The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season will kick off on Valentine’s Day, with the 63rd running of the Daytona 500. Last year, Denny Hamlin won the Great American Race. Can he go back-to-back? Check out our preview of the 2021 Daytona 500 and see some of the favorites, sleepers, and a long shot for this highly anticipated race.
Denny Hamlin is all set to defend the Daytona 500 crown he won last year. It’s not only that he is the defending champion at this race which is why he’s a favorite. It’s also because Hamlin is coming off a fantastic season, winning seven races in 36 starts in 2020. Moreover, Hamlin has won two of his last five appearances at the Daytona International Speedway, including his victory at the 2019 Daytona 500. Overall, Hamlin has three career wins there to go with 10 top 5s and seven top 10s.
Elliott has yet to win a single race in his career at the Daytona International Speedway but now seems to be the perfect time to finally break into the track’s list of winners. Elliott is coming off a NASCAR CUP Series-winning season in which he also collected five victories. Elliott finished 17th in last year’s Daytona 500 and performed much better when he returned their months later, placing second overall during the 2020 Coke Zero Sugar 400. In six career races at the Daytona International Speedway, Elliott has compiled an average finish of 16.11.
Logano is always a threat to win any race. The Team Penske driver finished third in the NASCAR Cup Series standings in 2020 and also won three races. Although he hasn’t been lighting it up at the Daytona International Speedway over his past few appearances there, he’s finished inside the top 10 six times in 24 career starts there. He finished fourth at the 2019 Daytona 500 before failing to break the top 20 in all of his next three races at the track. Logano’s only win so far at the Daytona International Speedway was during the 2015 Daytona 500.
There’s good value in Dillon at his price of +3300 to win the 2021 Daytona 500. He has a 12.24 career average finish at the Daytona International Speedway and is also a former winner of the Daytona 500, taking the checkered flag back in 2018.
Custer made it to the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs last year, with his win at the 2020 Quaker State 400 in Kentucky Speedway, and while he didn’t last long in the postseason, he did end up taking home the Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors. The 23-year old finished 37th at the Daytona 500 in 2021.
The former NASCAR Nationwide Series Rookie of the Year winner had zero wins in 36 starts last year. He finished 27th at the 2020 Daytona 500 then went 24th at the 2020 Coke Zero Sugar 400. That’s progress.
