NASCAR betting kicks its season off with the legendary Daytona 500 on February 15 at venerable Daytona International Speedway, and online betting players looking over Daytona 500 odds should consider past winners, especially the stable at Hendrick Motorsports.

Three of Hendrick’s drivers have won the 500 (Jeff Gordon with three wins, while Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. have one apiece), while Mark Martin lost by 0.02 seconds to Kevin Harvick in 2007. Expect all four racers to be near the top of the 2009 Daytona 500 odds.

23-year-old Kyle Busch leads Joe Gibbs Racing to the green flag as he looks to build on his eight-win campaign from 2008, but 28-year-old Denny Hamlin, who is actually the veteran of JGR now that Tony Stewart has started his own team. But most attention will probably go to 18-year-old Joey Logano, who is replacing Stewart in the #20 Home Depot Toyota. It would probably be best to avoid the young JGR team’s Daytona 500 odds, as restrictor-plate racing is a skill best honed by experience.

Speaking of Stewart, he will be the wheel of the #14 Office Depot Chevrolet for his new Stewart-Haas Racing team, joined by last year’s 500 winner, Ryan Newman. Ironically, it was Newman who passed Stewart on the last lap in 2008 for the win, but you can bet that he’ll be more than happy to push his boss to his first 500. Don’t count out SHR while betting on the Daytona 500 this year.

Other drivers to consider when heading to your sportsbook will be Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle from Roush-Fenway Racing, as well as the Richard Childress Racing team of Jeff Burton, Clint Bowyer, 2007 winner Harvick and new RCR driver Casey Mears, who was shuttled out of Hendrick to make room for Martin. Daytona 500 betting should be exciting as ever in 2009.