The NASCAR season officially takes the green flag on Sunday with the 2026 Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. William Byron enters as the two-time defending Daytona 500 champion, while Kyle Larson will begin his defense of the NASCAR season championship. Joey Logano, who will start in third now that the field for ‘The Great American Race’ iis set, is the favorite at +1000 in the newest 2026 Daytona 500 odds, with Ryan Blaney right behind at +1100.
Other favorites include pole sitter Kyle Busch at +1300 and Chase Elliott and Austin Cindric at +1400. Larson, who is the +500 favorite to defend his NASCAR season-long title, is +2000 in the newest NASCAR at Daytona odds this week. The 200-lap race from the 2.5-mile asphalt track is scheduled to start at 2:30 p.m. ET. Before making any 2026 Daytona 500 picks or NASCAR predictions, you need to see the projected leaderboard from Mike McClure’s proven model.
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McClure is a legendary professional DFS player with more than $2 million in career winnings. He uses a powerful prediction model that simulates every lap of NASCAR action 10,000 times. All told, the model has nailed a whopping 29 winners since 2021 and hit 11 winners in 2025. Anyone following his NASCAR betting picks at their favorite sportsbooks could have seen huge returns.
Now, McClure has turned his attention to the NASCAR season-opening Daytona 500. He’s only sharing his best bets at SportsLine.
2026 NASCAR Daytona 500 predictions
For the 2026 NASCAR Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway, McClure is fading Logano, who is the +1000 favorite. The model says he doesn’t even crack the top 5, making him a driver to avoid at this price. Logano hasn’t finished higher than fifth at Daytona since 2023, and he ranks 15th among active drivers in average finish position at this track, making him a driver to avoid at this price.
Another surprise: The model is high on Kyle Larson, who is a +2000 longshot. Larson will start on Row 4 in the eighth position overall, next to No. 7 Austin Dillon. Larson historically hasn’t been great at Daytona, but with a NASCAR title and three wins last year, he’s a strong value at these longer odds. See which other drivers the model is backing at SportsLine.
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How to make 2026 Daytona 500 picks
McClure is also high on two NASCAR Daytona 500 longshots of +2000 or higher, potentially netting any backer a huge payday. You can only see who they are here.
So who wins the 2026 Daytona 500 and which massive longshots could stun NASCAR? Visit SportsLine now to see the 2026 NASCAR Daytona 500 picks and best bets from a NASCAR insider, and find out.
2026 NASCAR Daytona 500 odds, lineup
See full NASCAR Daytona 500 picks at SportsLine
(Odds from FanDuel, subject to change)
Joey Logano +1000
Ryan Blaney +1100
Kyle Busch +1300
Chase Elliott +1400
Austin Cindric +1400
Denny Hamlin +1500
William Byron +1600
Chase Briscoe +1800
Kyle Larson +2000
Christopher Bell +2000
Bubba Wallace +2000
Brad Keselowski +2000
Chris Buescher +2000
Tyler Reddick +2200
Ryan Preece +2200
Alex Bowman +2700
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. +2700
Carson Hocevar +2700
Erik Jones +3000
Ross Chastain +3300
Connor Zilisch +3300
Ty Gibbs +3500
Daniel Suarez +4000
Todd Gilliland +4500
Michael McDowell +4500
Josh Berry +5000
John Hunter Nemechek +5000
Justin Allgaier +5000
Jimmie Johnson +5500
Noah Gragson +6000
AJ Allmendinger +6000
Ty Dillon +6000
Cole Custer +6000
Austin Dillon +7000
Shane Van Gisbergen +7000
Corey Heim +7000
Riley Herbst +7500
Zane Smith +8000
Cody Ware +12500
BJ McLeod +17500
Casey Mears +17500
