The NASCAR season officially kicks off on Sunday, Feb. 15, with the 2026 Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. William Byron enters as the two-time defending Daytona 500 champion, while Kyle Larson looks to defend his NASCAR season championship. Ryan Blaney is the favorite at +850 in the latest 2026 Daytona 500 odds, with Joey Logano right behind at +1000. Logano enters the regular season coming off a seventh-place finish in last year’s standings. He won the season championship in 2018, 2022 and 2024. Blaney finished sixth in last year’s season standings.
Other favorites include Byron at +1300, Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott at +1400 and Brad Keselowski at +1700. 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.
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.
New users can also check out the latest FanDuel promo code and get $100 in bonus bets instantly at FanDuel if your $5 bet wins.
2026 NASCAR Daytona 500 expert picks
For the 2026 NASCAR Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway, McClure is fading Logano, who is the +1000 second favorite. The model says he doesn’t even crack the top 5, making him a driver to avoid. Blaney was the runner-up in the 2020 Daytona 500, but he has not finished higher than fourth (2022) since, so the model doesn’t love his value as a co-favorite.
Another surprise: The model is high on Kyle Busch at +1800, calling him a top-five contender and giving him a better chance to win than his odds imply. Busch has been a top-six finisher twice since 2019, and he finished last season with 10 top-10 finishes, including fifth in the season finale in Phoenix. See which other drivers he’s backing at SportsLine.
New users can target the DraftKings promo code, which offers $300 in bonus bets if your bet wins:
How to make 2026 Daytona 500 predictions
McClure is also high on two other 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)
Ryan Blaney +850
Joey Logano +1000
William Byron +1300
Kyle Larson +1400
Chase Elliott +1400
Brad Keselowski +1700
Austin Cindric +1700
Denny Hamlin +1800
Kyle Busch +1800
Bubba Wallace +1900
Chris Buescher +1900
Christopher Bell +2000
Tyler Reddick +2200
Chase Briscoe +2200
Ryan Preece +2700
Alex Bowman +2700
Ross Chastain +3000
Connor Zilisch +3000
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. +3000
Carson Hocevar +3000
Josh Berry +3300
Erik Jones +3500
Ty Gibbs +3500
Michael McDowell +4000
Austin Dillon +4500
Todd Gilliland +4500
Daniel Suarez +4500
AJ Allmendinger +5000
Shane Van Gisbergen +5500
Justin Allgaier +5500
Cole Custer +5500
Noah Gragson +6000
John Hunter Nemechek +6000
Zane Smith +6500
Ty Dillon +6500
Riley Herbst +7500
Cody Ware +10000
BJ McLeod +12500
Austin Hill +12500
JJ Yeley +12500
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