The Daytona 500, besides being the richest and most visible NASCAR Winston Cup event on the schedule each year, is also in gambling parlance, the opening roll to establish the "point." Doing well at Daytona is usually the key to a successful season, although defending Winston Cup champion Tony Stewart pretty much blew that argument into a cocked hat last season. He lasted just three laps before the engine in his Home Depot Pontiac "crapped" out, leaving him 43rd heading into Rockingham. The trouble with making any sort of odds bet on a driver or team to win the title these days is parity. Once considered a dirty word in all of sports, parity is now the yardstick by which all sports are measured. In short, dynasties are a thing of the past.
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