Will Denny Hamlin Pull Off the Daytona Double? - Predictions and Odds

A Daytona double is a rare thing in the NASCAR Cup Series.

Only six drivers have been able to sweep the 500 and the 400 mile races in the same season.

The most recent one to do so was Jimmie Johnson on the way to the 2013 championship.

Bobby Allison was the last driver before Johnson, scoring a sweep all the way back in 1982.

The first driver to pull off the Daytona double was Hall of Famer Edward “Fireball” Roberts in 1962.

Cale Yarborough and LeeRoy Yarborough did it back-to-back in 1968 and 1969.

The three-time champion, in fact, scored three in a row at the superspeedway, winning the 1967 400 mile race.

Yarborough, Allison, Jeff Gordon and Michael Waltrip have scored back-to-back victories at Daytona but in different seasons.

Yarborough did so in 1976 and 1977, while Allison achieved the feat in 1987-88.

Gordon did it twice, first in 1998-99 and then in 2004-05.

Waltrip, meanwhile, came close to pulling off the double.

The superspeedway specialist followed his first Daytona 500 win in 2001 with a runner-up finish in the summer race.

Winning at Daytona once is tough, and doing it twice in a season is even more difficult.

How to Watch

What: Coca-Cola Zero Sugar 400

Where: Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, FL

When: Saturday, July 6th at 7:30 PM EST

How: NBC (TV) | Motor Racing Network (Web radio) | NBC Sports App

Could Denny Hamlin Join the Daytona Double Club?

Denny Hamlin will have a second shot at the Daytona double.

His first chance came in 2016, after scoring his first Daytona 500 victory.

That year, #11 arrived at the Florida superspeedway as one of the favorites for the 400 mile race.

Hamlin was coming off five consecutive top 10 finishes at the track, which included four results in the top 5.

After leading seven laps and running among the leaders for most of that night, he finished down in 17th.

While his record at Daytona is very good overall, Hamlin hasn’t enjoyed much success in July.

The Joe Gibbs driver scored six top 5 finishes in his last ten Daytona 500 starts, including two wins.

His form takes a dive when it comes to the summer event, however.

Hamlin only has two top 5s in 13 Coke Zero Sugar 400 starts.

He is also coming off back-to-back DNFs at the race.

Before that, Denny Hamlin had only scored one DNF at Daytona during his career, also in July.

Is Denny Hamlin a Good Pick for This Weekend?

While his July record isn’t great, Hamlin still looks like a very solid pick.

He has solid stats to back it up, with six top 5 and seven top 10 finishes at the track over the last five years.

The Joe Gibbs driver has led laps at Daytona in the double digits in nearly 50% of his starts there.

That being said, Hamlin does need to improve this season.

After getting off to a hot start, his form has seen a bit of a drop.

Hamlin scored two wins, six top 5 and eight top 10 with the worst result of 11th in the first nine races.

Since then, he has missed out on the top 10 in five of seven races.

He is coming off two top 10 finishes in the last three races, with a fifth place at Sonoma.

Denny Hamlin Odds for the 2019 Coke Zero Sugar 400

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