Toni Edwards is a lady who knows her cars, just like in NASCAR.
The Sam’s Town Sports Book supervisor will have one eye open on veteran Ryan Newman and the other on rookie Denny Hamlin as she watches the rest of the field with both of them as NASCAR christens a new season at the Daytona 500 on Sunday.
Unlike other sports, the auto racing circuit annually launches a new campaign with the biggest race of the season.
The 43 anointed drivers will make 200 trips around the 2 1/2 mile high cant oval as they try to start a new year off on the right foot.
Daytona, like Talladega, is a restrictive license plate track, which means that the cars are equipped with license plates that maintain speeds below 200 mph.
“It’s so exciting,” Edwards said enthusiastically.
“There are new drivers, different team leaders, different sponsors. A lot is happening.”
Daytona used to be NASCAR’s big draw when it came to Nevada gambling shops, but that was before Las Vegas became a regular stop on the auto racing circuit.
Now the Daimler-Chrysler 400 has about twice the action.
“It’s in that neighborhood,” Edwards said.
While there were no meandering lines like the books expect when NASCAR hits Las Vegas three weeks later (March 12), Daytona was still drawing its fair share of weekend gambling action.
According to Jake Kolleth, supervisor of the Stardust, Boyd Group’s flagship property, including Sam’s Town, Friday night’s favorites were defending champion and three-time Daytona winner Jeff Gordon, 4/1; Dale Earnhardt Jr., the 2004 champion whose legendary father died on the last lap of the race five years ago, 6/1; and Tony Stewart, the reigning Nextel Cup champion who never won Daytona, at 7/1.
All three were 9/2 at the Stratosphere Tower, with Jimmie Johnson on 8/1.
Jeff Burton is the pole winner, with Gordon and Elliott Sadler completing the front row; Earnhardt will come out of No. 7 and Stewart out of No. 15.
Edwards has long adored Newman (1/20), who has only one top-10 finish at Daytona on his extensive resume.
“I just love him and have done it since he had eight poles in 11 races,” he said.
Hamlin (35/1), who raced for Team Joe Gibbs at the end of the 2005 season, recording a Top 10 trio before landing a regular spot, won last weekend’s Budweiser Shootout exhibition, also at Daytona.
The race was full of considerable blows (shoves), which have become Daytona’s big problem this year.
“He’s a young guy (25) with a lot of promise who has a very smart crew chief (Mike Ford),” Edwards said. “I’m impressed.”
Edwards believes that one of the reasons Sam’s Town is not attracting more business for Daytona is that the Boyd Group does not post driver matchups in the race.
“That’s what customers want,” he said.
“They jump on them when they see them. I’m going to talk to Jake about getting some for the Vegas race.”
