The 2018 Dragon Energy NASCAR Cup Series season kicks off Sunday with All the 60th running of the Daytona 500. When the green flag flies at 2:30 p.m. ET, motorists will rush for 200 laps in hopes of cementing their place at automobile racing history.
Front row starters Alex Bowman and Denny Hamlin will direct the field to begin the race. In terms of Hamlin, the 2017 Cup Series playoff driver knows what it is like to shoot home the checkered flag in The fantastic American Race, doing this in 2016.
Ryan Blaney will begin the race after winning the initial Can-Am Duel in remarkable fashion Thursday. Chase Elliott won the next duel and will begin the race. Both motorists wasted no time winning inside their own brand new rides using Blaney moving in the No. 21 to No. 12 and Elliott moving from the No. 24 into the No. 9
Starting lineup for the 2018 Daytona 500
Alex Bowman
Denny Hamlin
Ryan Blaney
Chase Elliott
Joey Logano
Kevin Harvick
Darrell Wallace Jr.
Erik Jones
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Clint Bowyer
Kurt Busch
Kyle Busch
Ryan Newman
Austin Dillon
David Ragan
Paul Menard
Daniel Suarez
Trevor Bayne
Jamie McMurray
AJ Allmendinger
Chris Buescher
Michael McDowell
Ty Dillon
Martin Truex Jr. (champion)
Brendan Gaughan
Kasey Kahne
Jeffrey Earnhardt
Danica Patrick
Justin Marks
DJ Kennington
Brad Keselowski
Corey LaJoie
William Byron
Gray Gaulding
Jimmie Johnson
Matt DiBenedetto
Aric Almirola
Kyle Larson
David Gilliland
Mark Thompson
How to watch the Daytona 500
Location: Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Florida
Date: Sunday, Feb. 18
Time: 2:30 p.m. ET
Length: 200 laps/500 miles
Stage 1: Ends on lap 60
Stage 2: Ends on lap 120
Final stage: Scheduled for lap 200
TV: Fox
Live stream: TV LINK (HD) (Try for free)
Past Daytona 500 winners racing Sunday
2017: Kurt Busch
2016: Denny Hamlin
2015: Joey Logano
2013: Jimmie Johnson
2011: Trevor Bayne
2010: Jamie McMurray
2008: Ryan Newman
2007: Kevin Harvick
2006: Jimmie Johnson
If you are interested in hearing what it is like to cross the finish line as the winner in Daytona, check out our interview with one-time 500 winner Trevor Bayne below. Bayne became the youngest to win The fantastic American race 2011 only a day after his 20th birthday.
Odds to win the 2018 Daytona 500
Betting odds for Sunday's Great American Race, per VegasInsider.com
- Brad Keselowski 7/1
- Chase Elliott 8/1
- Denny Hamlin 9/1
- Joey Logano 12/1
- Kevin Harvick 12/1
- Kyle Busch 12/1
- Jimmie Johnson 15/1
- Kyle Larson 15/1
- Martin Truex Jr. 15/1
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 15/1
- Field (any driver not listed, such as Danica Patrick) 15/1
- Alex Bowman 20/1
- Clint Bowyer 20/1
- Erik Jones 20/1
- Kurt Busch 20/1
- Ryan Blaney 20/1
- Jamie McMurray 25/1
- William Byron 25/1
- Aric Almirola 30/1
- Austin Dillon 30/1
- Daniel Suarez 35/1
- Paul Menard 35/1
- Trevor Bayne 40/1
- Darrell Wallace Jr. 50/1
- Ryan Newman 50/1
- Kasey Kahne 65/1
- Ty Dillon 75/1
Elliott showed us what we had to see through the next Can-Am Duel. We think Elliott will crack his second-place slump and make his first career Cup Series victory on NASCAR's greatest stage. The 22-year-old's success from the Duels secured in his fourth-place starting place, meaning he'll have begun four from the five Daytona 500s in the top.
VegasInsider has Elliott in 8/1 chances to win the race next only to Brad Keselowski. Already the preseason favorite to win NASCAR's Most Popular Driver this year, Elliott ushers at another generation of NASCAR drivers Sunday, obstructing the area on the last lap to win the race into his dad's famed No. 9.
Now let us have a better look at a few of the drivers competing Sunday.
The Champion's Club
NASCAR veteran and 2004 Cup Series champ Kurt Busch will be looking to defend his 2017 Daytona 500 title. Busch is no stranger to the front of the package on the massive restrictor-plate track; until his victory last season, the No. 41 driver finished since the runner-up 3 times. While Kurt attempts to defend his checkered flag, his brother and fellow Cup Series champion Kyle Busch is looking for his first Daytona 500 win.
"It would mean the world for me," Kyle Busch said to CBS Sports when asked concerning potentially winning the Daytona 500. "It would mean just as far as winning that first championship back in 2015. It is the greatest race that we have. It is The Great American Race, it's the Daytona 500, it is our Super Bowl."
One of Kyle Busch's rivals on the track is restrictor-plate guru and 2012 Cup champion Brad Keselowski. The No. 2 driver has yet to acquire a Daytona 500 despite winning in the track in the summertime before. Keselowski was so convinced in his car and ability that he even tweeted earlier that race that he believed he would win.
Keselowski's want to win The Great American race is so ferocious that he advised CBS Sports he'd be willing to draft Busch on the final lap when it meant taking home a checkered flag. It'll be an uphill battle for him though after becoming caught up with Jamie McMurray at a mess on the final laps of Duel No. 1.
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