Betting Odds On Daytona 500
Elliott is the defending Cup champion, but betting him at the Daytona 500 feels like a bit of a longshot. At this time last season, he had the 11th-best odds to win the Championship (he enters the year as the co-favorite for the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series odds ), and he didn’t have a great regular season. Get a look at the betting odds and lines for the 2020 Daytona 500, including drivers who are not among the favorites but might be good value picks. Predicting the winner of a NASCAR race is a tad tougher than for an NBA or NFL game – since there are 40 teams instead of two. Driver odds for Sunday’s Daytona 500 range from 5-to-1 (+500) for the. 2021 Daytona 500 odds, drivers, predictions: Surprising NASCAR picks from same model that nailed Hamlin's win SportsLine simulated the 2021 Daytona 500 10,000 times and locked in surprising picks.
The NASCAR Cup Series kicks off the 2021 season at Daytona International Speedway Sunday at 2:30 p.m. ET for the Daytona 500. Below we analyze the Daytona 500 NASCAR odds and lines, with NASCAR picks and tips with odds from BetMGM sportsbook.
Daytona 500: What you need to know
Odds courtesy of BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Saturday at 4:18 p.m. ET.
The Cup Series is scheduled to kick off its 2021 season Sunday for the Great American Race, the Daytona 500. However, we’ll have to keep a close eye on the sky. There is greater than a 60 percent chance of showers from mid-afternoon through the early evening in Daytona Beach, Fla., so a delay and/or postponement seems likely given the ominous forecast.
Monday’s forecast calls for mostly clear in the morning with a 40 percent chance of scattered thunderstorms moving in around 1 p.m. ET. But there is an open window in the event the race is postponed Sunday.
Kyle Busch won the Busch Clash at Daytona on Tuesday night on the road course. While that certainly doesn’t mean sure success on the tri-oval, it gives Busch a springboard into the new season after a disastrous 2020.Busch’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin has won each of the past two Daytona 500 races. In last year’s win, he was originally slotted in the 21st starting position but was moved to the back of the pack due to multiple failed inspections. In 30 career starts at the track he has three wins, 10 top-5 finishes and a 16.33 Average-Finish Position (AFP).Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Dillon
picked up the checkered flag at the 500 in 2018. Good finishes on the restrictor-plate track are nothing new for Dillon. In 15 career starts at DIS, he has the 2018 win, two top-5 finishes, seven top-10 runs and a pole in 2014. He also has a stellar 15.53 AFP on the Florida superspeedway.Bubba Wallace will make his debut for owner Michael Jordan’s 23XI Racing, running in the No. 23 car. He was the runner-up to Dillon in 2018, posting the highest finish by an African-American driver in the 500. Bubba was fastest in Wednesday’s practice.Special Daytona 500 Betting Promotion!
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Who is going to win the Daytona 500?
HAMLIN (+500) is the chalk, but you have to figure it’s time for someone else. The No. 11 has been to Victory Lane in each of the past two seasons in the Super Bowl of Stock Car Racing. Hamlin’s two wins, and three victories in the past five seasons, gives manufacturer Toyota checkered flags in three of the past five Daytona 500 races.
Hamlin joined Sterling Marlin (1994-95), Cale Yarborough (1983-84) and Richard Petty (1973-74) as the only drivers to win the Daytona 500 in consecutive seasons. No one has ever won the Daytona 500 in three straight years.
Stewart-Haas Racing’s KEVIN HARVICK (+1200) has some rather long odds given his previous success at the track. He has made 39 career starts on the Daytona tri-oval, posting two wins, 10 top-5 finishes, 262 laps led and a sharp 17.6 AFP. He also has eight DNFs at the track, second-most among active drivers behind KYLE BUSCH (+1400), so there is some risk.
Penske Racing’s JOEY LOGANO (+900) is looking to get back to Victory Lane at the 500 for the first time since 2015. He owns an impressive 18.17 AFP in 24 career DIS starts, including nine finishes of 10th or better with 156 laps led.
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Daytona 500 long-shot bet
RICKY STENHOUSE JR. (+2500) of JTG Daugherty Racing was on the pole last season and was fifth fastest in qualifying at 189.565 mph. He is always a driver to watch on the superspeedways, especially Daytona. He has a win in 17 career starts, 121 laps led and 10 finishes of 20th or better while going for a solid 19.59 AFP.
ARIC ALMIROLA (+1800) doesn’t have quite as long of odds, but he is worth a look. He appeared to be on his way to a win at the 500 in 2018, but he was bumped by Dillon and sent careening into the wall. He does have a career win in Daytona in the summer race, and he has 10 finishes of 20th or better in 18 career starts with a 20.56 AFP.
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The NFL season is in the books, but sports bettors can rev their engines for the start of the 2021 NASCAR season with the annual Daytona 500.
The NASCAR Cup Series race, where speed and drafting reign, takes place Sunday (2:30 p.m., Fox). However, a week full of activities leads into Sunday’s running of the Great American Race.
Now, with Virginia sports betting well underway, race fans have more opportunities than ever to wager on the motorsports juggernaut. (And the options could be even more plentiful with sportsbooks potentially coming to Richmond Raceway and Martinsville Speedway.)
And as the 2021 NASCAR season gets underway, all eyes are on young phenom Chase Elliott, who’s also the reigning champion.
.@chaseelliott is bringing the same championship mindset heading into 2021 – always striving to be better! 👊 pic.twitter.com/5Dr1Avre0X
— Hendrick Motorsports (@TeamHendrick) February 5, 2021
The 25-year-old, who’s the son of 1988 NASCAR champion Bill Elliott, is one of the favorites to win this year’s title. He’s also one of the NASCAR betting favorites to win this year’s Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.
