NASCAR will convene at Daytona, the World Center of Racing, this weekend for the penultimate race of the 2024 Cup Series regular season. The fixture will make a giant leap towards finalizing the 16-driver playoff field and funneling the best of the best toward the Championship 4 in Phoenix. The race will be accompanied by attractive monetary rewards that are bound to give drivers an extra push.
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Fox Sports’ Bob Pockrass reported on his X handle that the premier tier field will get to share $9,193,568 between itself based on factors such as finishing position, charter payouts, historical performance, and so on. This is a figure higher than what was affixed for many major races this year and rightly so. The show doesn’t get bigger anywhere than at the Daytona International Speedway.
The Xfinity Series will be traveling to the venue alongside its superior counterpart. The purse for the secondary series has been valued at $1,886,123. JR Motorsports driver Justin Allgaier won the previous race at Michigan and currently sits second on the points table. The 2023 champion Cole Custer leads the field looking beautifully set to defend his title.
Another step down the ladder, the Craftsman Truck Series has a race scheduled for the weekend as well. But it will be over a thousand miles away from Daytona at the Milwaukee Mile for its postseason event. Truck drivers will get to share a purse of $672,572 for their efforts. 22-year-old Corey Heim has the controller in his hands at the top of the table with five wins already.
The favorites to win the Cup Series race at Daytona
Drivers at the top of the points table in the Cup Series are in a battle to win the regular season championship. This includes Tyler Reddick, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson, and Chase Elliott. Near the elimination line, the likes of Chris Buescher and Bubba Wallace are holding for dear life hoping to qualify on points. Here are the top favorites to win on Saturday according to DraftKings Sportsbook.
With odds of 11-1, Hamlin has found perfect chemistry with the betting circle. The event’s defending winner Buescher comes next to him with odds of 12-1. His teammate Brad Keselowski is third, with the same odds as him. A surprise entrant on the list is Kyle Busch. His performance at Michigan appears to have turned around the outlook fans have on him and he has winning odds of 12-1 as well.
Hendrick Motorsports star Chase Elliott rounds off the top five favorites with odds of 14-1. Wallace, William Byron, Ryan Blaney, and Joey Logano are other drivers pegged for the win. The biggest challenge at Daytona is the unpredictable nature of racing. One can never be too sure at which corner an accident is lurking, so fate and luck will play big roles during the race.
