Let's take a look at how the betting markets see this one. DraftKings Sportsbook is offering a ton of odds for the Daytona 500, including bets on the top-three, top-five, top-six, and top-10 finishers, along with some prop bets that put drivers against one another. I'll focus on their odds to win, to finish in the top three. The beauty of the Daytona 500 is that the field is so wide-open. Even the favorites are typically laying expensive payouts. Just take the top Daytona 500 bet in 2021: Denny Hamlin. He is currently slated to enter race day as +700—and again, that's the favorite. Feb 14, 2021 2021 Daytona 500 betting guide: Best bets, odds, picks, top predictions and long shots. By Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi Feb 14, 2021 22.
- Daytona 500 Best Bets Stocks
- Daytona 500 Best Bets No Deposit
- Daytona 500 Best Odds
- Best Bets For Daytona 500
- Daytona 500 Best Bets Odds
The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series drops the green flag on their 2021 season with the 63rd running of The Great American Race. That also means the NASCAR wagering season also begins. Each week I will post my 'Best Bets' for each race. It all begins this week at the Daytona 500.
Races on the Superspeedway are the toughest to predict but it is getting easier. There are a handful of drivers who have consistently finished upfront at Daytona. These are the drivers we need to be targeting Sunday and there are a few long shots who make a lot of sense to put some money on.
![Best Best](https://cdn.theathletic.com/app/uploads/2021/02/19155732/Daytona-road-course-1024x683.jpg)
DraftKings Odds for Daytona 500
Giro d'italia odds. * The odds could change between the time of this article and the time you place your bet
** The first number is the amount of money based on the second number (the amount of the wager). So if you bet $1 on Denny Hamlin, you will win $7.
Here are my 'Best Bets' for the Daytona 500…
Danny Hamlin (7-1): It is no fun to bet the favorite but it is hard to overlook what Hamlin has done at Daytona. He has finished 1st, 1st, 3rd, 17th and 1st in his last five Daytona 500's. He has also finished 1st, 3rd, 4th, 1st and 3rd in his last Superspeedway races. That is a lot of trips to Victory Lane. 7-1 odds are not too bad for a driver who is clearly the class of the field Sunday.
Ryan Blaney (11-1): Blaney has become the second-best driver on the Superspeedways behind Denny Hamlin. He won races at Talladega in 2020 and in 2019. Blaney has also been knocking on Victory Lane's door at Daytona. Blaney finished second in the Daytona 500 last year and he finished sixth in the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona in 2020. Blaney is the 2021 version of Chase Elliott. I expect a big season from Blaney and it could start with a trip to Victory Lane in the Great American Race.
William Byron (14-1): We want to put our money on drivers who know how to get to Victory Lane at Daytona. Byron is one of those drivers. He won the last race at Daytona (Coke Zero 400 last August) and he won his Duel race at Daytona last year. Byron also finished second at Daytona in 2019. Hendrick Motorsports is a team on the rise. They are no stranger to finishing #1, #2 and #3 in the Daytona 500. I am hoping they can do it again with Byron leading the pack across the start/finish line.
Kyle Larson (18-1): This pick is more of a gut feeling than anything else. So what has Larson done since he left NASCAR last year? He won almost every race he entered. I am hoping his win streak continues in the Daytona 500. Larson has an 11th-place average finishing position in his last five Daytona 500's. He had a good chance to win a couple of those races. Larson will have the best handling car and the best teammates he has ever had at Daytona. I would not be surprised to see Larson win the Daytona 500.
Ryan Newman (40-1): Wow, 40-1 odds for the driver who nearly won the last Daytona 500. Newman finished 9th, 14th and 8th in the current aero package in the Daytona 500. He usually stays in the back-third of the pack until the end of the race. Newman is smart enough to know that the big wrecks tend to occur up front between the drivers battling for the lead. In order to win the race, a driver must finish the race. Newman is very good at finishing the race. A trip to Victory Lane for Newman would be a perfect final chapter to his career at Daytona. * Newman's teammate Chris Buescher is also a great bet at 50-1 odds.
Long-Shot Special: My Long-Shot Special this week is Michael McDowell (66-1). Which driver has the best average finishing position at Daytona of the last 10 races? It is not Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano or Ryan Blaney… It is McDowell and his 12.5 average finishing position. McDowell finished 5th in the 2019 Daytona 500 and 9th in 2018. I will bet a few bucks on McDowell Sunday and hope he sneaks into Victory Lane.
![Daytona 500 best bets games Daytona 500 best bets games](https://www.nascar.media/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2019/12/chris-buescher-action-network-625x340.jpg)
Good luck this week!
![500 500](https://www.channelguidemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/NASCARDaytona2018BB-678x381.jpg)
DraftKings Odds for Daytona 500
Giro d'italia odds. * The odds could change between the time of this article and the time you place your bet
** The first number is the amount of money based on the second number (the amount of the wager). So if you bet $1 on Denny Hamlin, you will win $7.
Here are my 'Best Bets' for the Daytona 500…
Danny Hamlin (7-1): It is no fun to bet the favorite but it is hard to overlook what Hamlin has done at Daytona. He has finished 1st, 1st, 3rd, 17th and 1st in his last five Daytona 500's. He has also finished 1st, 3rd, 4th, 1st and 3rd in his last Superspeedway races. That is a lot of trips to Victory Lane. 7-1 odds are not too bad for a driver who is clearly the class of the field Sunday.
