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00:00Welcome back to NewsWire.
00:01So this is the most transparent I could ever be
00:04with you here on NewsWire.
00:05So I'm watching the Super Bowl last Sunday,
00:08and they show a commercial for the upcoming Daytona 500.
00:13Immediately, I think, all right, got to fire up Jim Santos
00:16and get him back on the show.
00:17It's been a while.
00:18And now we got Jim back.
00:19Always, always so good to us, making appearances here.
00:23So versatile.
00:24I know we're going to get good plays coming up
00:26this weekend, Daytona 500.
00:28We had to do it, Jim.
00:29Thanks again for coming on.
00:30I know it's a busy day, Valentine's Day
00:32and everything else.
00:32Appreciate the time.
00:34Yeah, it's a delight to be here.
00:35Always love talking some NASCAR with you, Craig.
00:37So it's been a while.
00:38How you been?
00:40Man, I am doing great.
00:41You know, when football season ends,
00:43it means baseball season's coming.
00:44So that's awesome for me.
00:46But in the interim, you know, we got some things to settle.
00:49Some NASCAR, some golf, some NCAA tournament.
00:52But let's start off with the Daytona 500.
00:54I know that that is the big betting event this weekend.
00:57And of course, I saw a lot of changes here.
00:59And the first thing I want to do is
01:01actually go over that with you.
01:03Did I see that Helio Castroneves is racing the Daytona 500,
01:08and there are 41 cars this year?
01:10Like, how did that happen?
01:12I didn't even know that this was going on.
01:14So it started a couple of years ago.
01:16Helio was running in, like, a different series called SRX,
01:19which I believe is now defunct.
01:20And he won a race there.
01:21And like, kind of like the deal was, he said, OK,
01:24if I win an oval race in SRX, I need
01:26someone to give me a Daytona 500 ride.
01:28And it didn't happen last year.
01:29But Trackhouse is giving him a ride for this year.
01:32And they were the ones that gave Shane Van Gisbergen
01:34the ride for the Chicago Street Race a couple of years ago
01:36when he won.
01:37So it's a good team.
01:38And Helio comes in.
01:40He runs the dual race last night.
01:42And, you know, partly bad luck, but also partly,
01:47you know, inexperience.
01:49Got involved in a crash in last night's race.
01:51So didn't get a lot of on-track time, unfortunately.
01:54But, yeah, Helio Castro Neves, an 8500 champion,
01:58running the Daytona 500.
01:59We had Travis Pastrana in the field a couple of years ago.
02:02That was pretty fun, too.
02:03Jimmy Johnson's back.
02:04Martin Truex Jr. coming out of a retirement,
02:07even though he never actually stopped racing.
02:09So it's a pretty fun and weird field this year.
02:11Yeah.
02:13Yeah, definitely so.
02:1441 drivers this year in cars.
02:17And, you know, I think if we go back
02:19and we take a look at who won last year,
02:21it was a little bit of a surprise
02:22that William Byron ended up winning.
02:24Ricky Stenhouse won in 23.
02:26Cendric in 22.
02:27McDowell in 21.
02:29And, you know, from doing my bit of research,
02:32it feels like a lot of people are backing the 2020 winner,
02:36Denny Hamlin, this time around on Sunday.
02:39So I'll turn it over to you and tell me if that's accurate.
02:41Yeah, I mean, Denny's always a guy
02:43you can turn towards on the super speedway
02:45because he's proven he can be a winner at this track
02:48and he gets the job done when it matters.
02:49I actually, personally, Craig,
02:51like a guy who was also on that list,
02:53a former Daytona 500 champion in Austin Cendric.
02:55Now he's 24 to one to win at FanDuel Sportsbook.
02:58And I'm honestly surprised he's still there
03:01because I liked that on Wednesday before qualifying
03:04and then Cendric went out and qualified second.
03:05So he got his spot locked in for the 500.
03:08He didn't do anything last night in the dual race,
03:10but he still won the dual race anyway,
03:12basically just for funsies.
03:14And that's pretty fun.
03:16And yet he's still there 24 to one to win this race.
03:19Cendric is a guy driving for Team Penske
03:21who has always been really, really good
03:24on the super speedways.
03:25Of course, won that 2022 Daytona 500,
03:27his first race as a full-time driver in the Cup Series.
03:30He had a podium later that year at Daytona as well,
03:33I believe in last year, there were six pack races.
03:37So Daytona, Talladega, or Atlanta,
03:40in those six pack races,
03:41Cendric's worst average running position was 12.
03:43So he runs up front, he leads laps,
03:46and he's proven, as we saw in Daytona,
03:48he can get the job done at the end.
03:50He was also an Xfinity Series winner in Daytona back in 2021.
03:52So honestly, I'm surprised he's still 24 to one.
03:56He is among the favorites in my betting model for this week.
04:00It's him and his two Penske teammates.
04:02It's weird how that worked out,
04:03but it's him, Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano,
04:05the favorites by my numbers.
04:07Cendric, not there.
04:07You do have Logano sitting at 13 to one
04:10at FanDuel Sportsbook,
04:11and then Blaney is also 13 to one,
04:13whereas Cendric is 24.
04:15I think he should be, you know, not 13,
04:17because I think both those guys are a bit overvalued,
04:20but he should be a lot shorter than 24 to one
04:22based on my numbers.
04:23And I think that what we've seen so far on track
04:25has validated Cendric being in contention.
04:28Yeah, and tell me who Chris Buescher is at 28 to one.
04:31That's not a name I'm familiar with.
04:33Yeah, Buescher's been in the Cup Series for a while,
04:35but he's not like a superstar.
04:36He's a guy that I've always thought
04:38has been underappreciated as a driver,
04:41like a good talent,
04:42and he's specifically good on pack tracks.
04:44He actually did win in Daytona back in 2023 as well,
04:47a stretch where he won three races that year
04:51at three very different track types,
04:52running for RFK Racing,
04:55so driving alongside Brad Keselowski and Ryan Preece.
04:58It's another Ford team,
04:59and Fords traditionally have done very well
05:00in super speedways.
05:01They're very coordinated.
05:02They've got a lot of fast cars.
05:03The way that their bumpers work
05:06is actually very interesting,
05:07like the anatomy of the bumper
05:09is actually pretty conducive
05:11to making them good on pack tracks.
05:12It's been really, really fun.
05:15Buescher, 28 to one.
05:16I think a guy who can definitely get the job done here.
05:18All right, thanks, Jim, for making the appearance.
05:20Enjoy the race this weekend.
05:21We'll talk again soon.
05:23Thank you, appreciate it.