• Daytona 500 Predictions 2021
• Nascar Daytona 500 Predictions
• Daytona 500 Predictions Reddit
• Daytona 500 Predictions February 2021
• Daytona 500 Predictions Covers
• Daytona 500 Predictions 2020

1. As always, I’ll go for the historical moment to happen and I supported Hamlin through the betting window, along with a few other guys I mentioned in this piece. Here are my top-5 selections using odds from Circa Sports Las Vegas: Daytona 500 Top-5 Finish Prediction. 1) #11 Denny Hamlin (11/1) 2) #12 Ryan Blaney (14/1) 3) #10 Aric Almirola (24/1).
2. Daytona 500 odds, picks and prediction. 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.
3. Prediction: Hamlin will be tested by Wallace, Elliott and Lagano, but no one will get in the way of him completing the trifecta. He wins his third straight Daytona 500 on Sunday.
4. Visit SportsLine now to see the projected 2021 NASCAR at Daytona leaderboard from the nation's premier NASCAR handicapper, and find out. 2021 Daytona 500 odds. Denny Hamlin 17-2 Chase Elliott 10-1.

NASCAR Cup Betting Resources
Daytona 500 Picks

Daytona 500 NASCAR Preview and Fantasy Predictions By Tom Bowles, 2/13/21, 8:00 AM EST Change is in the air as the season kicks off with the 63rd Great American Race.

• Date: Sunday, February 14, 2021
• TV-Time: FOX, 2:30 p.m. ET
• Venue: Daytona International Speedway
• Location: Daytona Beach, Florida

Handicapping NASCAR at Daytona

In the previous 62 Daytona 500s, no driver has won three straight of NASCAR’s most prestigious race and we haven’t seen anyone get the opportunity since Sterling Marlin tried in the 1996 event. But 2021 gives us a chance to watch history as Denny Hamlin will try to win his third straight Daytona 500 on Sunday and he’s fully aware of what is at stake.

'I hope that I'm around (don't wreck early), that I give myself a chance to make history because ultimately, that's what I'm here for,' Hamlin said. 'Making history, doing something that no one else has ever done, that's what motivates me to want to get this one.'

He also will be shooting for his fourth Daytona 500 which would tie him with Cale Yarborough for second-most behind Richard Petty’s seven wins. He has a chance to make history and that’s the main theme coming into the 63rd running of the race.

There are only five active drivers other than Hamlin to win a Daytona 500 and all of them have one win each. Some of the best superspeedway drivers, or those from the restrictor-plate era, have retired and taken their secrets of manipulating the air in the draft. But the 40-year-old Hamlin learned in his younger years by watching the greats and finally won a superspeedway race in his ninth season racing on them at Talladega in 2014.

Now he’s got five superspeedway wins, winning two of four last season -- top-four in all four -- closing out with a Talladega win. He led laps in all four superspeedway races last season and used different strategies in all. He’d either get upfront and lead to keep the ‘Big One’ behind him or fall behind to keep an eye in front of him with enough room to avoid the inevitable pile up that always happens on superspeedways. He’s been successful at both.

He’s also got Joe Gibbs Racing equipment which has worked hard to be competitive in the opener at Daytona. Matt Kenseth led a bunch of laps on superspeedways for JGR, Erik Jones got a summer Daytona win in 2018, and Kyle Busch has the top Daytona rating (91.1) among all drivers since NASCAR's Loop Data started keeping track in 2005. Hamlin is rated No. 2 (88.7) over that span.

In Wednesday morning’s first practice before qualifying, JGR equipment posted the top-five speeds with the new 2021 entry, Bubba Wallace, fastest with his Michael Jordan-Hamlin-owned No. 23.

The point is that it hasn’t all been Hamlin, but he’s been the one to use his skills the best and get out front lately. He uses the side-draft better than anyone and he blocks while leading better than anyone which is why we’re talking about him possibly winning for the third straight season. The car rules and race packages are the same as 2020, although Hamlin’s winning Daytona 500 car from last season is on display at Daytona USA.

