Who will win the Daytona 500 in 2025? Odds, expert picks & betting favorites for NASCAR Cup Series race

The Daytona 500 — one of the biggest spectacles in racing, and for that matter all of sports — kicks off the NASCAR Cup Series regular season this Sunday. 

“The Great American Race,” held at Daytona International Speedway, will feature countless storylines. And, as racing fans and bettors know, anything could happen on this super-speedway. 

Will defending champion William Byron become the first back-to-back winner in over five years? Can Denny Hamlin take down his fourth Daytona and inch closer to Richard Petty’s record seven wins? Will weather be an issue?

MORE DAYTONA 500 2025:
Weather updates | Starting order | Cup Series schedule

With a ton of star power in this year’s race, just like last year, this Daytona feels wide open. It’s a race that has been won by first-time champs dozens and dozens of times, including past rising superstars like Jeff Gordon (1997), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2004), Jimmie Johnson (2006), and Kevin Harvick (2007). 

Byron fit that mold last year — a superb driver on a rapid ascent to stardom who picks his spots well and strikes when the opportunity arises. Byron took the lead with just four laps remaining in last year’s Daytona, and he never looked back. 

The Sporting News has the latest breakdown of the odds to win the race, as well as three expert picks who could take the checkered flag in 2025.

Daytona 500 odds to win 2025 race

Kyle Busch (+1000), a two-time Cup Series Champion, has yet to claim a Daytona 500 in 19 career attempts. He’s the odds-on favorite, as it’s the last big box the superstar in the No. 8 Chevy would like to check.

In contrast, Denny Hamlin (+1000) has won three different Daytona 500 races. A fourth win would move him ever closer to Richard Petty’s record seven Daytona wins. 

Ryan Blaney (+1100) has elite skills and plenty of past success on plate tracks. The veteran had an up-and-down 2024, but his odds serve as a reminder that he’s still one of the fiercest competitors in this field. 

Fan favorite Chase Elliott (+1100), a stud on restrictor plate tracks, has a chance to become the next rising superstar with a victory this Sunday. Elliott’s dad Bill Elliott won two Daytonas in 1985 and 1987, and Chase has attended the race in some capacity for most of his life. 

Of course, we can’t forget about last year’s Cup Series Champion and 2015 Daytona winner Joey Logano (+1200), perennial contender Ryan Larson (+1400), or reigning Daytona champ William Byron (+1500). They round out the eight drivers with odds of 15-to-1 or shorter. 

Below are the full odds for the 2025 Daytona 500, per DraftKings Sportsbook. These odds are subject to change in the lead-up to Sunday’s race.

Daytona 500 expert picks for 2025 race

Below are three drivers who make for good bets to win or enjoy top-five finishes at the Daytona 500 in 2025.

William Byron (15-1)

Byron won this race last year, but oddsmakers aren’t buying him as a true odds-on favorite. Seven other racers sit shorter than him on the odds board, which screams value to savvy bettors. 

With plenty of past success outside of last year’s Daytona, including wins at Circuit of the Americas and Martinsville last year, it’s hard to avoid putting at least a couple units on Byron to become the first repeat Daytona champion since Hamlin in 2019-20. 

Ross Chastain (25-1) 

Chastain nearly took the lead toward the very end of last year’s Daytona, but he wound up on the infield grass. He’s an elite driver who always seems to fly under the radar, and we love the value we’re getting with him at +2500. 

Bubba Wallace (20-1)

Bubba’s veteran skill set always seems to come in handy in big events like this, as evidenced by his six career wins. He’s never won Daytona, but he’s come damn close. His two second-place finishes — in 2018 and 2022 — put him in the record books for highest Daytona finish by a black driver.

Ryan Preece (30-1)

Preece has racked up 16 top-10 finishes in Cup Series races, and he’s a very intriguing relative long-shot on this super-speedway track. He’s the type of driver who executes well all race and then seizes big opportunities in the later stages.

Other strong sleepers: Justin Haley (+5500), Martin Truex Jr. (+3500), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (+4500)

Who won the Daytona 500 pole for 2025?

Chase Briscoe nabbed the pole at the World Center of Racing, a huge accomplishment for the newest member of Joe Gibbs Racing. It marks Toyota’s first-ever pole win. 

Briscoe posted a scorching 49.425s lap time (182.745 mph), just a bit faster than Austin Cindric’s 49.173s mark (182.463 mph). Briscoe’s pole win for Toyota halted Ford and Chevy’s dominant runs. 

Chase Briscoe wins the pole for the Daytona 500! Austin Cindric joins him on the front row. pic.twitter.com/SKnXDkLFMs

— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) February 13, 2025

Daytona 500 starting lineup 2025

NASCAR Cup Series schedule 2025

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NASCAR Cup Series playoff race schedule 2025

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