2008 NASCAR Season kicks off with 50th Daytona 500

Rednecks shall rejoice again.

With football over and baseball still a few more weeks away, the 2008 NASCAR season can probably give these nigger-hatin' rednecks something else to watch other than watching ten black dudes run around a basketball court. Yes, for some reason, they hate niggers that bad.

The 50th running of the Daytona 500 will officially kick off the new NASCAR season on February 17 at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Yup, you'll sure hear a lot of ''Daytona'' on the 17th that you just might unintentionally name your next child ''Daytona'' for crying out loud. How cool would that be right?

The 2008 Daytona 500 will be the 50th annual running of ''The Great American Race,'' as NASCAR celebrates the Golden Anniversary of the event's very first race in 1959, won by NASCAR driver Lee Petty. To commemorate the 2008 Daytona 500 event, the Harley J. Earl Trophy, which goes to the winner of the race, will be plated in gold instead of silver.

Three drivers lead the pack as early favorites to win the 2008 Daytona 500.

Defending Nextel Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson is listed as a 6/1 favorite. Johnson has 33 wins in six full-time seasons under his belt. He has proven to be a worthy successor to Jeff Gordon at Hendrick Motorsports, edging his mentor for the 2007 championship. Jimmie Johnson is the only driver to have won three consecutive Coca-Cola 600s. And in 2007, he became the first driver since 1998 to win four races in a row.

Hendrick Motorsports Teammates Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. are all listed as 9/2 favorites to win the 50th running of Daytona. This will be Dale Earnhardt's first year with Hendrick Motorsports after leaving DEI at the conclusion of the 2007 season.

Jeff Gordon became the youngest Daytona 500 winner in history when he led a 1-2-3 sweep in 1997, with ailing owner Rick Hendrick calling on his cell phone in Victory Lane. Two years later, Gordon made a daring pass of Rusty Wallace to win the Daytona 500 a second time, and added win No.3 in 2005 by holding off Kurt Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the race's first green-white-checkered finish.

Who will win the 50th running of the Daytona 500? Bodog Sportsbook has the odds.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. 5.50

Jimmie Johnson 7.00

Juan Pablo Montoya 36.00

Jeff Gordon 5.50

Want more odds? Visit Bodog for more NASCAR betting odds and the best betting lines on some of today's biggest sporting events.

Daytona 500 Jeff Gordon