NASCAR Cup Odds - Daytona

• Denny Hamlin +800
• Chase Elliott +1000
• Joey Logano +1000
• Ryan Blaney +1000
• Brad Keselowski +1400
• William Byron +1400
• (Odds Subject to Change)

William Hill sportsbooks have him listed as the 8-to-1 favorite while Circa Sports updated numbers Wednesday have him favored at 11-to-1 odds, the best number in the world.

I’ve been saying for years to be careful and be smart wagering every time there’s a superspeedway race. It’s repetitive but I feel it’s important to remind you all that the volatility of these two tracks changes the true driver rating for each driver because they’re more susceptible to being caught up in a wreck at no fault of their than other tracks.

Daytona 500 Predictions 2021

That’s why I say ditch the props and driver match-ups, but spend some more than usual on odds to win mixing in weighted amounts on a couple of favorites like Hamlin or Ryan Blaney (14/1), middle of the board drivers like Kyle Busch (19/1), Wallace (28/1), Chris Buescher (51/1), and a long shot like Jones (60/1) or Ryan Newman (60/1).

The sportsbooks know this as well which is why they don’t offer any huge odds on the long shots but offer big odds on the favorites. It’s the randomness, the crapshoot of it all where any driver can win. As the wrecks start happening, you start throwing bet tickets away, but for the final five laps, you may have three of the 10 drivers in the lead pack and have just as good of a shot as any.

Last season I had tickets on Hamlin and Newman in that situation and I got lucky, but I believed in Newman and the Roush equipment for superspeedways. I still do to an extent with Newman and Buescher, who finished third in the Daytona 500.

Let’s talk about some contenders to derail Hamlin’s quest for history beginning with his new employee Wallace who William Hill is offering at 28-to-1 odds.

Daytona 500 Contenders

The Toyota’s have the least amount of friends and the drivers always choose manufacturers of their own to draft with which is all the more reason to be astounded by Hamlin’s success. The Fords and Chevrolets all have more cars on the track than Toyota. But Hamlin just got a new wingman with Wallace in case Martin Truex, Jr., Busch, or Christopher Bell aren’t around to push him.

Wallace had three top-fives in his three seasons with Richard Petty Motorsports and two of them came at Daytona, including a runner-up as a rookie in 2018. It’s the only type of racing he had success with continuously where he could find his way to the front. But now he has basically a JGR car with Michael Jordan money attached and crew chief Mike Wheeler who was chief for Hamlin in the 2016 Daytona 500 win. This car is going to be fast and contending for the win while also pushing or being pushed by Hamlin.

I instantly thought of the 2001 Daytona 500 when Dale Earnhardt, just before he passed, was blocking for his two DEI cars driven by Michael Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and gave up his chance to win -- he had a fast RCR No. 3 that day -- to let his two cars battle it out. He had never given anybody anything like that in his career.

That scenario won’t play out here because Hamlin is going for three straight, but I’m sure at some point we’ll see Hamlin have a hand at helping Wallace gets his first career Cup win, and if I could bet where it’ll happen I would say on one of the four superspeedway races.

Team Penske has a great superspeedway package but only Joey Logano has a Daytona 500 win (2015). Brad Keselowski has a 2016 win at Daytona in the summer race and five other wins at Talladega.

Ryan Blaney has won at Talladega in each of the last two seasons and was runner-up in the Daytona 500 last season. They all have fast cars and all are also very good at understanding how the draft works. They also have friends from Roush, Front Row Motorsports, Wood Brothers, and Stewart-Haas Racing that drives Fords and can help in the draft.

The Chevy camp comes loaded with speed and young talent. Chevrolet has won the Daytona 500 pole the last eight seasons, and a Hendrick engine has won the last six, five of which were by a Hendrick driver.

William Byron (16/1) won last summer at Daytona for his first career Cup win. He’s a nice pick to take his next logical step into NASCAR stardom in a year that just saw Kenseth, Jimmie Johnson,, and Clint Bowyer retire.

