You have to go all the way back to Sunday, February 19, 2023, to find the most recent instance of a driver not named William Byron winning the NASCAR Cup Series season-opening Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.
Byron won it under caution in 2024, and he drove from ninth to first on the final lap in 2025, avoiding a multi-car pileup on the back straightaway along the way, to become the fifth driver to win the "Great American Race" in back-to-back years.
Denny Hamlin had been the most recent back-to-back winner, and his fifth place finish in 2021 was actually the best we've seen out of a back-to-back winner in a three-peat bid. No driver has ever won the race three years in a row.
Given the unpredictable nature of superspeedway racing, Byron has as good of a chance as anybody to lift the Harley J. Earl Trophy yet again next month. At DraftKings Sportsbook, he's listed third at +1100.
As usual, there is no clear-cut favorite to win the Daytona 500; drafting tracks tend to be major wild cards, and the "Big One" is never more than a hiccup away from collecting half the field (and sometimes all of the favorites, quite frankly).
It's very possible that this year's Daytona 500 won't even come from this group, but here's who DraftKings has listed as the six drivers with the best chance of preventing a Byron three-peat.
Ryan Blaney, Team Penske
Odds: +1000
While there are definitely more decorated drivers than Ryan Blaney without a Daytona 500 win, the fact that he has five superspeedway wins, including two at Daytona, since 2019, means there probably isn't a driver more "due" for a Daytona 500 win than Blaney is.
He is the most recent winner at Daytona (August 2025), and he is a two-time runner-up in the one that has eluded him.
Joey Logano, Team Penske
Odds: +1000
Team Penske tends to show up with race-winning speed whenever the Cup Series visits a superspeedway, and Joey Logano has six career superspeedway wins, including one in the 2015 Daytona 500.
His results in such races have been a bit of a mixed bag lately, with just two top 10 finishes in his 16 most recent drafting track starts, but he has led laps in 18 such races in a row, with double-digit laps led in 15 of those events.
Austin Cindric, Team Penske
Odds: +1200
Two of Austin Cindric's three career victories have come in superspeedway races, including one in the 2022 Daytona 500 when he was making his first ever start as a full-time driver.
He nearly won the race for a second time in 2025, which would have allowed him to eclipse one of Richard Petty's old records. Don't let his presumed status as Team Penske's "weak link" fool you.
Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing
Odds: +1400
I think Denny Hamlin has single-handedly turned the saying "You either die a hero or you live long enough to become the villain" into "You either die a villain or you live long enough to become the hero".
It would have seemed blasphemous to write in 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, or 2025, but without going into too much detail here, if Hamlin opens up the 2026 season by becoming the sport's third four-time Daytona 500 winner, it's something that would energize the NASCAR fanbase – in a good way.
Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports
Odds: +1400
Of all track types, superspeedways have definitely been Kyle Larson's worst; he has yet to win on one. Yet in 2025, he secured his two best finishes ever, placing third at Atlanta Motor Speedway and second at Talladega Superspeedway.
Even his sixth place finish at Daytona in August was his best at the track since 2016 and tied for his best ever there. Is the reigning series champion due?
Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports
Odds: +1400
Chase Elliott is another driver who has historically found success on superspeedways, but he has yet to win at Daytona.
He is a two-time Atlanta winner and a two-time Talladega winner, but his best finishes at Daytona are back-to-back runner-up finishes, first in the 2020 summer race and then in the 2021 Daytona 500.
Honorable mentions: RFK Racing's Brad Keselowski (+1600), Joe Gibbs Racing's Christopher Bell (+1600), Richard Childress Racing's Kyle Busch (+1800), 23XI Racing's Tyler Reddick (+2000), Trackhouse Racing's Connor Zilisch (+2000), Joe Gibbs Racing's Chase Briscoe (+2000)
Full Daytona 500 odds can be found here and are always subject to change.
Daytona 500 qualifying is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, February 11, followed by the Duel qualifying races on Thursday, February 12. The 68th edition of the race itself is set to be shown live on Fox from Daytona International Speedway starting at 2:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, February 15.