The NASCAR Cup Series roars back to life with the 2026 Daytona 500 on Sunday, February 15, starting at 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX. Tune into this event at Daytona International Speedway as the 40-car field unleashes 500 miles of drafting fury under the Florida sun.
My Daytona 500 prop picks are locked and loaded for this superspeedway spectacle, delivering free betting picks backed by driver-specific firepower that honors the past while hunting 2026 glory in the "Great American Race."
NASCAR prop picks for Daytona 500
- Top 5 Finish: William Byron (+275)
- Top 5 Finish: Ryan Blaney (+225)
- Top 5 Finish: Bubba Wallace (+375)
NASCAR Daytona 500 props and best bets
Top 5 Finish: William Byron (+275 at bet365)
William Byron won the 2025 Daytona 500 from a fifth-place start after leading 10 laps and staying incident-free in the chaotic pack.
He boasts an elite 9.38 average finish across restrictor-plate tracks entering 2026, with some of the industry-leading top projections ranking him No. 3 at Daytona due to his improving six-year trend there.
Byron notched 11 Top 5s overall in 2025 with consistent stage points at Daytona events, pricing this prop undervalued given his back-to-back 500 history.
Yes, the prospective bettor would love to see a +325 price on Byron, but there's still value at +275.
Top 5 Finish: Ryan Blaney (+225 at bet365)
Ryan Blaney flashed Daytona strength in 2025’s Coke Zero Sugar 400, winning from pole while leading 27 laps and mastering late restarts on the high-banked oval.
His 2025 Daytona 500 finish landed at seventh from a 16th-place start, with 23 laps led, showing pack-leading aggression without DNFs in superspeedway chaos.
Blaney’s 14 Top 5s across 2025 highlight his closing speed, and at +225 for Top 5, this aligns below his modeled rate as an early outright favorite.
The casuals will be betting the Larsons of the world heavily. Hopefully, Blaney slips through cracks and delivers some value.
Top 5 Finish: Bubba Wallace (+375 at bet365)
Bubba Wallace charged to third in the 2025 Daytona 500 from a 29th-place start, demonstrating elite survival skills in 11 cautions and multi-car wrecks without incident.
Later in 2025 at Talladega (another superspeedway), he rallied to eighth amid heavy drafting battles, underscoring his ability to handle the pressure-packed battles at superspeedway tracks.
With outright odds in double-digits for 2026 despite a Top 5 season rank of 10th and proven chaos navigation, +375 undervalues his top-end Daytona ceiling.
When I began researching this piece earlier in the week, Wallace's Top 5 prop could be had at +800, so you know somebody out there has belief in one of NASCAR's most underrated drivers.
I'm bullish on Wallace this year, and I'm confident it starts off with a Top 5 finish in the 500.
Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change.
Not intended for use in MA.
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