It’s been 14 weeks since Joey Logano won his third NASCAR Cup Series championship in Phoenix and now it’s finally time to start the 2025 campaign with the Daytona 500.
We’ve covered driver movement, previewed the season as a whole and kept track of a pretty significant lawsuit in the offseason, but now let’s focus on the “Super Bowl of motor racing events.”
Daytona 500 TV/streaming schedule
All times Eastern
Wednesday
8-10 p.m.: Daytona 500 front-row qualifying (FS1, Fox Sports app)
Thursday
7-8:45 p.m.: Duel 1 (FS1, Fox Sports app)
8:45-10:30 p.m.: Duel 2 (FS1, Fox Sports app)
Friday
5:30-6:30 p.m.: Daytona 500 practice 2 (FS1, Fox Sports app)
Saturday
10:30-11:30 a.m.: Daytona 500 final practice (FS1, Fox Sports app)
Sunday
2:30-6 p.m.: Daytona 500 (Fox, Fox Sports app)
Daytona 500 race details
Track: Daytona International Speedway (2.5-mile high-banked tri-oval) in Daytona Beach, Florida
Banking: Turns – 31 degrees | Tri-oval – 18 degrees | Backstretch – 3 degrees
Race length: 200 laps for 500 miles
Stage lengths: Stage 1 – 65 laps | Stage 2 – 65 laps | Stage 3 – 130 laps
Daytona 500 qualifying format
The biggest race on the NASCAR calendar also features a unique qualifying format not used on any other race weekend. On Wednesday night all entered cars will turn one lap at top speed, the order of which is determined by a Tuesday night draw of numbers. The top 10 drivers then go into a shootout with the top two times from that session setting the front row for Sunday’s race.
The remaining cars are dropped — as evenly as possible, along with the top two qualifiers — into two 60-lap qualifying “duels” to be run Thursday night that set the field from spots three through 40. The finishing order for the first duel determines the inside row slots and the finishing order from the second duel sets the outside.
Top drivers and best bets for the Daytona 500
Restrictor plate racing presents a randomizing element that makes handicapping the results challenging, and that’s reflected in BetMGM’s odds. Three drivers enter the week with identical 12-to-1 odds and 10 drivers come in at 20-to-1 or better.
Best odds to win the 67th Daytona 500
Ryan Blaney +1200
Joey Logano +1200
Brad Keselowski +1200
Kyle Busch +1400
Denny Hamlin +1500
Hélio Castroneves in the field; Jimmie Johnson attempts to qualify
Due to a new rule this year, a provisional is granted for a “world-class driver” who does not run the Cup series full time to join the field for any event as the 41st car. Teams must put in the request at least 90 days ahead of time and only Trackhouse Racing did so on behalf of four-time Indianapolis 500 champion Hélio Castroneves. Castroneves will still attempt to qualify for the race and if he posts one of the top 40 times, there will only be 40 cars running on Sunday. If he doesn’t make it on time, the Daytona 500 will have its largest field in 10 years.
Seven-time series champion and winner of the 2006 and 2013 Daytona 500s Jimmie Johnson will attempt to make the field in a third entry for the Legacy Motor Club team that he owns. Johnson, 49, has run in the event twice since retiring from full-time racing in 2020, with a best finish of 28th.
