2023 Daytona 500 Predictions & Odds
The official start of the NASCAR season kicks off on Sunday with the annual Daytona 500 from Daytona International Speedway.
With Alex Bowman grabbing the pole position, which drivers make sense to back from a betting standpoint?
Race Details
Date: Sunday, February 19, 2023
Time: 1:30 p.m. ET
TV: FOX
Track: Daytona International Speedway
The Daytona 500 is known for its high speeds, close racing, and the potential for big crashes due to the tight pack racing that occurs on the superspeedway track. Drivers will need to navigate their way through 200 laps, covering a total of 500 miles, while dealing with the constant threat of danger from other cars.
In terms of past winners, some of the biggest names in NASCAR have taken home the Daytona 500 trophy, including Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt Sr., Jeff Gordon, and Jimmie Johnson. In recent years, Denny Hamlin has emerged as a dominant force in the Daytona 500, winning the race in 2016, 2019, and 2020.
Heading into the 2023 Daytona 500, it is difficult to predict who will come out on top. However, it is likely that some of the top drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series will be in contention, including defending Cup Series champion Kyle Larson, seven-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson, and rising stars like Chase Elliott and William Byron.
Ultimately, the Daytona 500 is a highly unpredictable race, and anything can happen over the course of 500 miles. Fans of NASCAR can look forward to an exciting and action-packed event that is sure to kick off the 2023 Cup Series season in style.
NASCAR 500 Predictions
OPTION 1: Ryan Blaney (12/1)
Over the last six Daytona races, Denny Hamlin has led the most laps with 206, but Blaney has the most top-five finishes with four. He has twice finished runner-up in the Daytona 500 and was fourth in last year’s race. He’s won a series-high three of the last 13 races at Daytona and Talladega.
OPTION 2: Ross Chastain (16/1)
Chastain has been good on superspeedways and won an Xfinity Series race here in Daytona in July of 2019. He had a poor finish in this past year’s Daytona 500 (40t), but he was also second in both Atlanta races and won at Talladega last spring. Finally, he had four straight top-4 finishes to close out last season so he’s got some momentum coming into this year.
OPTION 3: Austin Dillon (30/1)
Only four drivers in the field today have a career average finish of 15th or higher at Daytona and Dillon is one of them at 14.7. Of the drivers with at least 10 career starts at Daytona, Dillon has the highest top-10 average at 47.4% (he’s 9-for-19). He’s a fun longshot to win an often unpredictable race.
