2024 Daytona 500 odds, predictions, and how to watch Cup Series action

Browns Wire

18 February 2024

2024 Daytona 500 odds, predictions, and how to watch Cup Series action

The 2024 NASCAR Cup Series regular season kicks off Sunday with the biggest race of the year, the Daytona 500. It's the fastest track on the NASCAR calendar and has seen some close finishes in recent years: Austin Cindric's win over Bubba Wallace in 2022 was by just 0.036 seconds.

The last time a driver won the Daytona 500 from pole position was 2000, when Dale Jarrett became just the seventh driver in NASCAR history to do so. In a race at Daytona, winners can come from anywhere if they're in the right place at the right time.

Last year's Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney starts his title defense Sunday afternoon. Blaney won his first title by just one point over Kyle Larson in Phoenix last November. Three months later, they're set to resume the battle once again. Look for two-time Cup Series champion Joey Logano to get into the mix as well. He won this race in 2015 and starts on pole Sunday.

2024 Daytona 500 predictions roundup

NASCAR Insights: Blaney wins his first Daytona 500

The site's predictions model makes Blaney the favorite ahead of teammate Logano. Blaney won in Talladega - another high-speed track with lots of drafting - last season and excels on drafting tracks on the schedule.

Clutchpoints: Blaney wins

Bryan Logan says: "With crashes and the high stakes of this race predicting a winner is very difficult... Ryan Blaney has been hot here and is the defending champion. He wins the race."

Cody Zeeb writes: "Busch was leading at the end of 500 miles last year, but overtime didn’t go his way, and he finished seventh. He went on to win at Talladega later in the year... February 18th is also a significant date for Richard Childress Racing. February 18th, 2001, was the date Dale Earnhardt was fatally lost in the Daytona 500. The Daytona 500 has been run on February 18th twice since that day. Kevin Harvick won for RCR in 2007, and Austin Dillion also won on that date in 2018. This year’s Daytona 500 is scheduled for February 18th."

Bookies: Brad Keselowski wins

David Caraviello says: "Keselowski is likely the most accomplished driver in the Daytona 500 field without a victory in the Great American Race. The former series champion has had great runs there, finishing ninth in 2022, third in 2014, and fourth in 2013. He effectively pushed his teammate Buescher to victory in last season’s Daytona summertime event. It’s taken a while for the team he now co-owns with Jack Roush to get up to speed, but the performance late last season was clearly there. It all comes down to being in the right place at the right time on Sunday."