The official start of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season is still more than 2 1/2 months away. The first race of the season, the Daytona 500, takes place on Sunday, February 15th at the Daytona International Speedway. Last year, William Byron won his second Daytona 500 after a thunderstorm delayed the race by nearly eight hours. He looks to become the first driver to win the race three consecutive years.
Byron is not among the betting favorites to finish first at the 2026 Daytona 500. The drivers with the best odds are Austin Cindric, Ryan Blaney, and Joey Logano. Out of that trio, Blaney is the only one without a previous Daytona 500 victory.
Below, we look at the betting odds, picks, and predictions for the first race of the 2026 NASCAR season. The 2026 Daytona 500 Bets are raring to go.
VegasBetting rolls into those NASCAR online betting odds for the first race of the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series Season. Now is the time to comb through the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race Bets. With Daytona being a premiere superspeedway on the 2026 NASCAR Cup schedule, it would be wise to look at how the drivers have performed in Daytona and Talladega in past Winter/Spring races.
| NASCAR 2026 Daytona 500 |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joey Logano | +1000 | +1000 | +1000 |
| Ryan Blaney | +1000 | +1000 | +1000 |
| Austin Cindric | +1000 | +1000 | +1000 |
| William Byron | +1200 | +1100 | +1100 |
| Chase Elliott | +1400 | +1400 | +1400 |
| Brad Keselowski | +1600 | +1600 | +1500 |
| Kyle Larson | +1600 | +1600 | +1800 |
| Christopher Bell | +1800 | +2000 | +1800 |
| Tyler Reddick | +2000 | +2000 | +2000 |
| Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | +2000 | +2000 | +2000 |
| Connor Zilisch | +2000 | +2000 | +2000 |
| Denny Hamlin | +2000 | +2200 | +2200 |
Yes, Ryan Blaney has never won the Daytona 500. His best finish came in 2020 when he finished as runner-up to Denny Hamlin. In his previous eight starts at the Daytona International Speedway, Blaney has one victory (second race), two top-five finishes, and four top-10 results. His average finish on the track is 16.3. 2024 saw him not finish a single race at Daytona but 2025 was better including that Coke Zero Sugar 400 victory.
Blaney has a ton of bad luck early in the 2025 season with several high-profile DNF’s including the Daytona 500 where he was leading after Stage 2. Unfortunately, the collector often comes and it came for the No. 12 Team Penske car.
Blaney has won a NASCAR Cup Championship but not the Super Bowl of Stock Car Racing. He desperately wants to add that to his resume. Given several close calls recently, is this the year that the Ford driver finally gets it done? After all, he was the runner-up in 2017 and 2020.
Look for the veteran driver to try and finish off a Daytona 500 win this go around. Ford runs hard and fast late and the last few races in February have come right down to the final lap and/or overtime. Six of the last eight races have gone beyond the 200 laps. With several requiring more than one overtime, the expectation is to likely see that yet again in 2026.
Denny Hamlin is far off from the betting favorites to win the 2025 Daytona 500. This is despite the fact that he has won the race three times. In fact, the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing driver is all the way down at +2000 in early betting for the race.
The 45-year-old Hamlin is one of the best drivers in the Cup Series for over a decade. Unlike Ryan Blaney, who won the Cup Championship in 2023, the grizzled veteran has never tasted the glory of winning the series. He has had so many close calls including 2025. A late caution derailed Hamlin’s chances of glory. Instead, Kyle Larson took advantage of a fortuitous restart and took home his second series title.
The driver wants to win a fourth Daytona 500 but the cards may not be stacked in his favor. Him and Bubba Wallace have been two of the best drivers here the past several years. Money might be more apt to pivot Wallace’s way (+2500 on BetOnline).
Hamlin has not finished inside the Top 10 in his last eight races at Daytona (a span of four seasons). He has not even been in contention in any of the past four February races at Daytona International Speedway either. That is pretty unbelievable for a driver of his caliber. Hence, taking a risk on Wallace is not quite so crazy.
Some think Connor Zilisch will get a lot of money thrown his way in the 2026 Daytona 500 bets. Inevitably, the why question pops up. However, Zilisch showed in the Xfinity Series just how good he is. The Trackhouse Racing driver may not have taken home the series hardware but he won 10 races in his first full season on the circuit.
The 19-year-old Zilisch will be running in his first Daytona 500. Plenty of intrigue accompanies the young driver as he embarks on a season full time at NASCAR’s top level. He is a rookie in name only. Asking some of the veterans what they thought and the acknowledgment was to watch out for this driver.
The young driver has already tested a NASCAR car on the track and will be doing IMSA cars as well. He is aiming high and could be a longer shot swing of sorts.
The betting pick is for Ryan Blaney to win the 2026 Daytona 500 and get that elusive first “Super Bowl” win in his career.
With the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series getting underway on Sunday with the 2025 Daytona 500, don’t forget to check out the best betting sites bonuses and prime Vegas online betting sites.
