The signature event of any of the Glamour sports is a major event. It does not seem logical for a major sport to hold its signature event at the beginning of the season. Can you imagine the NCAA Tournament being in November or the World series being in April?

NASCAR, is right at the beginning of the season. They make their own rules and this what probably makes it unique.

The Daytona 500, the Great American Race, a national institution, will be run at 2.30pm on Sunday at the Daytona International Speedway. This race is considered to be the most prestigious event on the NASCAR calendar. No racing event matches its excitement and display of danger, death or daring, and, it is run at the beginning of the year.

Yet with all that hype and anticipated excitement, auto racing is at the best of times repetitive and even boring. The “players” in all the major sports actually perform in their sports as well as showing off for their sponsors. Racing drivers, well, they are showing off all the time and seldom on the ‘field”. They never stop their corporate play acting, all 24 hours of it!

However here is your out. Get your own excitement. Enter into a little wagering. Instead of just watching the Daytona, get involved into betting on the odds offered for the various drivers and cars to win the race. Here are a few tips and trends on the cars and drivers and some information to keep in mind when you consider your bet on the Daytona 500.

• Ten of the last thirteen winning drivers have been driving a Chevy. In the last five years Chevrolet has won four times
• In the last 46 years of racing at Daytona, there have only been three back to back winners. The last was Sterling Marlin in 1994 and 1995.
• Since 1988, only two drivers have won the race from pole position. Dale Jarret in 2000 and Jeff Gordon in 1995.
• Since the Daytona 500 started in 1959, the break down from which position the winners have started are :
• 9 times
• 7 times
• 3 times
• 6 times
• Once

10 th plus 11 times

5) In 2001 and 2002 Mike Waltrip and Ward Burton each started at 19 and won. In 1990, Derricke Cope started 12 th to win and Jeff Gordon started at 15 th to win. In the last 25 years, besides these two, NO ONE starting outside the top 8 starters has won at Daytona. Think on this, 84% of the time the winner starts in the top 8.

To get the feel of this event and to help you decide on whom to bet, here are some pointers and the names of drivers.

First of all let’s consider the favorites, the drivers with the best chance of winning and getting the Checkered Flag on Sunday. They are shown below together with their Daytona 500 odds

Tony Stewart (9-to-2) - He's the defending Series champion. He won twice here last year. He won one of the Gatorade 150's and then at the Pepsi 400 last fall. He has had plenty of near-misses in the 500, finishing seventh last year, third in 2004 and seventh in 2003. Lately he has been very vociferous about bump drafting and this should keep other cars off of him this Sunday.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. (9-to-2) - DEI's flagship team has owned restrictor plate races over the last three years. In six Daytona 500’s he has earned one win (2004) and three top-three finishes .He has won nine times in 35 overall starts , and in spite of posting a qualifying speed in the thirties, at the Bud Shootout, he finished second.

Kurt Busch (22-to-1) - This is a man to bet on. He can drive! He has been knocking on the door over the last several years, finishing in the top four in three of the last four 500's. For a driver of this caliber, These are outstanding odds

Jeff Burton (55-to-1) - Burton had the fastest qualifying time last Sunday with his Richard Childress Chevy posting a time of 189.151. But he has a problem, he hasn't won a race in four years. He placed just 11th at Daytona in 2005..

Now the Black Flag (drivers that seem like a decent bet, but could be trouble)

Jeff Gordon (9-to-2) - Gordon has been a winner three times in the last nine years. He gets a yellow flag mainly because there have only been three repeat winners. He bucked the odds by winning last year at Daytona, and despite starting outside of the top ten, I don't expect him to beat the odds again.

Sterling Marlin (Field: 18-to-1) Marlin is a two-time Daytona 500 champion. Last year he crossed the line in 8th.position. Add to this he is considered one of the best restrictor plate racers in the business, but, in each of the two 500's prior to that race, he finished at least 10 spots lower than he started. Then there is another problem, - anybody driving the "Waste Management Chevrolet" doesn't have a prayer!.

Bill Elliot (22-to-1) - Elliot is a former Daytona champion (1985 and 1987), but that was a long, long time ago. He hasn't run here since 2003, when he placed just 32nd. I think that his only concern now seems to be getting his sponsor some airtime.

Bobby LaBonte (60-to-1) - LaBonte drives a Dodge, which has won only once at the 500 since 1975 (Ward Burton, 2002). His highest finish in the last five years in this race was 13th. He crashed three other times and mixed in a 20th place run last year. However I have to tell you that he has something going for him somewhere. He is a favorite driver and don’t be too quick to write him off.

Here are some drivers who are in with a chance. They are worth a look and we will refer to them as the Yellow Flag

Dale Jarrett (12-to-1) – In 2005 he had Pole position. He had the third fastest qualifying time in his ROBERT YATES FORD. Last year however he was only in 15 th place of the money earners. In 2003 and 2004 he managed to finish in the top ten

Martin Truex Jr. (15-to-1) – An outsider who has not produced any good performances. He has a reputation that hardly seems warranted. From a starting position of 10 th last year he did not even finish. Your choice!

Jimmie Johnson (7-to-1) – Here you have a driver always in the running. In 2002 he had Pole position. In the last three years he has been placed in the top five. He actually posted the fifth fasted qualifying speed but then his car failed the post qualifying template and he was sent to the back of the field. No winner has ever come in from further back than 33 rd place. His odds at this point are not good.