The Daytona 500 kicks off the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season, with the race taking place Sunday at 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX.
Joey Logano, the 2015 Daytona 500 winner, starts on the pole alongside 2021 winner Michael McDowell.
The second row consists of Duel winners Tyler Reddick and Christopher Bell.
The Daytona 500 is the season’s biggest race and presents a good betting opportunity for all sports fans.
The sportsbooks stepped it up this week with a plethora of prop bets.
Which props should you target for the 2024 Daytona 500? Here are my favorite picks:
Best props bets for the Daytona 500
Driver Matchup: Michael McDowell over Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (+100, BetMGM)
This prop features two of the last three 500 winners.
McDowell scored his first career win with a last-lap pass in 2021, while Ricky Stenhouse Jr. held off Joey Logano to win last year’s race.
We mentioned McDowell starts second in this year’s race, while Stenhouse rolls off the grid in 35th.
Starting position isn’t a significant advantage at Daytona, but it doesn’t hurt McDowell.
Both drivers have had success on superspeedways, but they have a different approach.
Stenhouse is well-known for his aggressive driving style and has caused wrecks. Meanwhile, McDowell is much safer and puts himself in the right spot when it matters.
McDowell is a much safer option in the Daytona 500. Stenhouse should run well, but his aggressiveness could lead to an early exit.
Winning manufacture: Toyota (+240, DraftKings)
There were some concerns about Toyota’s lack of speed in Wednesday night’s qualifying session. That all went out the window after Thursday’s Duel races.
Toyota swept the Duels with Tyler Reddick and Christopher Bell capturing the checkered flag.
They were far from the only contenders, as Martin Truex Jr., Erik Jones, Bubba Wallace and Denny Hamlin all spent time out front.
Hamlin is a three-time Daytona 500 winner and one of the overall favorites to win this year.
The only downside to this bet is that Toyota only has nine cars, much fewer than Chevy (20) and Ford (15).
Still, it’s hard to discount their speed in the Duel races. This bet focuses on quality over quantity.
Group winner: Corey Lajoie (+270, BetMGM)
Corey Lajoie is going up against AJ Allmendinger, Josh Berry and Noah Gragson for BetMGM’s group betting.
All drivers have +270 odds, but this is a two-driver battle, in my opinion.
Berry and Gragson didn’t show much speed in the Duels and are inexperienced in the Cup Series.
Allmendinger has had good runs on superspeedways, but Lajoie is the driver to beat.
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He’s never won a Cup Series race, but Lajoie has always performed well on this track type.
He has four top-10 finishes in 14 starts at Daytona, including a 10th-place finish in last year’s 500.
Allmendinger is running a part-time schedule this season, and has long been an outspoken critic of superspeedway racing.
I expect Lajoie to run ahead of the other three drivers and potentially compete for the win.
Top Ford car: Austin Cindric (+1400, BetMGM)
Austin Cindric’s first two years in the Cup Series have been disappointing, but he knows how to show up on superspeedways.
In 13 starts across Daytona, Talladega and Atlanta, Cindric has one win, three top-fives and five top-10 finishes. That includes a victory in the 2022 Daytona 500.
The longshot odds are due to his Ford teammates being among the race favorites.
Joey Logano (+1000), Brad Keselowski (+1100) and Ryan Blaney (+1200) are the three favorites, and all drive Fords.
Still, Cindric has shown as much speed as his fellow Ford competitors.
He nearly won the Duel on Thursday and should keep up with his Ford teammates.