The Great American Race is finally here! After months of waiting, the boys of NASCAR are finally back, and today, we’re going to be taking a look at the 2013 Daytona 500 odds and making our Daytona 500 race predictions and picks for what should be a remarkable start to the 2013 season.

The driver that everyone is going to be chasing after from the get go is the polarizing Danica Patrick (Current Daytona 500 Odds: 18 to 1 at Bovada Sportsbook). Love her or hate her, Patrick is going to be on the pole for the 500, and she is surely to be a fierce competitor. We have seen her win at the Indy Car level before, but never here with the big boys in the Sprint Cup. Patrick is the first woman to ever start on the pole for the Daytona 500, and she is trying to become the first woman to win it, too. Winning this race in her rookie season would be just about as shocking as when Trevor Bayne won the 2011 Daytona 500. It’s been tough to win from the pole at Daytona in the past, but at least Patrick knows that she is going to be leading all of the boys to the start/finish line on Sunday afternoon in the Great American Race, which is a heck of a lot better than where she could have been starting, if she had even qualified at all.

2013 Daytona 500 Picks & Info
2013 Daytona 500 Date/Time: Sunday, February 24th, 2013, 1:30 (ET)
2013 Daytona 500 Location: Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, FL
2013 Daytona 500 TV/Broadcast Coverage – Network: FOX

Last year’s champ of the 500 was Matt Kenseth (Current Daytona 500 Odds: 10 to 1 at 5 Dimes Sportsbook). Kenseth has had a great career here at Daytona, and he has already showed well at the Sprint Unlimited last weekend. He led 26 of the 75 laps, finishing in fifth place amongst the 19 drivers in the field. Kenseth has a pair of victories and a Budweiser Shootout victory to his name as well, and he is going to be a driver to watch for sure on the high banks of Daytona come Sunday afternoon for the Great American Race. Of course, do be aware that Kenseth only has an average finish of 19.8 in his 13 career 500s, but those two wins definitely speak loudly, especially since they have come in the last four years.

List Of Past Daytona 500 Winners (Since 2000)
2012 Daytona 500 Winner – Matt Kenseth (2)
2011 Daytona 500 Winner – Trevor Bayne
2010 Daytona 500 Winner – Jamie McMurray
2009 Daytona 500 Winner – Matt Kenseth
2008 Daytona 500 Winner – Ryan Newman
2007 Daytona 500 Winner – Kevin Harvick
2006 Daytona 500 Winner – Jimmie Johnson
2005 Daytona 500 Winner – Jeff Gordon (3)
2004 Daytona 500 Winner – Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
2003 Daytona 500 Winner – Michael Waltrip (2)
2002 Daytona 500 Winner – Ward Burton
2001 Daytona 500 Winner – Michael Waltrip
2000 Daytona 500 Winner – Dale Jarrett (3)

The one man that we haven’t spoken yet is the man that is favored to win the Daytona 500, Tony Stewart (Odds to Win the Daytona 500: 9 to 1 at Bovada Sportsbook). Stewart has never won the Great American Race, but he has come close on a number of instances. He has three Top 5 finishes and six Top 10s with an average finishing position of 17.9. Though none of that is particularly inviting, what does become interesting about Stewart is that he has won the Coke Zero 400 four times and has five Top 5 finishes. There really should be nothing all that different about the way the 400 is run from the 500 here at Daytona, save for the fact that it is later in the season and is a night race. The time might be here for the first owner/driver to get a win in the daylight at the Daytona 500.

1: #18 Danica Patrick
2: #24 Jeff Gordon
3: #29 Kevin Harvick
4: #4 Kyle Busch
5: #16 Greg Biffle
6: #5 Kasey Kahne
7: #42 Juan Pablo Montoya
8: #33 Austin Dillon
9: #48 Jimmy Johnson
10: #15 Clint Bowyer
11: #78 Kurt Busch
12: #20 Matt Kenseth
13: #14 Tony Stewart
14: #55 Mark Martin
15: #2 Brad Keselowski
16: #27 Paul Menard
17: #13 Casey Mears
18: #31 Jeff Burton
19: #88 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
20: #1 Jamie McMurray
21: #22 Joey Logano
22: #34 David Ragan
23: #47 Bobby Labonte
24: #9 Marcos Ambrose
25: #38 David Gilliland
26: #43 Aric Almirola
27: #87 Joe Nemechek
28: #17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
29: #26 Michael Waltrip
30: #7 Dave Blaney
31: #95 Scott Speed
32: #35 Josh Wise
33: #21 Trevor Bayne
34: #39 Ryan Newman
35: #11 Denny Hamlin
36: #99 Carl Edwards
37: #56 Martin Truex Jr.
38: #98 Michael McDowell
39: #32 Terry Labonte
40: #51 Regan Smith
41: #36 JJ Yeley
42: #83 David Reutimann
43: #93 Travis Kvapil

And then there’s the man that has a huge bone to pick after last year’s race, Jimmy Johnson (Current Daytona 500 Gambling Odds: 15 to 1 at 5Dimes Sportsbook). Johnson was wrecked on the second lap of last year’s Daytona 500, and as a result, he finished 42nd. It was one of the six DNFs that Johnson had last year, but it certainly wasn’t the trend for the whole season. Remember that JJ also had five wins, which is why he is back in the saddle as the favorite to win the Sprint Cup this season. Johnson came back to Daytona last season and had another DNF, finishing 36th at the Coke Zero 400, and you can bet that he wants to leave a lot better impression on his fans here at Daytona this season than he did last season. Don’t count out the idea of the No. 48 driving into Victory Lane on Sunday.

