Jimmie Johnson managed to silence rumors of his demise by surviving a bump-and-run from Kurt Bush and winning his second consecutive NSCS race at the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 last week, bringing his total to five wins this season. This weekend NASCAR heads to the beach for under-the-lights excitement on Saturday, July 3 at 7:30 p.m. for the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway.  

Gamblers interested in investing in the outcome of this race should note that the Coke 400 has been won 16 times from the pole, with Tony Stewart accomplishing that feat last year. Those interested in season sweeps at Daytona should note that the last driver to win both the 500 and the 400 was Bobby Allison, who did this in 1982. In 126 races at Daytona there have been only three other season sweeps: Fireball Roberts (1962), Cale Yarborough (’68) and LeeRoy Yarbrough (’69).  During that same time period 68 races (58 percent) of the winners came from the top five spots on the grid. In the last 25 summer races at Daytona, 14 have been won from the front row with seven of those coming from the pole. This year's Daytona 500 winner, Jamie MacMurray, won the 400 in 2007.

Who will win the Coke Zero 400?

MacMurray will attempt a season sweep at Daytona, but will find it exceedingly difficult, as last time out at Daytona he led for only two laps, but those two laps were good enough for the win. However, the stats from MacMurray's last three restrictor plate races are eye opening. MacMurray has two wins and a second-place finish in his last three restrictor-plate races! MacMurray is coming off a tough race at Loudon last week where he finished 18th and dropped from 16th to 17th place in the Sprint Cup standings. MacMurray has quickly become a restrictor-place specialist for Earnhardt Genassi Racing and looks for big things once again this Saturday night. The big question is can he earn a rare sweep at Daytona? There is a reason it hasn't been done since 1982 and I don't think MacMurray will be able to win at Daytona twice this year, so I am laying off the sentimental investment.   

Tony Stewart, the Coke 400's defending champion, has been nothing short of dominant on the beach where he has won three of the last five summer races at Daytona. In fact, did you know that 31 of 33 NSCS victories for Tony Stewart have come after June 1? Last year qualifiers were rained out so Stewart was awarded the pole based on points. This year Stewart will have to race for the pole, and if qualifiers are rained out will find himself starting from the ninth position on the grid. This is not the worst thing to happen for Stewart since the nine-hole has produced 10 winners at Daytona. Indeed, Stewart has begun to warm up and managed to move up from 10th to ninth in the standings due to a strong finish at New Hampshire as he edged out Kurt Busch for second place. Despite Stewart's career success at Daytona, he finished 22nd at the Daytona 500. In 23 starts at Daytona Stewart has managed seven top-five finishes and 12 top-10s. And with the way Smoke has warmed up he is always a likely candidate to win the Summer race at Daytona.

Meanwhile, Johnson has started winning again, much to Denny Hamlin's chagrin, I’m sure. Just as it looked like Hamlin might supplant Johnson in the standings Double-J won two in a row. However, he is still a distant second-place, 105-points behind points-leader Kevin Harvick. Johnson finished last year's Coke 400 in second-place, but that was his only top-five finish in his last eight Daytona starts. While Johnson won the Daytona 500 in 2006, he finished 35th this year. But in true Double-J style he'll likely finish once again in the top 10, but he might not win his third consecutive NSCS race.

Then there is Jeff Gordon, who brings his active-driver leading six wins at Daytona into Saturday's race. However, Gordon has been experiencing trouble winning as of late and the last time he had a top-five finish at Daytona was fifth at the Coke 400 in 2007. He did win the 400 in 1995, 1998, and 2004. While Gordon is currently 187 points behind the leader, the Coke 400 offers a good opportunity for Gordon to move up in the standings. We'll see if he can take advantage of his restrictor-plate skills on the track that is due to be repaved in the off-season.

You have to hand it to Kevin Harvick for holding off the likes of JJ, Hamlin and Busch and maintaining his hold on first place in the Sprint Cup standings. There was no movement in the top eight places on the NSCS leader board this week, even if Johnson did manage to shave a few points off Harvick's sizable lead.  Harvick comes into the Coke 400 having the memory of almost winning the Daytona 500 only to be frustrated by the numerous green-white-checker restarts and ultimately losing the "Great American Race" to MacMurray. February's race was the first time that NASCAR used a maximum of three green-white-checker flag finishes. Harvick had the race won two times, but for the victory he would have needed to win it three times. On Saturday night I see Harvick motivated as anyone to win and if he brings the same set up that dominated in February you'll see Harvick burning out after the race. Harvick won the only other restrictor-plate race of the year at Talladega and I wouldn't be surprised to see the same result on Saturday night.      

