Four drivers have tried, and four drivers have failed. Can Hendrick Motorsports' William Byron be the first back up back-to-back Daytona 500 victories with a three-peat?
Byron hasn't not won the "Great American Race" since 2023, when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. pulled off the upset. A year ago, had it not been for Riley Herbst somehow managing to keep his car under control on the final lap to prevent a caution, Byron wouldn't have even been in the top five, but a multi-car collision on the back straightaway just seconds later resulted in the door swinging wide open.
Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough, Sterlin Marlin, and Denny Hamlin are the only other four drivers who have won the Daytona 500 in back-to-back years, and the best three-peat effort came in 2021, when Hamlin finished fifth.
Byron is not the outright favorite at DraftKings Sportsbook to pull off the historic feat, but he is tied for second at +1000. Who are the five drivers most likely to derail the driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet?
1. Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing
Odds: +900
Denny Hamlin recently overtook Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano as the outright favorite to win the 2026 Daytona 500. It would be storybook start to his 2026 season, given the tumultuous offseason he has endured, and it would make him just the third driver to win the iconic race at least four times. His most recent win came in 2020.
T-2. Ryan Blaney, Team Penske
Odds: +1000
Ryan Blaney has done just about everything but win the Daytona 500, and that includes two runner-up finishes, two summer race Daytona victories, and even three victories at the very similar Talladega Superspeedway, one in the spring and two in the fall. While coming close doesn't guarantee future success, there is arguably nobody who is more "due".
T-2. Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports
Odds: +1000
Kyle Larson isn't historically strong on superspeedways, still seeking his first victory as he enters his 13th season of competition, and he's never finished in the top five at Daytona. Still, he finished in sixth in the summer Daytona race a year ago, and he quietly racked up the second-most points in all superspeedway races across the 2025 schedule. Superspeedway racing remains the one racing style where he has regularly looked average at best, but is it finally his time?
4. Joey Logano, Team Penske
Odds: +1200
Joey Logano is always a favorite when the Cup Series visits a superspeedway, even if he hasn't won at Daytona or Talladega since back in 2018. The 2015 Daytona 500 winner owns three Talladega wins and has won twice at Atlanta Motor Speedway since the repave in 2022. He came agonizingly close to a second Daytona 500 victory in 2023 and has led laps in each of the past 18 superspeedway races. He has led laps in each of the past 14 Daytona races and each of the past nine Daytona 500s. Now it's about leading the right lap.
5. Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing
Odds: +1400
Speaking of drivers being due, we have Kyle Busch, arguably the best driver in Cup Series history without a Daytona 500 victory. He led the race at the 500-mile mark in 2023 and finished second in the summer race at the track in 2024. He is in desperate need of a bounce-back year after back-to-back winless seasons, and a Daytona 500 win would go a long way toward getting that started. He certainly got off to a good start by taking his first Daytona 500 pole on Wednesday night.
There are, of course, several other serious contenders not listed here. Several other former winners, four to be exact, are being slept on as longshots, for instance, and given the nature of superspeedway racing, it could truly be anybody's race. You never know when the "Big One" is going to strike, or when the door is going to open (or shut).
It's why the odds for the favorites are far longer than the favorites for any other non-superspeedway race on the Cup Series calendar.
Full Daytona 500 odds can be found here and are always subject to change.
Daytona 500 coverage is set to be provided by Fox beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, February 15. Start a free trial of FuboTV and don't miss any of the action!