This past weekend, America watched in awe as the Philadelphia Eagles took down the once seemingly invincible 2023 and 2024 champion Kansas City Chiefs in Superbowl LIX. The Super Bowl is undeniably the largest sporting event in the USA– in pop culture, revenue, and viewers.

But every year on the weekend directly after the big game, another mainstay event of American sports takes place. Despite most people in 2025 not knowing much about the sport itself, this specific event’s name is ingrained in American pop culture- the Daytona 500.

This weekend on February 16th, the Great American Race will have its 67th running, and the field is stacked. Along with the 36 full time drivers locked into the race, nine “open” drivers are gunning for only four spots. Among them, seven-time NASCAR cup series champion Jimmie Johnson, reigning xfinity series champion Justin Allgaier in the long awaited debut of JR Motorsports in cup, recently retired champion Martin Truex Jr. and Brazilian four-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves.

With so many storylines, it has been a chaotic run up to this largest event in stock car racing. So, this article will provide a run down of who to watch this Sunday to take home the Harvey J Earl Trophy.

THE FAVORITES

Denny Hamlin

The case for Hamlin taking home the win is simple- he’s been here before. With three wins in this race already, more than any other active driver, he seems to have this style of racing down pat. Even as restrictor plate racing has become more random as the years have gone on, Hamlin’s #11 Toyota has been a fixture at the front of the pack more races than not. Hamlin has an army of doubters this season, though. His main sponsor, FedEx, left the sport at the end of last season after being with him since 2005. Crew chief Chris Gabehart, who led Hamlin to 22 victories in their time together, has also stepped away from the 11 team. In his place will be Ty Gibbs’ former crew chief Chris Gale. These factors, combined with the ongoing lawsuit between 23XI (which Hamlin co-owns) against NASCAR, could easily hold the 11 team back. But don’t forget, the last time Hamlin got a new crew chief in 2019, he started the season by winning this very same race.

Ryan Blaney

Buckeye state native and fan favorite, Ryan Blaney has found great success on the high banks of Daytona and sister track Talladega before, but has never won the Daytona 500. With a staggering 20 top 10 finishes at plate tracks, four of those being wins, Blaney knows how to work the draft. But every February when the #12 has rolled into the World Center of Racing, luck has not been on his side. His best finish in this race was 2nd in the 2nd closest finish in the 500’s history, as Ryan Newman came careening across the front stretch in a horrific wreck behind him. The 500 has not been kind to Blaney, but there is hope for his loyal legion of fans. Last year, Michael McDowell won pole position at five out of six plate races, with Joey Logano taking the honors at the remaining one. The common denominator? All these poles came with Team Penske prepared engines under the hood. The Penske and Penske-aligned FRM cars were bad fast all of last year on the superspeedways, and Blaney is entering his 8th year with the team. He will surely have a car capable of running up front, and few question his ability to make that happen. The only thing standing between Ryan Blaney and a Harvey J Earl Trophy is his favor with lady luck.

Joey Logano

Some love to love him. Most love to hate him. But one thing is for certain: “Sliced Bread” is an unmissable super speedway talent. Fresh off a highly controversial run to the championship last year, Logano is entering Daytona this year with confidence. The 22 will be sporting the red yellow and white Shell-Pennzoil colors that found victory lane the past two years in Indycar’s biggest race, the Indy 500. Logano has also won this race before in 2015. Logano can claim to have more of one thing this year than any other driver: momentum. But beware the odd year curse. Though his so far only Daytona win came in an even year, the driver of car 22 has a trend he can’t seem to buck of faltering in the odd years. He won the title last year, and in 2022, but 2023 was a dud with a first round playoff exit. 2021 saw him collect only one win, a victory at the inaugural race on the Bristol Dirt track. Even in 2015, the year he won the biggest race of the season and looked to be cruising to a championship 4 appearance, Matt Kenseth eliminated him from contention at Martinsville and dashed his hopes for that year. Will 2025 be the year Joey snaps his odd year bad luck streak?

UNDER THE RADAR

Christopher Bell

In recent years, it’s become almost impossible to ignore the talent of Christopher Bell to anyone who’s watching closely. With championship 4 appearances in 2022 and 2023, and being one failed wall ride away from extending his streak in 2024, the Norman, Oklahoma native has risen through the ranks of the cup series like a shooting star. But his name typically never comes up in the conversation for this race. Why is that? Bell has yet to win a superspeedway race in his cup series career, but he’s no slouch in the draft. Of his 26 cup series plate track starts, 9 of them have resulted in top 10s– not a bad rate when you consider the amount of luck and wreck avoidance involved. Perhaps most intriguingly, his last two Daytona 500 attempts have resulted in third place finishes. With JGR power under the hood, and a pair of podium finishes in his recent memory, watch out for Bell at the front of the pack.