Pick! Kevin Harvick, No. (+1000)

Coke Zero 400 - Lucky Dog Long Odds Special

'Cousin' Carl Edwards had an awful Lenox Industrial Tools 301 last week at New Hampshire Motor Speedway as he battled a poor handling car and ended the afternoon two laps behind the leader and finished 25th. The good news for Edwards is that he occupies the 12th and final spot in the Chase. Edwards is lucky he did not lose ground in the standings, but needs at least a top-10 finish at Daytona to remain in the standings. Only 16 points separate 12th and 15th place. Suddenly resurgent Dale Earnhardt, Jr, is in 13th place, only three points behind Edwards. Chances are pretty good for Edwards as he sports three consecutive top-10 finishes, and four top-10 finishes in the last five races at Daytona. There is something about the summer race at Daytona that plays to Edwards' strengths since he has three consecutive top-five finishes here; Edwards has finished fourth, second, and fourth in the last three. You'll have to go back to 2008 to find Edwards' last win at Homestead, the final race of the season. It would be like bookends for Edwards if he could break his 53-race winless streak with a win at Florida's 'other' track. 

Pick! Carl Edwards, No. 99, (+2000)

Who will finish in the Top Three at Coke Zero 400?

Dale Junior brings some momentum into Daytona this Saturday night thanks to rallying from 31st starting position to finish in eighth place at New Hampshire last week. This was Dale's second top-10 finish in three weeks; at Sonoma Junior finished 11th. Fans of Junior Nation could see Dale finally break his 74-race winless streak at Daytona. Junior has done well on the restrictor-plate races and has two wins and 12 top-10 finishes in 21 starts at Daytona. However, one good, big thing happened to Team Junior this week. Junior hired Mark Martin's engineer, Chris Heroy. Heroy moves to the No. 88 team this week, while Tom Stewart will engineer for the No. 5 car. This shows, once again, Rick Hendrick is committed to putting Junior back in the winner's circle and pulling back on the No. 5 team as Mark Martin will leave HMS at the end of the 2010 season. Hopefully the change will keep Dale off the wall on Saturday night. While Junior might not break his winless streak at the Coke 400 Junior certainly has the car, the team, and the support to finish in the top-three under the lights.    
Pick! Dale Earnhardt, Jr., No.88, (+1200)

Coca-Cola 400 - 
Odds to finish the Top-Three 
Daytona International Speedway - 7:30 p.m. July 3, 2010

Kyle Busch 
+1000
Kevin Harvick 
+1000
Tony Stewart 
+1000
Jimmie Johnson 
+1200
Jeff Gordon 
+1200
Denny Hamlin 
+1200
Dale Earnhardt Jr 
+1200
Jeff Burton 
+1500
Jamie McMurray 
+1500
Clint Bowyer 
+1500
Kurt Busch 
+1500
Matt Kenseth  
+2000
Juan Pablo Montoya 
+2000
Kasey Kahne 
+2000
Carl Edwards 
+2000
David Ragan 
+2500
Mark Martin 
+2500
Joey Logano 
+2500
Martin Truex Jr 
+3000
Greg Biffle 
+3000
Ryan Newman 
+3000
David Reutimann 
+3000
Brad Keselowski 
+4000
zx Field (Any Other Driver) 
+4000
AJ Allmendinger 
+5000
Marcos Ambrose 
+5000
Sam Hornish Jr 
+6000
Reed Sorenson 
+6000
Elliott Sadler 
+6000
Paul Menard 
+10000
Scott Speed 
+10000
David Gilliland 
+10000
Travis Kvapil 
+10000
Regan Smith 
+10000

Coca-Cola 400 - 
Odds to Win 
Daytona International Speedway - 7:30 p.m. July 3, 2010

Kyle Busch +1000
Kevin Harvick
+1000
Tony Stewart +1000
Jimmie Johnson
 +1200
Jeff Gordon +1200
Denny Hamlin +1200
Dale Earnhardt Jr +1200
Jeff Burton +1500
Jamie McMurray +1500
Clint Bowyer +1500
Kurt Busch +1500
Matt Kenseth +2000
Juan Pablo Montoya
+2000
Kasey Kahne +2000
Carl Edwards +2000
David Ragan +2500
Mark Martin+2500
Joey Logano +2500
Martin Truex Jr
+3000
Greg Biffle +3000
Ryan Newman
+3000
David Reutimann +3000
Brad Keselowski +4000
zx Field (Any Other Driver) +4000
AJ Allmendinger +5000
Marcos Ambrose +5000
Sam Hornish Jr +6000
Reed Sorenson
+6000
Elliott Sadler +6000
Paul Menard +10000
Scott Speed +10000
David Gilliland +10000
Travis Kvapil +10000
Regan Smith +10000