2021 Daytona 500 odds to win
As you can see below, Elliott (+900 to +1,000) is one of the favorites for Sunday’s race.
So, too, is three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin (+700 to +800), who won the 200-lap, 500-mile race in both 2019 and 2020. The 40-year-old finished fourth in the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series standings and second in wins (seven).
Other notables include 2020 Talladega winner Ryan Blaney (+1,000 to +1,200), 2012 champion Brad Keselowski (+1,000 to +1,400), and 2018 champ Joey Logano (+1,000 to +1,200).
Here are the 15 drivers most likely to win the 2021 Daytona 500, according to odds on Monday:
| DraftKings | FanDuel | BetMGM | William Hill | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Denny Hamlin | +700 | +800 | +800 | +800 |
| Chase Elliott | +900 | +950 | +1000 | +1000 |
| Ryan Blaney | +1100 | +1200 | +1000 | +1000 |
| Brad Keselowski | +1100 | +1200 | +1400 | +1000 |
| Joey Logano | +1100 | +1200 | +1000 | +1000 |
| Kevin Harvick | +1300 | +1300 | +1600 | +1200 |
| Kyle Busch | +1400 | +1400 | +1600 | +1500 |
| William Byron | +1400 | +2000 | +1400 | +1800 |
| Aric Almirola | +1800 | +2000 | +1600 | +1800 |
| Alex Bowman | +1800 | +1800 | +1600 | +1800 |
| Kurt Busch | +1800 | +1800 | +2000 | +1800 |
| Kyle Larson | +1800 | +1700 | +1600 | +1800 |
| Martin Truex Jr. | +1800 | +1700 | +2000 | +1800 |
| Austin Dillon | +2500 | +2000 | +3000 | +2500 |
| Bubba Wallace | +2500 | +2000 | +2000 | +2500 |
A futures bet is the most straightforward way to wager on Sunday’s big race. However, there are other options, depending on the sportsbook.
For example, DraftKings and William Hill are both offering odds for Tuesday’s Busch Clash (7 p.m., FS1). The invitation-only exhibition race marks the start of the NASCAR portion of “Speedweeks” at Daytona International Speedway.
However, in addition to those “pick a winner” wagers, other types of NASCAR bets include:
- Head-to-head: Predict which of two drivers will finish in a better position in a race.
- Top 3, Top 10: Predict if a certain driver will finish in third (or 10th) place or better.
- Prop betting: Predict the car number of the winning driver (odd/even or higher/lower than 10.5).
NASCAR season championship
Elliott won his first season championship in 2020. He won five races, including the final two of the year.
Betting Odds On Daytona 500 Rescheduled
That’s a big reason the Hendrick Motorsports driver is the odds-on favorite to win a season title this year.
Here are the 2021 NASCAR season championship odds for the top drivers:
| DraftKings | FanDuel | BetMGM | William Hill | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chase Elliott | +550 | +550 | +700 | +550 |
| Kevin Harvick | +550 | +600 | +550 | +550 |
| Denny Hamlin | +650 | +650 | +800 | +550 |
| Kyle Busch | +700 | +800 | +700 | +900 |
| Brad Keselowski | +700 | +800 | +800 | +550 |
| Joey Logano | +700 | +800 | +800 | +650 |
| Martin Truex Jr. | +750 | +800 | +800 | +650 |
| Kyle Larson | +900 | +1000 | +1100 | +1200 |
| Ryan Blaney | +1200 | +1400 | +1400 | +1000 |
| Alex Bowman | +2500 | +2400 | +3500 | +2000 |
As you can see, 2014 season champ Kevin Harvick (+550 to +600), Hamlin, and two-time Cup Series champ Kyle Busch (+700 to +900) also have short odds.
Harvick, the 2014 Cup Series champ, finished first in top 5s (20) and top 10s (27) in the 2020 season. However, he’s looking for his first win at Daytona, the Super Bowl of Stock Car Racing, since 2007.
Oddsmakers are also big on Kyle Larson. The 28-year-old lost his ride with Chip Ganassi Racing in 2020 after using a racial slur during an iRacing event. Now reinstated with NASCAR, Larson will be driving for Hendrick Motorsports in 2021. He’s one of the favorites to win a season championship, with odds between +900 and +1,200.
2021 NASCAR in Virginia
Betting Odds On Daytona 500 All-time
Race fans won’t need to wait long to see the NASCAR in Virginia.
In fact, April will be a showcase month for the region’s tracks.
The Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 takes place at Martinsville Speedway on April 10. The following week, the Toyota Owners 400 takes place at Richmond Raceway on April 18.
And before the Virginia swing, the first-ever Food City Dirt Race will take place at Bristol Motor Speedway. NASCAR will covert the famed short track, which is on the Tennessee-Virginia border, into a dirt oval for the first time in Cup Series history.
We will hear this sound soon enough!#ItsDirtBaby#ItsBristolBaby#NASCARpic.twitter.com/3umFrUmkil
— BristolMotorSpeedway (@BMSupdates) February 3, 2021
The Cup Series will then return to Richmond on Sept. 11 for the Federated Auto Parts 400. It’s the second of 10 NASCAR Cup Championship Playoffs races to close out the year.
Betting Odds On Daytona 500 Ryan Newman
Martinsville, meanwhile, will host the penultimate race of the season with the Xfinity 500 on Oct. 31.
Truex Jr. and Elliott were winners in Martinsville during the reshuffled 2020 pandemic season. Keselowski, meanwhile, won the lone 2020 race at Richmond.