This year’s Daytona 500 will be most bet on in history; offer new prop bets.

Arguably NASCAR’s most important race, the Daytona 500 is set to once again attract millions of fans and viewers this Sunday (Feb 19), setting off what promises to be a thunderous and adrenaline-packed NASCAR Cup Series for 2023.  The green flag is set to drop at 2:30 pm ET at Daytona International Speedway.  

According to Tim Williams, a spokesperson for BetUS (pronounced “Bet U.S.”) Sportsbook, this year’s race “promises to be the most bet-on Daytona 500 in history.”  

Oddsmakers at BetUS.com have set a selection of prop lines for the big race. Let's begin with the basic Driver Odds to Win for the drivers that are currently the betting favorites: 

Daytona 500 Odds

Denny Hamlin     +1100 (11/1)

Ryan Blaney +1100(11/1)

Kyle Larson +1000(10/1)

Chase Elliott     +1100(11/1)

Joey Logano     +1400(14/1)

Kyle Busch     +1400(14/1)

Ross Chastain   +1600(16/1)

William Byron     +1600(16/1)

Bubba Wallace     +1600(16/1) 

Although there were back-to-back surprise winners in both 2021 and 2022 in Michael McDowell and Austin Cindric, respectively, there are four drivers leading the field this year and all are tied with the same +1100 odds, meaning BetUS will pay you 11-to-1 on your money. Here is a look at these four drivers that are tied as the betting favorites: 

Denny Hamlin: Hamlin is the most dominant modern-day driver in this race. He has won Daytona three times since 2016 and is trying to become one of the only three drivers in history to win it a fourth time. He has won 48 NASCAR Cup Series races including the Coca Cola 600 last year. At BetUS, he has attracted 7.52% of bets and 5.94% of the dollar volume as of Wednesday evening. 

Ryan Blaney: Blaney's two career finishes at the Daytona 500 are a huge reason he ranks as a favorite to win at Daytona even though he has never done so before.  BetUS reports that as of Wednesday evening, Blaney had attracted 7.52% of bets but an incredible 15.31% of the total dollar volume, the second highest amongst the field of drivers. “That tells me that ‘sharp’ bettors – the professionals – have their eyes (and money) on Blaney,” Williams says. 

Chase Elliot: At just 27 years old, Chase Elliot has already won a Cup Series Championship, but hasn’t been able to win the 500 despite seven attempts.   BetUS reports that as of Wednesday evening, Elliot is the bettors’ favorite, having attracted the highest number of bets from their customers (14.29%) and is 4th in the total dollar volume bet so far on the winning driver. 

Kyle Larson: Although he has nineteen overall career wins, Daytona has been a personal struggle. He has never finished higher than third.  At BetUS, he has attracted 8.27% of bets and 7.78% of the dollar volume as of Wednesday evening. 

A field of big-name contenders  

Meanwhile, Joey Logano, Kyle Busch, Ross Chastain, William Byron and of course, Bubba Wallace all offer attractive odds as well. 

BetUS will pay you 14-to-1 (+1400) on your money if you put some action on Joey Logano. He already has one Daytona 500 to his name but has an average finish of 19th in his last three Daytona outings. Still, he is considered by oddsmakers to be a serious contender and those 12-to-1 odds are attractive enough to consider putting some lunch money on.  Logano is also a favorite with BetUS customers, having attracted 12.78% of the bets and 12.89% of the dollar volume by Wednesday evening. 

NASCAR Veteran Kyle Busch will pay out 14–to–1 and is a great contender for the win despite having no wins at the 500.  He is also popular with BetUS customers, attracting 12.03% of bets and 11.71% of the dollar volume as of Wednesday evening. 

Ross Chastain after a move to No. 1 Trackhouse Chevrolet full-time last year, he got his first win, and the organization’s first, at Circuit of The Americas in 2022’s NASCAR Cup Series season. He then went on to win at Talladega Superspeedway. A bet on him will currently pay out 16-to-1 (+1600). 

A bet on William Byron will pay out 16-to-1.  Byron had two wins during the 2022 NASCAR season and finished in the top 10 in his last 10 races. He finished first in two Daytona events in 2020, won the duels and took the Coke Zero Sugar 400 in August of the same year. 

Bubba Wallace will pay out 16-to-1 odds. The very talented speedway racer is NASCAR 2022’s runner up. Let’s not forget that Wallace’s first victory in the Cup series was at Talladega Superspeedway in 2022, the first in his career, and then went on to win at Kansas Speedway the same year.  

BetUS reports as of Wednesday evening, Wallace had attracted 8.27% of bets along with 4,79% of the dollar volume.  

One last lap 

After 23 seasons as a NASCAR Cup Series driver, Kevin “The Closer” Harvick will retire in the season finale on November 5 at Phoenix Raceway.  

Harvick, a 2014 Cup Series Champion and 2007 Daytona 500 winner, is currently paying 25-to-1 (+2500) odds at BetUS Sportsbook. “It’s his last chance to get the checkered flag,” says Tim Williams, a spokesperson for BetUS.  “He’s going to be motivated to win this race, since it is the last time he will race at Daytona. He is a great pick for anybody looking for a big payday and a great driver to root for,” Williams says. 

 The long shots (aka, “lottery tickets”) 

If you’re really looking for a big potential payday and willing to bet some long odds, BetUS will pay you an incredible 300-to-1 on drivers Conor Daly, BJ McLeod, and Cody Ware.  Riley Herbst and Travis Pastrana are also both paying out 200-to-1 odds.  “Those are what we call lottery tickets,” Williams says.  “Still, the odds of one of those drivers winning Daytona is still orders of magnitude better than the lottery!”