The Great American Race Is Here: Everything You Need to Know Before the Daytona 500

Boogity boogity boogity let’s go racing!

The 68th running of the Daytona 500 is finally here and with that the start of the 2026 NASCAR season! The Super Bowl was last weekend and now it’s time for the superbowl of Nascar to take center stage.

The 2026 season will see some familiar faces in different places and some new faces on the circuit. The biggest probably being 19 year old phenom Connor Zilisch taking over the 88 ride at track house racing. Zilisch won 11 races in the O’reilly series last year driving for jr motorsports, and many eyes will be focused on him.

Another long overdue change for the 2026 season is putting 750hp back in the cars for tracks a mile and a half and less and road courses. Hopefully this ends the follow the leader racing we’ve seen for far too long.

Perhaps the most exciting change for fans is with the playoff format. The win and in rule is done (sorry SVG). No more random winning a restrictor plate race bc he was the last to survive the big one and automatically making the playoffs. The top 16 drivers at the end of the year will race for the championship over the course of ten races. No more eliminations no more win and make the next round , every race matters, every spot matters, every lap led matters.

Perhaps the biggest storyline heading into this season is will everyone’s favorite driver finally get his long eluded championship and retire driving off into the sunset. Of course lm referring to “fan favorite “ Denny Hamlin. It’s 11 against the world and Denny has checked every box off and then some a NASCAR driver would hope to accomplish, except winning a championship. It’s long overdue, it’s deserved, and if it wasn’t for an ill timed caution late in Phoenix last year Hamlin may have retired. As a pro 11 blog we wish Denny nothing but the best this year and to bring the hardware home!

Now, on to the 500. Daytona beach, Florida is the birthplace of NASCAR and it’s only right Daytona gets the honor to kick off the nascar season. My father would kill me if I didn’t pause and take a moment of silence to remember Dale Earnhardt gone 25 years this year in that faithful turn off the backstretch .

Daytona is about survival. It’s no one’s track. No manufacturer or team really outperforms another. Some would say Daytona is a track of luck. 3 wide approaching speeds of 200 plus mph, bump drafting like there’s no tomorrow. The big one is the common equalizer. The last 20 laps are some of the most exciting you’ll see in the entire 2026 season, with every driver trying to get that trophy. One check up, one wrong move or one guy falling off the pace for a split second and a lot of afternoons and dreams are heading to the garage early. It’s not uncommon for the big one to wipe out half the field or more.

Thats why as we go into discussing betting the 500 you need a decent bankroll. “Come on Rieth you can’t bet the whole field.” Yeah thanks horn im aware, but the only reason you can’t is because you won’t turn a profit. As mentioned, Daytona is about survival. If your car is still running and on the lead lap with 3 to go you have a legitimate chance to become a Daytona 500 winner. We all remember Juniors performance in the Pepsi 400 his first time back at Daytona after dad’s passing in turn 4. You can make up track position very quickly, especially with some good pushes from friends. I will try to give you my ten favorites to put a few scheckles on.

So drivers start your engines and let’s get another exciting season of racing started!

Bets for the 500. I’m going to give you the ten I will be sprinkling some money on. Remember to bet within your units and that you can also make a bet on any driver in the field. Last man standing!

Denny Hamlin: 3 time 500 championship and nascar legend enough said.

Ricky wreckhouse jr: restrictor plate master.

Ty Gibbs : ready for a breakout year…

William Byron: superstar

Kyle Larson: superstar

Tyler Reddick: the goat will be in attendance to watch his team run the 500 and we love a good Toyota. The goat is Michael Jordan btw.

Connor zilisch: rookie of the year front runner. Let’s see if Daytona eats him up.

Ryan blaney: I guess will pick a Penske car.

Chase briscoe: was last year a fluke or did he finally find the right team and set up.

Last but not least Christopher bell: we love a good Toyota. We love JGR and he’s a hell of a driver.

Vroom vroom!