Daytona 500 Odds, Picks, & Best Bets: It’s Ryan Blaney’s race to lose

The Chiefs just won the NFL’s biggest game and it’s now time for stock car racing’s Super Bowl.
This Sunday, February 19th at 2:30 pm ET, the green flag will drop at Daytona International Speedway for the Daytona 500.

The betting odds for the 500 are unlike most other Nascar races with the favorites checking in at 10 or 12/1. At Daytona, it’s literally anyone’s race so it’s no surprise to see 13 drivers with odds between 10 and 20/1.

2023 Daytona 500 Picks

Betting superspeedway races are always feast or famine. No matter how good certain drivers are at Daytona or super speedways in general, the volatility of this race evens the field. With that said, here are some of my favorite bets to make for the 2023 Daytona 500.

*All odds are current at the time of publication.

Daytona 500 Outrights

Trying to hit race winners at Daytona is extremely difficult but nevertheless, here we go!

Ryan Blaney +1200 (Draftkings) Bet .5u to win 6u

Blaney has been fantastic at Daytona over the last three years. He’s finished 6th or better in four of the last six races here. Found victory lane in 2021 during the Summer race at Daytona. And had he been a little more aggressive, probably should have won the 500 last year.

It is Ryan Blaney’s race to lose

Blaney has 7 career Cup Series wins and 3 of those have come at Daytona and Talladega. It’s never fun betting on a favorite at these races but he’s more than due. Both for a Daytona 500 win, and a regular season victory after going winless last year.

Chris Buescher +3500 (FanDuel) Bet .3u to win 10.5u

Throw out the recent finishing results here. Buescher has been pretty darn good at superspeedways.

Chris crossed the finish line 1st but was DQ’d in the 2021 Summer race that Blaney won. He won a Duel and ran near the front all day during last year’s 500. But of course, that was also ruined when car owner/teammate Brad Keselowski caused a wreck with just 5 laps to go.

Additional Outrights

Denny Hamlin +1300 (DraftKings) Bet .5u to win 6.5u

Willliam Byron +2000 (FanDuel) Bet .4u to win 7.6u

Chase Briscoe +4000 (FanDuel) Bet .2u to win 8u

Corey Lajoie +100000 (FanDuel) Bet .1u to win 10u

Daytona 500 Placement Bets

Betting placements like top 3, top 5, and top 10’s aren’t exactly recommended but sometimes value can be had. Here is one placement I’m very intrigued by.

Michael McDowell Top 10 +210 (FanDuel) Bet .5u to win 1.15u

The no. 34 car is still very underappreciated and way undervalued. McDowell has the most lead lap finishes (7) among all drivers since 2018 at Daytona. He won the 2021 Daytona 500 and he has top 10 finishes in four of the last five Great American Races. These odds are outright disrespectful but thanks FanDuel.

Additional Placement Bets

Corey Lajoie Top 10 +400 (FanDuel) Bet .3u to win 1.2u

Ty Dillon Top 10 +650 (FanDuel) Bet .2u to win 1.3u *Placed before practice/qualifying and now +450 or lower.

Driver Matchups

Driver matchups are a fantastic way to mitigate risk while betting on Nascar. At superspeedways and Daytona in particular, this is imperative. See my favorite driver matchup for the Daytona 500 below.

Chase Elliott -110 Over Kyle Larson (DraftKings) Bet 1.1u to win 1u

Larson has 1 career finish inside the T10 at Talladega while Elliott has 2 wins, and T10s in 5 of the last 8 there.

Elliott has T10s in 4 of the last 5 Daytona races, to Larson’s 3 career such finishes. And Chase has finished ahead of the no.5 in each of the last 4 races at Daytona.

Nascar is back baby and it’s time for The Great American Race. Enjoy the Daytona 500 and may all your bets cash. Bettors, start your engines!

Featured Image Credit: Sean Gardner/Getty Images