The Daytona 500 has been nicknamed NASCAR's Super Bowl, but that doesn't mean the most dominant driver that season is destined to win it. In fact, the last four Daytona 500 winners had odds of +2000 or longer to win. With the 2025 Daytona 500 set for Sunday at 1:30 p.m. ET at Daytona International Speedway, are there longshot drivers you should strongly consider for your Daytona 500 DFS strategy when making NASCAR DFS picks? Kyle Busch is the +1100 favorite in the 2025 Daytona 500 odds.
Michael McDowell won the 2021 Daytona 500 +10000 odds, followed by Austin Cindric and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. at +3300 over the next two years. All three are options for 2025 Daytona 500 NASCAR DFS lineups and don't come at steep prices, so can they return value in The Great American Race? Before locking in any NASCAR DFS picks for the Daytona 500 2025 on sites like DraftKings and FanDuel, be sure to check out the optimal NASCAR at Daytona DFS strategy and advice from SportsLine's Mike McClure.
McClure has won over $2 million in his career as a daily Fantasy pro, and his NASCAR DFS driver pool, projections and advice can help you score a big win on Sunday on sites like FanDuel and DraftKings.
McClure's model began its 2025 season by calling Chase Elliott to win for a +300 payout at last week's Clash at Bowman Gray. In 2024, it nailed Kyle Larson to win in Las Vegas for a 21-5 betting payout and predicted Denny Hamlin's wins in Bristol at 5-1 and Richmond at 17-4.
It also impressively nailed five of Larson's wins during his historic season in 2021. All told, the model has nailed a whopping 19 winners since 2021, including nine in 2023 and three in the first seven races last season. Anyone who followed its lead on betting apps and sportsbooks on those NASCAR picks could have seen huge returns.
Now, he's turned his attention to Sunday's Daytona 500. He's only sharing his picks and NASCAR DFS driver pool here.
Top 2025 Daytona 500 NASCAR DFS picks
For NASCAR at Daytona, McClure is high on Joey Logano ($9,600 on DraftKings and $12,500 on FanDuel). Logano has 11 top-10 finishes over 16 career Daytona 500 runs, including finishing in the top five in half of his Great American Race starts. He finished outside the top 30 due to a crash at last year's Daytona 500, but Logano finished second the year before and has the third-best average run position (14.3) for the Daytona 500.
Logano won his second NASCAR Cup Series championship over the last three years last season and the third of his career as he's become one of the sport's elite drivers. The 34-year-old led more laps (45) than any other driver at last year's Daytona 500, but an accident ruined his chance at a second Daytona 500 victory. Given his consistent finishes toward the top of Daytona 500 leaderboards and coming off another championship season, McClure views Logano as a strong option for 2025 Daytona 500 DFS lineups.
Part of McClure's optimal NASCAR DFS strategy also includes rostering Chase Elliott ($9,500 on DraftKings and $11,000 on FanDuel). Chase Elliott ($9,500 on DraftKings and $11,000 on FanDuel). The 29-year-old is entering his 10th Daytona 500 and although he's never won The Great American Race, Elliott has been a key figure in nearly all nine events. Elliott has led 85 laps over his previous nine Daytona 500 races, which is the seventh-most for active drivers despite running fewer races than anyone in the top six and the second-fewest of anyone in the top 10 for the most laps led in the marquee race of each NASCAR season.
Three of those nine races ended with an accident to Elliott, which has derailed his quest toward becoming a Daytona 500 champion. But Elliott led 13 laps last year before finishing 14th and has finished second and 10th in two of his last four Daytona 500 runs. He also has an average running position of 16.7, the seventh-best since 2005. Elliott started this year strong with a victory at the Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray while leading 171 of 200 laps and McClure sees that momentum carrying into the 2025 Great American Race. See which other drivers to roster here.
How to set 2025 NASCAR at Daytona DFS lineups
McClure is also targeting an undervalued driver set to return plenty of value for his NASCAR DFS picks. He's in a prime position to make a run at the checkered flag and comes at a price that won't break the bank. You can see who it is, and every other pick, right here.
So what are the top NASCAR DFS picks for the Daytona 500 2025? And which value driver is a must-roster? Visit SportsLine now to see DFS millionaire Mike McClure's complete driver pool for DraftKings and FanDuel, for a chance to cash in big on NASCAR DFS.
