NASCAR’s largest race kicks off the season Sunday because the inexperienced flag drops on the 68th Daytona 500 (2:30 p.m. ET, FOX).
Historical past may very well be made as William Byron tries to grow to be the primary man to win the Nice American Race three years in a row.
Byron is the fifth driver to win consecutive Daytona 500s. Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough, Sterling Marlin and Denny Hamlin every defended their championships. Remarkably, Byron’s finest end on the Daytona 500 earlier than successful was twenty first, though he did win the 2020 Coke Zero Sugar 400 on the identical monitor.
Byron certified to begin twenty second within the 45-car area.
Kyle Busch certified to begin on the pole for the primary time in his profession on the Daytona 500. Chase Briscoe begins on the surface of the entrance row.
One other driver to observe is Hamlin, who begins fourth. Along with his back-to-back wins in 2019 and 2020, Hamlin additionally received the race in 2016. If Hamlin wins for a fourth time, he’ll be a part of Yarborough with the second-most wins on the Daytona 500. Solely Petty, who received seven instances, earned the title extra usually.
Amongst different former winners within the area, 2015 winner Joey Logano certified tenth. Austin Dillon, the 2018 champion, will begin twelfth. Michael McDowell, who received in 2021, begins twenty first. McDowell’s two profession NASCAR Cup Collection wins got here at Daytona and Indianapolis, the 2 most hallowed racetracks in the USA.
Two-time winner Jimmie Johnson will begin twenty eighth on the age of fifty. The seven-time NASCAR Cup Collection champion received the Daytona 500 for the primary time 20 years in the past and likewise took the checkered flag in 2019.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr., the 2023 winner, begins thirty eighth.
Ryan Blaney and Logano have been put in because the betting favorites, with Byron and Hamlin simply behind. Blaney received the NASCAR Cup championship in 2023 and has completed within the prime 4 at Daytona thrice, together with a pair of runner-up finishes in 2017 and 2020. Final 12 months, he completed seventh.
Logano, a three-time NASCAR Cup Collection champion, has completed within the prime 4 4 instances, together with a runner-up end in 2023. In 2024, he began on the pole and led probably the most laps within the race earlier than ending thirty second.
The winner of the race is predicted to take house between $2.4 million and $3 million from a record-setting whole purse of over $31 million.
Climate might play a task within the race. Late afternoon thunderstorms are doable, which might delay the race for the third time in six years.
