The 75th season of the NASCAR Cup Series will begin on Sunday with the 2023 Daytona 500. The Great American Race has kicked off the NASCAR schedule since 1959, and the 2.5-mile tri-oval at Daytona International Speedway is hallowed ground in stock car racing. Denny Hamlin is already a three-time winner of the Daytona 500 and will look to join legends Richard Petty and Cale Yarborough as the only drivers to win the sport's biggest race four times in Sunday's Daytona 500 2023.
Hamlin is a 10-1 co-favorite along with Ryan Blaney in the 2023 Daytona 500 odds from Caesars Sportsbook, while Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson are 12-1. Hendrick Motorsports teammates Alex Bowman (22-1) and Larson will start on the front row of the 2023 Daytona 500 starting lineup. The 2023 Daytona 500 start time is 2:30 p.m. ET. You'll want to check out the 2023 NASCAR at Daytona predictions from Micah Roberts, the legendary Vegas bookmaker who pioneered wagering on racing, before locking in any 2023 Daytona 500 picks.
Roberts was the first to offer expanded NASCAR betting and now hands out NASCAR winners to his followers on SportsLine. Roberts is the nation's premier NASCAR betting expert, and his top pick, Elliott, won the YellaWood 500 last October at +1200 odds.
He also correctly predicted Elliott to win the Jockey Made in America 250 in 2021, nailed the 2021 Coca-Cola 600 winner by hitting Larson's victory at +550 odds and was on point by targeting Elliott as the winner of the EchoPark Texas Grand Prix at +160 the previous week. Anyone who has followed his picks has cashed ticket after ticket.
Now, Roberts has analyzed the field and odds for Sunday's NASCAR at Daytona 2023 race. He's sharing his winner and projected 2023 Daytona 500 leaderboard right here.
2023 Daytona 500 expert predictions
One shocker: Roberts is fading Ryan Blaney, even though he is a co-favorite at 10-1. In fact, Roberts says Blaney, who was runner-up in the Daytona 500 twice and has recorded two other top-10 finishes, barely cracks the top 15.
"He's very good here, but he didn't win a points race last season," Roberts told SportsLine. "He could be super-hungry or over-aggressive." See who else to fade here.
Another curveball: Roberts is high on Noah Gragson, even though he's a longshot at 45-1 in the Daytona 500 odds 2023. The 24-year-old earned a full-time seat with Legacy Motor Club in 2023 after racing 18 times with three different teams during the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season.
Gragson had six top-20 finishes last season as a part-timer and has won 13 times over the last three seasons as a full-time driver in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. That includes a win at Daytona in the 2020 NASCAR Racing Experience 300 and another superspeedway win at Talladega in the 2022 Ag-Pro 300.
"Gragson is my wild card, and it's not because the Cup Series rookie is from Las Vegas. It's because he actually can win. In two series starts at Daytona, his best finish was fifth place last fall. He also won there in the Xfinity Series in 2020," Roberts told SportsLine. "He understands it's about finishing the race and staying out of trouble." See who else to back here.
How to make 2023 Daytona 500 picks
Roberts is high on a huge longshot who was at his best last season with the superspeedway package. This driver is being underestimated by oddsmakers, and anyone who backs him could hit it big. You can only see who it is here.
So who wins the 2023 Daytona 500? And which longshot stuns NASCAR? Visit SportsLine now to see the projected 2023 NASCAR at Daytona leaderboard from the nation's premier NASCAR handicapper, and find out.
2023 Daytona 500 odds (by Caesars Sportsbook)
See full NASCAR at Daytona picks at SportsLine
Ryan Blaney +1000
Denny Hamlin +1000
Kyle Busch +1200
Chase Elliott +1200
Kyle Larson +1200
Joey Logano +1300
Ross Chastain +1600
William Byron +1800
Brad Keselowski +1800
Martin Truex Jr. +1800
Bubba Wallace +1800
Tyler Reddick +2000
Alex Bowman +2200
Austin Cindric +2200
Christopher Bell +2500
Kevin Harvick +2500
Chase Briscoe +3000
Austin Dillon +3000
Erik Jones +3000
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. +3000
Daniel Suarez +3000
Aric Almirola +3500
Chris Buescher +3500
Ty Gibbs +3500
Jimmie Johnson +3500
Michael McDowell +3500
Ryan Preece +3500
A.J. Allmendinger +4000
Noah Gragson +4500
Justin Haley +5000
Zane Smith +6000
Harrison Burton +7500
Austin Hill +7500
Corey LaJoie +10000
Chandler Smith +10000
Conor Daly +12500
Ty Dillon +12500
Todd Gilliland +12500
Riley Herbst +15000
Travis Pastrana +15000
BJ McLeod +75000
Cody Ware +75000
