Kevin Harvick is man to beat at Daytona Shootout

No sport has a shorter offseason than NASCAR, and the Sprint Cup boys unofficially open their season on Saturday night in Daytona with the Daytona Shootout, a non-points race that is a prelude to next Sunday’s season-opening Daytona 500.

And Kevin Harvick appears to clearly be the man to beat and he is the 15/2 favorite on Bodog. Harvick, who will be driving a new black and red car sponsored by Budweiser, has won the Shootout in each of the past two years and will attempt to become the first driver to win three consecutive Shootouts in the event’s history (since 1979). Other drivers who have scored back-to-back Budweiser Shootout wins include Neil Bonnet, Ken Schrader and Tony Stewart. Harvick, who led the Sprint Cup series in points before the Chase last year, has competed in six previous Budweiser Shootouts. He has two wins, four top fives and five top-10 finishes to his credit.

The Shootout might be more important this year than any other because it gives drivers their first chance to test the new surface at Daytona.

“Obviously the surface is going to be pretty exciting for everybody just for the fact that it’s really smooth, it’s got a lot of grip,” Harvick said. “They did a great job paving the racetrack. It’s going to be a little bit narrower than Talladega, so the chess match will still be the same. It should be the same exciting racing; you just don’t have to worry about the handling aspect of it for a while. Just put the speed in your car and play the game.”

Five times the winner of the Shootout has gone on to win the Daytona 500 the following weekend: Bobby Allison (1982), Bill Elliott (1987), Dale Jarrett (1996, 2000), and Jeff Gordon (1997). No driver has ever won the Budweiser Shootout, the Gatorade Duel, and the Daytona 500 in the same Speedweeks.

Once again, eligibility requirements for the Shootout have changed. Those in the field are: The 12 drivers who qualified for the 2010 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup; past NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champions; previous Budweiser Shootout winners; past Daytona 500 champions and previous July race winners at Daytona (Coke Zero 400, Pepsi 400 and Firecracker 400); NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rookie-of-the-year drivers from 2001-10.

In all, 30 drivers are eligible for this year’s non-points race at Daytona. However, 24 drivers have been listed on the preliminary entry list. Since 2009, the Budweiser Shootout has been divided into two segments, with the first at 25 laps and the second a 50-lap sprint to the finish. A 10-minute intermission is scheduled after the first segment, as teams can change tires, add fuel and make normal chassis adjustments to the car. All green-and-yellow flag laps count in both segments.

Here are all of Bodog’s odds:

Bill Elliott: 80/1

Bobby Labonte: 50/1

Carl Edwards: 14/1

Clint Bowyer: 16/1

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: 10/1

Denny Hamlin: 10/1

Derrike Cope: 100/1

Greg Biffle: 25/1

Jamie McMurray: 10/1

Jeff Burton: 20/1

Jeff Gordon: 11/1

Jimmie Johnson: 12/1

Joey Logano: 25/1

Juan Pablo Montoya: 20/1

Kasey Kahne: 25/1

Kevin Conway: 100/1

Kevin Harvick: 15/2

Kurt Busch: 8/1

Kyle Busch: 8/1

Mark Martin: 22/1

Matt Kenseth: 20/1

Michael Waltrip: 50/1

Regan Smith: 50/1

Ryan Newman: 22/1

Tony Stewart: 8/1

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