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The 67th running of the Daytona 500 will kick off the 2025 NASCAR season on Sunday and seven former winners are entered, including 20-1 longshot William Byron, last year’s champ. The 27-year-old Byron has 13 NASCAR Cup Series victories and 104 top-10 finishes since competing in his first race, the 2018 Daytona 500. The Hendrick Motorsports racer has run in 252 races over the past seven years. Among the other former Daytona winners entered into the 2025 Daytona 500 starting lineup are Denny Hamlin (2016, 2019, 2020), Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (2023), Austin Cindric (2022), Michael McDowell (2021), Austin Dillon (2018) and Joey Logano (2015).

Kyle Busch is the +1100 favorite in the 2025 Daytona 500 odds, followed by Denny Hamlin (+1200), Ryan Blaney (+1200), Joey Logano (+1300), and Chase Elliott (+1500). Sunday’s race is scheduled to start at 1:30 p.m. ET after being moved up one hour due to inclement weather. Before making any 2025 Daytona 500 picks or NASCAR predictions, you need to see what NASCAR insider Steven Taranto has to say.

Taranto, who moonlights as a sim racer and has 20 career wins in iRacing, is the lead NASCAR writer for CBSSports.com and chronicles stock car racing with the same thoroughness and passion he’s had since becoming a full-time race fan in 2001. He has an annual NASCAR medial credential and also publishes a popular weekly NASCAR predictions column, famously calling Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez’s breakthrough wins in 2022.

Taranto was red-hot for SportsLine in 2024 as he nailed 17 winners, including 16-1 longshot William Byron at the Daytona 500 and 14-1 longshot Chase Elliott at Texas. Anyone following his NASCAR picks could have seen huge returns.

Now, Taranto has analyzed the starting lineup and odds for Sunday’s Daytona 500. He’s sharing his best bets at SportsLine.

2025 Daytona 500 expert picks

For the 2025 Daytona 500, Taranto is high on fourth-year Cup driver Todd Gilliland, even though he’s a longshot at 34-1. The 24-year-old third-year generation driver led for 16 laps in last year’s Daytona 500, before finishing 35th. The Front Row Motorsports driver has logged 108 races over three seasons and has 10 top-10 finishes in his young career. He has had success at every level of his racing career.

In ARCA Menards Series West, he ran 30 races over four years, earning 13 wins and 28 top-10 finishes, along with 12 poles. He finished first overall in the series in both 2016 and 2017. In his ARCA Menards Series East career, he ran 24 races over four years, earning seven wins. He added 22 top-10 finishes and two poles. In the ARCA Menards Series, he raced nine times in three years, earning two wins, two poles and eight top-10 finishes. Over a six-year span, he ran 94 races in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, earning three wins, 53 top-10s and two poles. See which other drivers he’s backing at SportsLine. 

Another surprise: Taranto is fading Michael McDowell, even though he won the Daytona 500 in 2021 and finished seventh in 2022. McDowell changed teams from Front Row to Spire Motorsports this offseason, trading in his Ford for the No. 71 Chevrolet. He will have his crew chief, as McDowell brought Travis Peterson on board. The 40-year-old from Phoenix had his struggles at the 2024 Daytona 500, placing 36th overall.

McDowell has had plenty of success in his 17-year career, driving in 501 races at the NASCAR Cup Series level. He finished 23rd overall in 2024. He has two wins and 44 top-10 finishes with six poles since making his debut at the 2008 Goody’s Cool Orange 500 at Martinsville. He registered his last win at the 2023 Verizon 200 at the Brickyard in Indianapolis. See all of Taranto’s picks at SportsLine. 

How to make 2025 Daytona 500 predictions

Taranto has also identified four other drivers for his 2025 NASCAR Daytona 500 best bets. He’s also high on a huge NASCAR longshot who’s going off at more than 70-1, potentially netting any backer a huge payday. You can only see who they are here.

So who wins the 2025 Daytona 500, and which massive longshot could stun NASCAR? Visit SportsLine now to see the 2025 NASCAR Daytona 500 picks and best bets from a NASCAR insider who nailed a colossal 17 winners last year, and find out.

2025 Daytona 500 odds, field

See full NASCAR at Daytona picks at SportsLine

Kyle Busch +1200   

Denny Hamlin +1200 

Ryan Blaney +1200

Joey Logano +1400

Kyle Larson +1600 

Chase Elliott +1600

William Byron +1600

Christopher Bell +1600

Brad Keselowski +1700

Todd Gilliland +2000

Chase Briscoe +2200

Austin Cindric +2200

Chris Buescher +2600

Bubba Wallace +2600

Tyler Reddick +3000

Ross Chastain +3000

Alex Bowman +3500

Martin Truex Jr. +4000

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. +4000

Austin Dillon +4000

Erik Jones +4000

Ty Gibbs +4500

Josh Berry +4500

Ryan Preece +4500

Noah Gragson +4500

Michael McDowell +4500

Justin Haley +5000

Justin Allgaier +6000

Daniel Suarez +6000

AJ Allmendinger +6500

Riley Herbst +7000

Cole Custer +7000

Carson Hocevar +7000

Shane Van Gisbergen +7500

Jimmie Johnson +7500

Zane Smith +7500

Ty Dillon +8000

Corey Lajoie +9000

John Hunter Nemechek +10000

Cody Ware +20000

Helio Castroneves +25000