Ryan Blaney (11-1): Blaney has become the second-best driver on the Superspeedways behind Denny Hamlin. He won races at Talladega in 2020 and in 2019. Blaney has also been knocking on Victory Lane's door at Daytona. Blaney finished second in the Daytona 500 last year and he finished sixth in the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona in 2020. Blaney is the 2021 version of Chase Elliott. I expect a big season from Blaney and it could start with a trip to Victory Lane in the Great American Race.
William Byron (14-1): We want to put our money on drivers who know how to get to Victory Lane at Daytona. Byron is one of those drivers. He won the last race at Daytona (Coke Zero 400 last August) and he won his Duel race at Daytona last year. Byron also finished second at Daytona in 2019. Hendrick Motorsports is a team on the rise. They are no stranger to finishing #1, #2 and #3 in the Daytona 500. I am hoping they can do it again with Byron leading the pack across the start/finish line.
Kyle Larson (18-1): This pick is more of a gut feeling than anything else. So what has Larson done since he left NASCAR last year? He won almost every race he entered. I am hoping his win streak continues in the Daytona 500. Larson has an 11th-place average finishing position in his last five Daytona 500's. He had a good chance to win a couple of those races. Larson will have the best handling car and the best teammates he has ever had at Daytona. I would not be surprised to see Larson win the Daytona 500.
Ryan Newman (40-1): Wow, 40-1 odds for the driver who nearly won the last Daytona 500. Newman finished 9th, 14th and 8th in the current aero package in the Daytona 500. He usually stays in the back-third of the pack until the end of the race. Newman is smart enough to know that the big wrecks tend to occur up front between the drivers battling for the lead. In order to win the race, a driver must finish the race. Newman is very good at finishing the race. A trip to Victory Lane for Newman would be a perfect final chapter to his career at Daytona. * Newman's teammate Chris Buescher is also a great bet at 50-1 odds.
Long-Shot Special: My Long-Shot Special this week is Michael McDowell (66-1). Which driver has the best average finishing position at Daytona of the last 10 races? It is not Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano or Ryan Blaney… It is McDowell and his 12.5 average finishing position. McDowell finished 5th in the 2019 Daytona 500 and 9th in 2018. I will bet a few bucks on McDowell Sunday and hope he sneaks into Victory Lane.
Good luck this week!
Follow me on Twitter @MrFantasyNASCAR
The Daytona 500 will kick off NASCAR's Cup Series season Sunday (2:30 p.m. ET). Coming off two straight victories at 'The Great American Race,' three-time winner Denny Hamlin is unsurprisingly the favorite at Daytona International Speedway.
Who will take the checkered flag? Senior writer Ryan McGee, fantasy analyst Mike Clay and editor Scott Symmes offer their best bets.
Note: Odds from Caesars Sportsbook by William Hill unless otherwise noted.
Best bets
Denny Hamlin 8-1
Daytona 500 Best Bets Stocks
McGee: I want so badly to go rogue and be courageous and find some dude way down the board to make everyone lots of money, but all I know is that I am fortunate enough to be the ESPN reporter who gets to interview the Daytona 500 winner every year, and three out of the past five years it has been Hamlin. No one has ever won three straight 500s, but I don't care. Whenever I'm totally running out of questions to ask a guy because he's the only one I ever interview at the same event every year, he must be pretty damn good.
Daytona 500 Best Bets No Deposit
Clay: Hamlin will seek a historic feat this Sunday as he attempts to become the first driver to visit Victory Lane in three straight Daytona 500s. He has been an absolute force on superspeedways during the past three seasons, securing top-five finishes in seven of his past nine starts on drafting ovals. The nature of Daytona is bound to yield a dose of unpredictability, so you wouldn't be wrong to lean toward the longer odds, but you shouldn't pass on this favorite.
Ryan Blaney 11-1
Symmes: For Blaney, the Daytona 500 is the one that keeps barely eluding his grasp. Blaney has finished second in this race twice, including last year, when he lost by inches to Hamlin. His most impressive Daytona 500 performance came in 2018, when he led the most laps and looked poised to win before being involved in a late-race incident. (He still managed to pull off a seventh-place finish.) The Team Penske driver has two wins at Talladega, so he has shown he can close the deal on superspeedways. Blaney has clearly shown enough strength at Daytona. He just needs to find that finishing touch. Don't be surprised if Sunday is the day it finally falls into place for him.
Clay: Blaney settled for runner-up in last year's drama-filled Daytona 500, with Hamlin inching him out at the line. He followed that result with a sixth-place showing this past summer under the Daytona lights. Blaney had a slow start to his career when it came to drafting ovals, but he found his stride in 2019 with a win at Talladega and became a repeat winner at that track in 2020. If he avoids trouble, then he'll be a near lock to maintain his superspeedway prowess.
Brad Keselowski 11-1
Symmes: Blaney isn't the only Team Penske driver who's overdue to break through in the Daytona 500. Keselowski leads all active Cup Series drivers with superspeedway wins (six at Daytona and Talladega combined), but he's 0-for-11 in the Great American Race. He's often been a front-runner (he led 30 laps last year), but crashes have taken him out of contention three times in the past four years. It's about time for the former series champion's luck to turn.
Daytona 500 Best Odds
Long shot
Best Bets For Daytona 500
Chris Buescher 60-1
Daytona 500 Best Bets Odds
Symmes: Buescher has recorded top-5 finishes in two of the past three Daytona 500s. Only two other drivers have done that: Hamlin and Joey Logano, another former winner. That's pretty good company for Buescher, who seems to have a knack for patiently working his way to the front. He finished third in last year's Daytona 500 and followed that up with a ninth-place finish in the August Daytona race.