Chase Elliott (14/1) comes off his first championship season and NASCAR is hoping for more to come -- see seven road courses on the 2021 schedule. But he’s never won at Daytona in a points-paying race. This would be a great place for the champ to bust out and gain an even bigger audience of young fans. Chase just has a quiet coolness about him and is hard not to like.

Back to only five active drivers that have Daytona 500 wins other than Hamlin. Earnhardt went almost an entire career racing and dominating all races at Daytona until finally winning the Daytona 500 in 1998. Tony Stewart never won one. Kyle Busch starts his 17th Daytona 500 searching for his first win. Keselowski is also still searching for his trophy, so is Truex, and so is Elliott -- all Cup champions.

As always, I’ll go for the historical moment to happen and I supported Hamlin through the betting window, along with a few other guys I mentioned in this piece. Here are my top-5 selections using odds from Circa Sports Las Vegas:

Daytona 500
Top-5 Finish Prediction

• 1) #11 Denny Hamlin (11/1)
• 2) #12 Ryan Blaney (14/1)
• 3) #10 Aric Almirola (24/1)
• 4) #47 Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. (26/1)
• 5) #24 William Byron (16/1)

NASCAR Cup Series
Weekly Predictions

Nascar Daytona 500 Predictions

It was just three months ago that Chase Elliott claimed his first NASCAR Cup Series championship (and earned a giant ring in the process).

Now, it’s racing time once again, starting as always at the Daytona 500, kicking off another season of incredible racing.

We here at For The Win have put together a bunch of preview content for the race and for the 2021 season, from an in-depth look at one of the most important drivers in the series to some predictions about what’s about to go down.

Here’s all of that content in one place for you to look at before the green flag waves on Sunday:

Pitbull is now a NASCAR team owner

Michael Jordan isn’t the only new high-profile team owner. Pitbull joined the ownership ranks with Daniel Suárez behind the wheel and is looking to start a revolution:

Paint schemes for the Daytona 500!

Daytona 500 Predictions Reddit

A collection of the looks you’ll see on the track:

Can Denny Hamlin win the Daytona 500 for a third straight year?

He told us, “It would probably be the most significant win of them all.”

6 storylines to keep in mind for this season

Among them: will Kyle Busch bounce back? Will some new road courses shake things up?

A Q&A with Jamie Little, the FOX Sports announcer making history

She’s the first woman to be the television play-by-play announcer for a major national motor sports series in the United States.

An in-depth look on what Bubba Wallace went through in 2020 and what's ahead for him

With a new team that includes Michael Jordan as a co-owner, Wallace hopes to continue changing NASCAR for the better, while succeeding on track with 23XI Racing.

There are three big names who haven't won the 500

Daytona 500 Predictions February 2021

Can one of them grab the checkered flag this year?

How Ryan Newman's horrific crash last year forced NASCAR to make more safety upgrades

Violent NASCAR crashes can have significant impacts on future safety developments. So here’s a look at the response to Ryan Newman’s terrifying Daytona 500 crash a year ago, as well as the sport’s changes following the tragic death of Dale Earnhardt Sr. 20 years ago.

62-year-old Derrike Cope will be in the field

He won the race in 1990, but, uh, that was obviously a while ago:

Time for some bold predictions

Daytona 500 Predictions Covers

Michelle Martinelli and Nick Schwartz tried to forecast NASCAR’s future in 2021 with these seven bold predictions, including Kyle Busch bouncing back in a big way from his 2020 down season:

Betting help!

Daytona 500 Predictions 2020

With Denny Hamlin going for his third consecutive Daytona 500 win and fourth overall, the No. 11 Toyota driver is the favorite. But what about the other top drivers? Let us help:

Bubba Wallace is back behind the wheel of a Toyota...

And you can see the manufacturer’s new ad with the No. 23 car before it airs during Sunday’s race: