Daytona 500 Odds, choice in the Cup series Kickoff: Our Favorites for ‘NASCARS SUPER BOWL’ AND PRODUCTS FOR THE YEAR

The NFL Super Bowl is over and it’s time for the “NASCARS SUPER BOWL” -DAYONA 500, The Crown Jewel in NASCAR’s crown jewel race and the official kickoff for the 2025 Cup series. Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski are tied to +1200 odds to win it, and all the usual suspects are close to the back. But as we will discuss below, this is a race that plays for disturbance, making it a must-see for all motorsport fans.

To get us excited, informed and ready to make some efforts, we have our NASCAR experts, Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi, back in the house to answer all our burning questions. It’s nice to be back!

Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway is this Sunday, February 16 at 1 p.m. 14:30 one that is released on Fox.

Welcome back to all of us! Last year you made this editor a nascar fan – can’t wait to run it back with you both! What are you most excited about this year?

Jeff: Glad to be back! So this year on the surface we should not expect to see a drastic other group of drivers at the top. The cars have not changed. The rules have not changed. Of course, some teams always rise and fall, but it will be a lot of the same names. So in that regard, I’m eager to see how some of the new combinations do. For example, Chase Briscoe, who just won the Daytona 500 Pole, now Martin Truex Jr.’s previous car at Joe Gibbs Racing after Truex retired. Is briscoe in a big season? It can be a new name at the top. Spiring Motorsports has also made plenty of investments and has three drivers who could potentially win their way into the playoffs and disrupt the balance of power (Michael McDowell, Carson HOCEVAR and Justin Haley). I am most interested in seeing how these stories play out.

Jordan: How Joe Gibbs Racing jumps back after a “down” season – to its high standards – becomes something to look at. In addition to signing Briscoe, the team made several other notable staff changes with the aim of raising his performance back to its usual high level. Whether these changes have the intended effect where all four JGR teams are in violation will be a prevailing story, especially through the opening months. The longer it goes that JGR does not win with any kind of regularity, the more eyebrows are raised.

Let’s start with the big picture: Kyle Larson and Christopher Bell are bound as favorites (+550 odds at Betmgm) to win the Cup Series Championship this year. What are your thoughts on futures for this year?), What are your thoughts on futures for this year? If we make wild, insane, really too early choice: Who are you gonna win it all? Who do you have for the regular season master?

Jeff: Kyle Larson recently said he could see a scenario where he won 20 races in a year, he could still lose the championship based on how this playoff format works. Remember, Joey Logano was 15. On the position at the end of the regular season last year and won the title. It’s not about how good you are all year round; It’s about how good you are in the last few races – and especially the championship race at Phoenix. Well, who’s good there? Team Penske. Logano and teammate Ryan Blaney have combined to win all three championships in the next gene time, all of which were decided in Phoenix. I take Blaney to win it again after Larson wins the regular seasonal championship.

Jordan: Both Bell and Larson are excellent championship elections, more than deserving the label as “title favorites.” At this point, you know what you get from each of them, to the place where you can go ahead and pencil them down for three-plus victories, a number of stage gains, a bunch of laps led and brought together a Horde Playoff point. Looking at the big picture, Larson is due to more than winning another championship and Bell his first.

Do you both agree: 1) the person who is a championship 4 lock and 2) Which team will be the best?

Jeff: My rule for choosing the forecast was the 4-lock of my championship could not be the same person as my master of regular season, so I go with Blaney as my lock. But unless something unforeseen happens, I do not see how Hendrick Motorsports is not the overall best team. Larson had to win five races, Chase Elliott and William Byron had to win a few each, and Alex Bowman is very motivated while fighting for his job. And remember that Bowman actually made the last eight last year until he was disqualified after the race, which instead put Logano in that round. And we know how it turned out to Logano.

Jordan: In this format there is no such thing as a “Championship 4 Lock.” That said, Bell, Larson, Blaney, Elliott, Byron and maybe Denny Hamlin should everyone be in the mixture. Which among them wins depends a lot on who gets hot comes the playoffs and who can best avoid catastrophic results.

Anything else about the rules or field this year that will significantly affect the racing strategy?

Jeff: I really can’t see anything. I have called this “Status Quo season.” While the first few years of this car had many unknowns, I think it will be much easier to identify the most important challengers this season. Now we all know, will still be mostly a Hendrick/Penske/Joe Gibbs Racing Show most weeks.

Jordan: “Status Quo” is a great way to describe it where we have a pretty good sense of who the players are. A driver who is not mentioned, however, who deserves one or and challenges to the championship.

NASCAR announced last month that any world-famous driver outside NASCAR can get an automatic place in a Cup Series race. Indycar -Driver Helio Castroneves will benefit from this rule change this weekend. You outlined why this is so controversial, but can you talk about the likelihood of a big star (I’m thinking of a Formula One driver, says), taking advantage of it this year? If so, what is the likelihood that they could even make a good run?

Jeff: Despite my personal feelings on the validity of this rule, you can imagine if NASCAR is able to lure F1 veteran Sergio Pérez to run the preliminary Mexico City race this season. Or really any F1 driver on any road course. Nascar wants attention and eyeballs so it would be a big victory for them. Could they win the race? No, not without warehouse car experience (the cars are so different, even if it is the same track). But a top-15 would be very respectable. As for an oval, however, there is about zero chance that a non-nascar driver would ever win a race.

Jordan: It’s an option, for sure. NASCAR would definitely want to see an elite driver outside NASCAR try their hand on driving an equity car, especially in Mexico City, which is one of the most expected races of the season and the kind of track where a road-carse ess could excel Say.

What are the chances of a person not running for the Cup Series title (like Truex) hanging a win on Daytona this weekend?

Jeff: I would think Truex is the only one that can make it out of the “open” cars. Jimmie Johnson has not had much luck in his part -time starter since he retired, Castroneves has zero experience and the rest do not have enough help from teammates or confidence from the current field to draft them. But even though Truex is famous Winless throughout his career on superpeedways (an astonishing 0-for-79 on Daytona and Talladega), he is much better than his numbers show. The Daytona 500 is a random game when it comes to avoiding Vrak, and Truex could definitely win the race if he avoids the big crash.

Jordan: TRUEX could, and he does not lack motivation in view of his Daytona 500 Track Record. One advantage for him to be part -time is that it allows him to have a more selfish approach on Sunday, where he doesn’t have to worry about hurting the feelings of someone and being a loyal wing man who puts his teammates’ interests ahead of His own.

You ranked Daytona 500 fourth in your “expectations” and noticed that the last seven have ended either under caution or beyond the planned distance due to vrak in the last lap. How likely do you think it is that we are getting a clean, “naturally unfolding finish” this year?

Jeff: We talked to several drivers about this particular question and they are very pessimistic. Joey Logano told us that a clean and green finish “won’t happen” and Bubba Wallace said there might be a two percent chance. The way these next Gen Cars drafts easier allows them to get to another car’s rear bumper easier and the races come faster – except that the cars are not stable when pushed. “You’re going to go down,” Logano said. “All this is a recipe for a disaster.” As Logano noticed, it is also the freaking Daytona 500-one victory means so much more than second or third place, so everyone is willing to throw out a top-five finish in favor of a bold movement in the last laps. These typically do not work.

Jordan: SuperSpeedway races generally tend to have a number of warnings in the final laps. But when you take into account that this is Daytona 500, Nascars Marquee -Race – and its richest – this only makes the driver’s race even more aggressive. Don’t expect this to be different on Sunday.

Ok, let’s do it: Who are you choosing to win Daytona 500, and why?

Jeff: Christopher Bell (+2500) crashed into four of his first six Daytona races. Since then he has gone third-16. third. He told us this week that it is simply his luck that has turned around this place instead of doing something much more than before. The Toyota group typically contracts well, and now the manufacturer has two more helpers in Truex and Jimmie Johnson, who both qualified for speed on Wednesday night. With a record 11 Toyotas in the race, there should be a better chance for one of them to break through this year, even if a bunch is swept up in a wreck. And I take a bell to do it.

Jordan: Ryan Blaney is one of the best on superpeedways, and while he has come close to winning Daytona 500 on several occasions, he has not yet. This changes on Sunday.

Who is your favorite long shot?

Jeff: I mean, turn the wheel. It can be an arbitrary number of people, and if there is ever a race to sprinkle money on a couple of drivers who are +3000 or more, it is. Let us remind you that before William Byron won last year, the last three Daytona 500 champions were all disturbances: Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Michael McDowell and Austin Cindric. I could legitimately make a case for at least 30 drivers to win this race. But if I really have to choose a long shot, don’t sleep at Justin Haley on +5000.

Jordan: Every time Nascar leads to Daytona (or Talladega), Michael McDowell is a worthy long shot. He is very good at managing running and putting himself in violation; He won almost on both numbers last year only to be taken out in late crashes.

Odds for Daytona 500

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(Photo by Chase Briscoe: Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images)