NASCAR is back! The biggest race of the year, the Daytona 500, is set to go green to kick off the 2026 NASCAR season this Sunday. NASCAR is rolling with “Hell Yeah” as their 2026 slogan, and it’s got me fired up. The series shifts away from the elimination “playoffs” format they’ve been using, and back to a modified version of the “Chase.” Let’s jump in and take a look at the Daytona 500 picks, odds, and best bets.
There are 45 entries for 41 spots in the 2026 Daytona 500. It is important to note that this means four of the eight “open” cars will not make the race. Check your book’s rules if you decide to bet on these drivers before they lock themselves in. The 36 chartered cars are locked into the race, and 7x Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson has elected to use the open provisional. He is locked in as the 41st entry. This guarantees him a spot in the field; he will not be able to win any prize money or earn points.
The eight open cars include Chandler Smith (36), Justin Allgaier (40), JJ Yeley (44), Anthony Alfredo (62), Casey Mears (66), Corey Heim (67), BJ McLeod (78), and Corey Lajoie (99). Two of them will lock in on time in Wednesday night’s single-car qualifying. The other two will lock themselves in via Thursday night’s duel races. Sunday’s Daytona 500 has a green flag time scheduled for 3:13 ET. Live coverage starts at 2:30 ET on FOX.
Odds To Win The Daytona 500
Ryan Blaney +1000
Joey Logano +1000
William Byron +1100
Denny Hamlin +1400
Kyle Larson +1500
Chase Elliott +1600
Austin Cindric +1700
Bubba Wallace +2000
Christopher Bell +2000
Kyle Busch +2000
Brad Keselowski +2000
Chase Briscoe +2200
Chris Buescher +2200
Ryan Preece +2500
Tyler Reddick +2500
Alex Bowman +2500
Ricky Stenhouse Jr +2800
Ross Chastain +3000
Ty Gibbs +3500
Carson Hocevar +3800
Connor Zilisch +3800
Josh Berry +4000
Erik Jones +4000
Corey Lajoie +4500
Austin Dillon +4500
Noah Gragson +5000
Michael McDowell +5000
Daniel Suarez +6000
John Hunter Nemechek +6000
AJ Allmendinger +6500
Todd Gilliland +6500
Justin Allgaier +7000
Jimmie Johnson +7500
Zane Smith +7500
Cole Custer +8500
Ty Dillon +8500
Corey Heim +8500
Shane Van Gisbergen +8500
Riley Herbst +10000
Chandler Smith +10000
BJ McLeod +25000
Cody Ware +25000
JJ Yeley +25000
Casey Mears +25000
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NASCAR Cup Series Daytona 500 Picks, Odds, and Best Bets
Kyle Larson Over Austin Cindric (+105)
At first glance, it might seem like Austin Cindric is the better drafting track driver. However, as of late, their roles have been reversed. In four of the last five drafting track races, Larson has gotten the best of Cindric. The one head-to-head loss in that span, Cindric won the spring Talladega race, while Larson finished in second place behind him. Cindric is on a three-race slide, finishing 34th or worse.
For a long time, Larson was an immediate fade for me on drafting tracks, and that strategy paid off well. But the greatest race car driver in the world has figured out his kryptonite, and who knows? Maybe he’s on the doorstep of adding the one last big thing to his resume. A Harley J. Earl Trophy. Either way, at plus money, I’ll take him over Austin Cindric to keep his streak up.
Over the last decade of Daytona 500’s, Kyle Larson is 6 for 10 at finishing between 7th to 12th.
If he didn’t run out of gas last fall at Dega while leading the inside lane, he might just have 3 straight top 6 finishes right now at big superspeedways in a row.
— Ryan (@ifantasyrace) February 9, 2026
Corey Lajoie Top 5 Finish (+1000)
Lajoie is one of the drivers not yet locked into this race, but I want to have action on him. Lajoie is an incredible drafting track racer, and now he’s in the best equipment he’s ever been in. He’ll be driving the Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing #99 Ford. A huge step up from the days of teams like Rick Ware, GoFas, or BK Racing.
As pointed out by NASCAR Insights below, he’s the only driver to finish on the lead lap in all four NextGen era Daytona 500’s. He scored a fourth-place finish just two seasons ago in the Spire #7 car. Over the last six years, he’s had finishes of 22nd, 4th, 16th, 14th, 9th, and 8th place. Lajoie always keeps himself in the mix and has a shot to win it all. Despite last year’s 22nd-place finish, he was leading the Daytona 500 with just three laps to go.
Did you know:
Corey LaJoie is the only driver to finish in the lead lap in all four Daytona 500s in the NextGen era https://t.co/oKL3iEzGLh
— NASCAR Insights (@NASCARInsights) February 11, 2026
AJ Allmendinger Top 10 (+330)
Road course racing ace AJ Allmendinger is also a superspeedway ace. The veteran race car driver loves to shine under the bright lights of the Daytona 500, especially. Allmendinger had engine troubles early last year that cost him the race early and made him settle for a 41st-place finish. In his four Daytona 500 starts prior to that, Allmendinger was four for four finishing inside of the top 10, including a third-place finish back in 2017.
The driver of Kaulig’s #16 car will be paying tribute to the late Greg Biffle. Biffle drove #16 throughout a majority of his Cup Series career. AJ’s car will bear the iconic font that Biffle made famous in his career. Imagine Biffle’s #16 in the top 10 with a shot to win the Daytona 500 in the first race since his untimely passing. That’s worth the bet alone!
Something everyone wanted to see. 🙌
Kaulig Racing will pay tribute to Greg Biffle with his iconic numeric font on AJ Allmendinger’s No. 16 car in the #Daytona500! pic.twitter.com/NmEyfOEddp
— Kaulig Racing (@KauligRacing) January 22, 2026
Carson Hocevar to Win (+3800)
I’m all aboard the Carson Hocevar train in 2026. The kid has burst onto the NASCAR scene, bringing a personality the sport has been in desperate need of. He’s pretty damn good behind the wheel as well. We saw another great example of that in the Clash last week as he had his elbows out with the best of them. Hocevar doesn’t have a ton of Cup experience on drafting tracks, but he’s already been close to victory. If NASCAR had held the caution another second in last year’s spring Atlanta race, Hocevar was powering around Bell to take the lead and would have likely won.
A look at the finish of tonight’s race at @ATLMotorSpdwy. @CBellRacing is victorious in the No. 20. pic.twitter.com/irWtUozrO4
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) February 24, 2025
In addition to the second-place finish at Atlanta, Hocevar finished 10th in the summer race there. He powered himself to sixth-place finishes in both races at Talladega, and redeemed a tough Daytona 500 finish with an 11th-place run in the fall race here at Daytona. He’s shown he can hang, now let’s get the man who owns a street-legal Dale Earnhardt truck in victory lane on Sunday!
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