Chris Buescher

Now let’s take a look at the other Christopher in the cup series- Chris Buescher. Buescher may have missed the playoffs last year, but his performance was solid all year long and were it not for a few upset winners, he would have had an opportunity to fight for the cup. Buescher earned one win at Watkins Glen, and nearly scored multiple more. In 2023, he won three times- one at Daytona during the summer race. Buescher is also entering this season with not only his teammate since 2022 Brad Keselowski in the 6, but also Ryan Preece in the 60. If the ability of Chris and Brad to work their way to the front in recent years is any indication, Preece’s addition to the team will give all three drivers a further leg up on the high banks. Count on Buescher and his RFK teammates to be controlling the field at Daytona.

Michael McDowell

Spire Motorsports hype is higher this year than ever before. The rising team has formed an alliance with Hendrick Motorsports, who won eight of the last ten Daytona 500 pole positions. They signed veteran Crew Chief Rodney Childers to head the 7 team. They dumped Corey Lajoie in favor of Justin Haley last year, signed Carson Hocevar who won rookie of the year honors last year, and now have veteran Michael McDowell in their wheelhouse. McDowell may only have two wins to his name in the cup series, but one of them was the Daytona 500. This year, with Hendrick power under the hood and 13 Daytona 500 starts in the books, McDowell is a sneakily good pick to win this year’s running.

DARK HORSES

Riley Herbst

With nine open entries including world class stars, the first full time season of Shane Van Gisbergen in the cup series, former SHR drivers finding new homes, and more, the storyline of Riley Herbst’s rookie year has been largely overshadowed. But looking at his limited cup experience at superspeedways so far, this may be a mistake. In the 2023 Daytona 500– his first ever cup start– Herbst finished 10th. He then finished 20th at Talladega, and in the 2023 summer Daytona race he was leading lines at the front of the pack until Kevin Harvick let him out to dry and he fell back. He then came back once more that year at Talladega to collect another top 10 after leading 10 laps. In his single superspeedway cup race last year, running in the 15 car at the 500, he finished an underwhelming 24th, but this was largely in part to crash damage. All this to say, in his limited experience, the Las Vegas driver has impressed on the big tracks. Don’t expect him to light up the charts on the intermediates just yet, but with a full time team supporting him now, Herbst just might shock the world this weekend.

Erik Jones

After a humdrum of a first season with Toyota in 2024, Legacy Motor Club has been largely written off in the minds of NASCAR fans. Erik Jones in the legendary 43 car finished a dismal 28th in points, with his teammate John Hunter Nemechek finishing even further down the standings in 34th. Many of the team’s struggles can be attributed to growing pains. Switching manufacturers is always difficult for teams. Compounding this problem was the fact that Legacy is not getting any data or assistance from Toyota’s flagship team JGR. Add on a relatively new team owner in Jimmie Johnson, a back injury that sidelined Jones for two weeks, and Nemechek’s return to cup after three years of absence, and the stage was set for a tumultuous year. But there is hope for this downtrodden team. Jones has won at Daytona before, albeit in strange circumstances. The 2020 Busch Clash saw Jones go to victory lane in an absolutely destroyed car. This was a non points race, yes, and barely any cars were even running at the finish, but this should not be entirely discounted. Jones also nearly won at Talladega in 2022 before fading back just a few laps from victory. The last time the 43 car won the Daytona 500 was in 1981 with the king Richard Petty collecting his record setting seventh victory. Could 2025 be the year the 43 once again makes history in Florida?

Justin Allgaier

“The Gator” has been one of the most exciting storylines this speedweeks for any NASCAR longtime NASCAR fans. 20 years ago, fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. opened his own xfinity (then Busch) series team, JR Motorsports. And for most of those 20 years, one question has been on fans’ lips: when will JRM go cup racing? Well, this year, that day has finally come. In a collaboration with country music star Chris Stapleton and his Traveler Whiskey brand, JRM will field their first ever cup series entry, the number 40. Behind the wheel, 2024 xfinity series champion Justin Allgaier. After a cup career that fizzled out, Allgaier made the decision to build his legacy in nascar’s second tier and has found great success. This will be his first Daytona 500 start in ten years. Allgaier has very limited experience in the current generation of car– only two full races and a substitution run in last year’s Coke 600. The 40 is also an open entry, and did not lock in via single car qualifying on Wednesday night. He will have to race his way in via the duels. But with 25 xfinity wins and a championship now under his belt, Allgaier’s pedigree is undeniable. Combine this with the Hendrick engine under his hood, and Allgaier has a genuine shot to not only make the race, but– if the racing gods’ shine their luck upon him– take home the dub on the high banks.