Pearce Dietrich gives his picks and ranks his top drivers for the 2026 Daytona 500 at Daytona.

The NASCAR Super Bowl opens the season. The Daytona 500 is not just a crown jewel race, it’s the race. It’s not just a race, it’s a wild super-speedway race. Any driver can win. Any DraftKings player can win.

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Set your DraftKings fantasy NASCAR lineups here: NAS $1.5M America’s Race [$500K to 1st] (Daytona)

Top DraftKings Picks for the 2026 Daytona 500

1. Ryan Blaney ($9,700) — Do super-speedway stats matter? There is variance at Daytona, Talladega and Atlanta. Wrecks are common. Anyone can wreck and anyone can earn a top-5 finish. Can and do are different. Anyone can, but Blaney does. His 37% top-5 finish rate since 2019 is the best in the Cup Series.

2. William Byron ($10,000) — Optimal DraftKings fantasy NASCAR lineups regularly feature super-speedway race winners. Byron has the best win rate (2019-2025). Not only has he won more than anyone else, he’s won back-to-back Daytona 500s (2024 and 2025).

3. Denny Hamlin ($9,500) — One of the greatest plate racers or super speedway racers has a storyline entering the 2026 season. There’s a lot on his plate. At this stage in Hamlin’s career, there should be a fall off, but that’s not the case. There should be less motivation, but given the devastating months leading into this season, that’s definitely not the case.

4. Chase Elliott ($9,300) — Although NASCAR’s most popular driver has not won at Daytona, he has won at Talladega and Atlanta. His average super-speedway finish is 14.8. That might not sound great, but this is the second-best in this volatile style of racing.

5. Kyle Larson ($9,800) — The script is the same. Larson is Alexander the Great. He’s conquered every discipline of racing. There is one last accomplishment. Yung Money has won an O’Reilly Series (formerly the Xfinity Series) super speedway race, but he’s yet to win one in the Cup Series. It shouldn’t matter, but it does.

6. Alex Bowman ($8,500) — Quietly, Bowman has become one of the best super-speedway drivers in the Cup Series. This shouldn’t be a surprise. No one ever notices Bowman, but they should because he’s driving a Hendrick Chevy. He doesn’t have the wins but his 41% top-10 finish rate is one of the best in the series.

7. Bubba Wallace ($9,100) — In the last 12 super-speedway races (2024-2025), Wallace has six top-10 finishes. Most drivers do not finish half of their races at Daytona, Talladega and Atlanta. Wallace finishes and finishes inside the top 10.

8. Chris Buescher ($8,400) — Technically, John Hunter Nemechek averages a better finish at Daytona than Buescher, but JHN’s sample size is small (six races). Buescher has the best average finish at Daytona and has a Daytona summer race win.

9. Christopher Bell ($8,200) — Similar to fellow dirt racing legend Kyle Larson, Bell has not won a Cup Series race at Daytona or Talladega. Bell did win the 2025 Atlanta super-speedway race. There are plenty of Toyotas on the track to team up with. Bell might be the top pick, but at Daytona, there’s little difference between the best and the rest.

10. Joey Logano ($9,400) — Team Penske has a storied history at super speedways. Logano and Brad Keselowski were a dominant force. It seems the torch has been passed to Blaney. Even Austin Cindric has visited victory lane more recently than Logano. Has Logano’s luck run out? Never bet against Logano.

11. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. ($7,200) — Everyone’s favorite plate racer has to be on the radar. He’s the class DFS NASCAR GPP pick at Daytona. It’s all or nothing. Most of the time it’s nothing. Stenhouse has one top-10 finish in the last 14 Daytona races — his 2023 Daytona 500 win.

12. Erik Jones ($7,300) — Legacy Motor Club was a disappointment in 2025. The Daytona 500 is a great opportunity to make a statement. Jones’ super-speedway skills did not diminish when Joe Gibbs Racing showed him the door. For DFS, he’s in a better position with a smaller team. Points don’t matter. Jones is gunning for the win.

13. John H. Nemechek ($6,000) — What is to be done with JHN? If stats matter, then his average finish of 11th is the best in the series. The catch is that he’s only raced at Daytona six times. If track history is barely acceptable, then why should the number of races matter? How many races are necessary?

14. Daniel Suarez ($6,700) — It’s been a trip. Suarez won the Xfinity Series and was rushed into the Cup Series when Carl Edwards abruptly retired. JGR later fired Suarez. He raced for a back marker before helping put Trackhouse on the map. He’ll try to do it over with Spire. Suarez earned a top-15 finish in each Daytona and Talladega race in 2025.

15. Jimmie Johnson ($5,800) — Why not? The No. 84 Legacy Motor Club Toyota is locked into the Daytona 500 via the Open Exemption Provisional. Johnson ran around the back for most of the 2025 Daytona 500, but when the dust settled, he finished third.