…$6 ($480) …6th
C Buescher…125-1…$4 ($500) …15th
RECORD: 1 for 1
TOTAL: +350
