Superspeedway savants Hamlin, Logano battle in Daytona 500 featured matchup

Two of NASCAR’s finest superspeedway racers today are Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano. Between them, they have four Daytona 500 wins and nine wins on superspeedways. Sunday’s 64th-running of the Daytona 500 (2:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) sees the two veterans as the top two favorites on the board via BetMGM’s odds with Hamlin at 8-1 and Logano at 9-1. RELATED: Daytona 500 schedule | Odds for the 2022 Daytona 500 | Latest Daytona 500 news How does each driver stack up for a head-to-head matchup for Sunday’s race? We’re breaking down key stats before the race to help inform potential bets as well as your Fantasy Live bonus picks. Remember, the Daytona 500 is the first full points race to utilize the Next Gen car.

Denny Hamlin	Category	Joey Logano
3	Daytona 500 wins	1
5	Superspeedway wins	4
15.9	Daytona avg. finish (all time)	18.1
8.3	Superspeedway avg. finish (last 8)	21.6
8	Better finish in last 10 races at Daytona	2

Verdict: The numbers favor Hamlin by quite a bit and that is largely skewed by the results of the last three years — which saw Hamlin win two of his three Daytona 500s. In that same span, Logano has had four finishes of 23rd-or-worse at Daytona, while Hamlin has had just one such finish in that stretch. I’d go Hamlin in this matchup but would also note to keep a close eye on the Bluegreen Vacations Duel races on Thursday night to see how the Fords and Toyotas perform in the draft. Additional Cup featured matchups this week: Chase Elliott vs. Kevin Harvick: This unexpected rivalry from last postseason pits the driver with the second-most points over the last six races at Daytona (Elliott) vs. a driver with back-to-back top fives in the Daytona 500 (Harvick). I like Elliott slightly in this one. Michael McDowell vs. Justin Haley. McDowell is the defending race winner. Haley won the Daytona summer race in 2019. This is an intriguing matchup as both have a knack for strong superspeedway results. In a small surprise, I’m going with Haley. Austin Dillon vs. Bubba Wallace. Both of these drivers have a superspeedway win -- Dillon in the 2018 Daytona 500 and Wallace in last fall’s Talladega race. Daytona is where Dillon has his most top 10s at one track, while Wallace has three top fives here. This is a really close call as both will likely be in my fantasy lineup, but I’m leaning toward Wallace. Don’t forget about the Xfinity Series featured matchups this week. Those involve Noah Gragson vs. Daniel Hemric, Sam Mayer vs. Landon Cassill and Myatt Snider vs. Anthony Alfredo. Gragson-Hemric is an especially intriguing one between a title contender and the 2021 champion. Gragson won this race in 2020 while Hemric posted top 10s in both Daytona races last year. I’d lean Hemric with Kaulig Racing's superspeedway prowess being the decider for me.