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2024 Coke Zero Sugar 400 picks, bets, Daytona odds: NASCAR expert with 12 winners this year reveals picks
By CBS Sports Staff,
5 hours ago
Sean Gardner, Getty
Four playoff spots remain up for grabs with two races remaining on the NASCAR Cup Series regular-season schedule, including the 2024 Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday. At least two drivers will qualify for the postseason on points, and 2017 Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr. can become one of them as he needs 35 points at Daytona to lock up a berth. Meanwhile, Chris Buescher is 16 points above the cut line but hopes to secure a trip to the playoffs by repeating as the winner of this race. Tyler Reddick, who clinched a spot with his win at Talladega earlier this year, captured the checkered flag at Michigan last weekend, giving him multiple victories for the third straight season.
Buescher, Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski are 10-1 co-favorites in the latest 2024 Coke Zero Sugar 400 odds. Joey Logano is 12-1 and reigning Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney rounds out the top five 2024 NASCAR at Daytona contenders at 14-1. Sunday's race is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. ET. Before making any 2024 Coke Zero Sugar 400 picks or NASCAR predictions, you need to see what NASCAR insider Steven Taranto has to say .
Taranto, who moonlights as a sim racer and has 20 career wins in iRacing, is the lead NASCAR writer for CBSSports.com, and he chronicles stock car racing with the same thoroughness and passion that he's had since becoming a full-time race fan in 2001. He has an annual NASCAR medial credential and also publishes a popular weekly NASCAR predictions column, famously calling Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez's breakthrough wins in 2022.
Taranto has been red-hot for SportsLine in 2024, nailing 12 winners in his best bets -- including 16-1 longshot William Byron at the Daytona 500 and 14-1 longshot Chase Elliott at Texas. Anyone following his NASCAR picks has seen huge returns.
For the 2024 Coke Zero Sugar 400, Taranto is high on Ross Chastain, who is listed at 25-1. The 31-year-old Floridian has yet to capture a checkered flag this year after registering a pair of victories each of the previous two seasons. Chastain recorded four top-10 finishes over his first six starts of 2023 but has been 15th or worse in five of his last six outings, although he was fifth at Richmond two weeks ago.
Chastain hasn't enjoyed much success at Daytona during his Cup Series career, posting only three top-10s in 12 races. He has done well at the track in NASCAR's other series, however, recording top-10s in his final two Truck Series starts, while notching seven top-10s in 13 Xfinity Series appearances -- including a victory in 2019. Chastain is hoping to maintain his hold on one of the four available playoff berths as he is just one point ahead of Bubba Wallace for the 16th and final spot.
Another surprise: Taranto is fading Kyle Larson, who is listed at 18-1. The 2021 Cup Series champion tops all drivers with four wins this season and is among the leaders in both top-five and top-10 finishes with nine and 12, respectively. Prior to crashing out of last weekend's race at Michigan, Larson posted back-to-back top-10s, making his way to Victory Lane at Indianapolis and finishing seventh at Richmond.
Larson has registered 27 wins during his Cup Series career, including 21 over the last four seasons, but he has yet to capture a checkered flag at Daytona. In 20 starts at the track, the 32-year-old Californian has recorded just five top-10 finishes. Larson has been no better than 11th in his last six outings at the "World Center of Racing" and his best result there came in 2016, when he finished sixth in this race. See what other NASCAR picks he likes at SportsLine .
How to make 2024 Coke Zero Sugar 400 predictions
Taranto has also identified four other drivers in his 2024 NASCAR at Daytona best bets. He's also high on a huge NASCAR longshot who's going off at more than 75-1, potentially netting any backer a huge payday. You can only see who they are here.
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