2013 Daytona 500 Odds Courtesy of 5 Dimes Sportsbook (as of 2/24/13):
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Kyle Busch 9 to 1
Matt Kenseth 9.50 to 1
Kevin Harvick 10.50 to 1
Tony Stewart 11 to 1
Jeff Gordon 13 to 1
Dale Earnhardt Jr. 13 to 1
Jimmie Johnson 14 to 1
Greg Biffle 14 to 1
Brad Keselowski 14.50 to 1
Denny Hamlin 16 to 1
Clint Bowyer 20 to 1
Jamie McMurray 20 to 1
Danica Patrick 20 to 1
Carl Edwards 23 to 1
Joey Logano 23 to 1
Martin Truex Jr. 30 to 1
Ryan Newman 33 to 1
Jeff Burton 33 to 1
Juan Pablo Montoya 33 to 1
Mark Martin 40 to 1
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 50 to 1
Paul Menard 80 to 1
Marcos Ambrose 100 to 1
Michael Waltrip 100 to 1
Trevor Bayne 100 to 1
Austin Dillon 125 to 1
Regan Smith 125 to 1
Aric Almirola 160 to 1
David Ragan 185 to 1
David Reutimann 185 to 1
Casey Mears 225 to 1
Bobby Labonte 225 to 1
Joe Nemechek 225 to 1
Scott Speed 225 to 1
Terry Labonte 225 to 1
JJ Yeley 225 to 1
Travis Kvapil 225 to 1
David Gilliland 275 to 1
Dave Blaney 275 to 1
Josh Wise 275 to 1
Michael McDowell 275 to 1

Daytona 500 Prop Bets & Matchups Courtesy of 5 Dimes Sportsbook (as of 2/24/13):
(Get a HUGE 50% Bonus at 5 Dimes When Using This Link)
Winning Car Number Over 10.5 -560
Winning Car Number Under 10.5 +430

Winning Car Number Odds +155
Winning Car Number Event -175

Top 8 Driver Wins Daytona 500 -115
Bottom 35 Driver Wins Daytona 500 -105

Top 13 Driver Wins Daytona 500 -290
Bottom 30 Driver Wins Daytona 500 +245

Top 22 Driver Wins Daytona 500 -1800
Bottom 21 Driver Wins Daytona 500 +1150

Matt Kenseth Finishing Position Over 10.5 -120
Matt Kenseth Finishing Position Under 10.5 -110

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Finishing Position Over 12.5 +110
Dale Earnhardt Jr. Finishing Position Under 12.5 -140

Kyle Busch Finishing Position Over 12.5 +115
Kyle Busch Finishing Position Under 12.5 -145

Kevin Harvick Finishing Position Over 12.5 +140
Kevin Harvick Finishing Position Under 12.5 -170

Jeff Gordon Finishing Position Over 12.5 -115
Jeff Gordon Finishing Position Under 12.5 -115

Brad Keselowski Finishing Position Over 12.5 -125
Brad Keselowski Finishing Position Under 12.5 -105

Carl Edwards Finishing Position Over 14.5 -145
Carl Edwards Finishing Position Under 14.5 +115

Danica Patrick Finishing Position Over 22.5 -130
Danica Patrick Finishing Position Under 22.5 +100

Odds to Win 2013 Daytona 500 @ Bovada Sportsbook (as of 2/24/13):
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Tony Stewart 17 to 2
Kevin Harvick 9 to 1
Dale Earnhardt Jr. 10 to 1
Jeff Gordon 10 to 1
Kyle Busch 11 to 1
Matt Kenseth 11 to 1
Jimmie Johnson 14 to 1
Brad Keselowski 15 to 1
Kasey Kahne 15 to 1
Denny Hamlin 16 to 1
Greg Biffle 16 to 1
Danica Patrick 18 to 1
Clint Bowyer 20 to 1
Carl Edwards 22 to 1
Jamie McMurray 30 to 1
Jeff Burton 30 to 1
Joey Logano 30 to 1
Martin Truex Jr. 30 to 1
Ryan Newman 33 to 1
Austin Dillon 40 to 1
Juan Pablo Montoya 40 to 1
Kurt Busch 40 to 1
Mark Martin 40 to 1
Paul Menard 45 to 1
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 45 to 1
Trevor Bayne 45 to 1
Marcos Ambrose 60 to 1
Michael Waltrip 66 to 1
Aric Almirola 80 to 1
Casey Mears 100 to 1
David Ragan 100 to 1
David Reutimann 100 to 1
Regan Smith 100 to 1
Bobby Labonte 150 to 1
Terry Labonte 150 to 1
David Blaney 200 to 1
David Gilliland 200 to 1
JJ Yeley 200 to 1
Joe Nemechek 200 to 1
Josh Wise 200 to 1
Michael McDowell 200 to 1
Scott Speed 200 to 1
Travis Kvapil 200 to 1