NASCAR Daytona 500 predictions 2025: Expert picks for Cup Series race

The Daytona 500 NASCAR Cup Series race opens the 2025 season on Sunday at Daytona International Speedway with the potential of chaos.

Chase Briscoe is on the pole in his first race with Joe Gibbs Racing. Toyota has had a strong week at Daytona so far, with Briscoe’s pole and Bubba Wallace winning the first duel on Thursday. With some luck with a caution light, Erik Jones could have swept the duels for Toyota in Duel 2.

Defending race champion William Byron will start fifth, while defending Cup Series champion Joey Logano will start 10th.

Despite the chaos potential, our experts still made Daytona 500 predictions. Here are The Tennessean’s expert picks for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race in Daytona:

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Mike Organ’s pick: Kyle Busch, No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet

I’m going out on a limb early picking Busch to snap his non-winning streak in his 20th Daytona 500. His run of bad luck will end after being close several times late in 2024 and Busch will get his first win since 2023.

Tom Kreager’s pick: Bubba Wallace, No. 23 23XI Racing Toyota

Wallace won his Daytona Duel this week. He also has three second-place finishes in Daytona, including the 2018 and 2022 Daytona 500 and the 2021 Coke Zero Sugar 400. He will find a way to put Michael Jordan in victory lane.

Nick Gray’s pick: Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford

Penske has been very good at pack racing in the NextGen era, and Blaney has been the most consistent of the three Penske drivers. I’m all in on 2025 being the Year of Blaney.

Austin Chastain’s pick: Chase Briscoe, No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota

Briscoe looked scary fast in Wednesday’s qualifying session, earning pole position for Sunday’s race. A reinvigorated driver with a new team and better equipment will give Briscoe his third career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his first Daytona 500, Joe Gibbs Racing’s first Daytona 500 win since Denny Hamlin in 2020 and the first polesitter to win the Daytona 500 since Dale Jarrett in 2000.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: NASCAR Daytona 500 predictions 2024: Expert picks for Cup Series race