RFK Racing co-owner and driver Brad Keselowski underwent surgery late last week for a broken right leg he suffered during a skiing trip on Thursday, and he has since said that he hopes to be back for the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday, February 15.
Keselowski ironically has somewhat of a history of coming back from injuries and having success. He suffered a broken ankle in a testing crash back in August 2011, and he won the Cup race at Pocono Raceway just four days later. That win started a streak of four consecutive top three finishes, a streak which also included a win at Bristol Motor Speedway.
The driver of the No. 6 Ford is largely considered one of the best drivers to have never won the Daytona 500, and not just because he is a former Cup champion with 36 career victories.
His seven superspeedway victories are the most among active drivers, and he won at Daytona in the summer of 2016. He has led laps in three of his four Daytona 500 starts since joining RFK Racing, including a race-high 67 in 2022 and a race-high 42 in 2023.
Brad Keselowski back for Daytona 500?
The DraftKings Sportsbook odds to win the Daytona 500 have shifted a couple times since they were first posted at the start of the offseason. This past weekend, they shifted again, with one of the three co-favorites no longer listed with the shortest odds (+1000).
But Keselowski's odds did not change. He is still listed in a seventh place tie with Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin, a three-time Daytona 500 winner, at +1600.
In other words, there isn't anybody who actually expects the 41-year-old Rochester Hills, Michigan native to be sidelined from the "Great American Race".
His status for the preseason Cook Out Clash exhibition race at Bowman Gray Stadium is still in question, though it has not been explicitly addressed. That race is scheduled to take place on Sunday, February 1, giving him less time to make a full recovery.
Full odds to win the 2026 Daytona 500 can be found here and are always subject to change.
Fox is set to provide live coverage of the 68th annual Daytona 500 from Daytona International Speedway starting at 2:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, February 15, 2026.