The Great American Race turns 68 this year as the 2026 Daytona 500 takes place on Sunday. Daytona International Speedway is the scene for NASCAR’s season-opening race, which features William Byron as the two-time defending winner. He’s going for an unprecedented three-peat, while other past champions in the Daytona 500 2026 lineup include Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson. In all, there are eight past winners among the 41-driver entry list for the Daytona 500.<\/p>\n
Despite two straight wins, Byron is just the third-favorite, according to the latest 2026 Daytona 500 odds. He’s at +1300, sitting behind Ryan Blaney (+850) and Logano (+1000). Talented rookie Connor Zilisch comes in at +3000, while Johnson, who is also aiming for his third victory, is a +7000 longshot to utilize in NASCAR bets. The race will now start at 1:30 p.m. ET, as the time was moved up an hour due to impending weather. Before making any 2026 Daytona 500 picks or NASCAR predictions,\u00a0you need to see the projected leaderboard from Mike McClure’s proven model<\/a>.<\/p>\n New users can also check out the latest\u00a0FanDuel promo code<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0get $100 in bonus bets instantly at FanDuel if your $5 bet wins<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n McClure is a legendary professional DFS player with more than $2 million in career winnings. He uses a powerful prediction model that simulates every lap of NASCAR action 10,000 times. All told, the model has nailed a whopping 29 winners since 2021 and hit 11 winners in 2025. Anyone following his NASCAR betting<\/a> picks at their favorite\u00a0sportsbooks<\/a>\u00a0could have seen huge returns.<\/p>\n Now, McClure has turned his attention to the NASCAR season-opening Daytona 500.\u00a0He’s only sharing his best bets at SportsLine<\/a>.<\/p>\n 2026 NASCAR Daytona 500 predictions<\/p>\n For the 2026 NASCAR Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway, McClure is fading Logano, who is the +1000 co-favorite. The model says he doesn’t even crack the top 5, making him a driver to avoid at this price. He’s dominated for much of the race in each of the last two years, but crashes prevented him from finishing either time. In 2024, he was on the pole and led for a race-high 45 laps before a 23-car pileup derailed his chances as he placed 32nd.<\/p>\n Last year, he led for 43 laps before another accident resulted in a 35th-place finish. His team in Team Penske has let down Logano in recent Daytona 500 races, and Penske has just one top-5 finish over its last nine drivers in this race.\u00a0See which other drivers the model is backing at SportsLine<\/a>.<\/p>\n New users can target the\u00a0DraftKings promo code<\/a>, which offers\u00a0$300 in bonus bets if your $5+ bet wins<\/a>:<\/p>\n How to make 2026 Daytona 500 picks<\/p>\n McClure is also high on a +2000 longshot, potentially netting any backer a huge payday. You can only see who it is here<\/a>.<\/p>\n So who wins the 2026 Daytona 500, and which massive longshot could stun NASCAR? Visit SportsLine now to see the 2026 NASCAR Daytona 500 picks and best bets from a NASCAR insider,<\/a> and find out.<\/p>\n 2026 NASCAR Daytona 500 odds, lineup<\/p>\n