Chase Elliott's 2025 Daytona 500 odds: Breaking down the Hendrick Motorsports standout’s potential

On the heels of winning Sunday's Cookout Clash exhibition race at Bowman Gray Stadium, Chase Elliott enters this year's Daytona 500 with momentum. The driver of the #9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet will make his 10th Daytona 500 start as he still seeks a win in the 500-mile race.

Elliott will look to put himself and his father, Bill, in elite company as just the fourth father-son duo to win the Daytona 500 after Bill won the event back in 1987. Going into the event, Elliott currently has the eighth-best betting odds to win at +1700, per DraftKings Sportsbook. However, with Daytona 500 qualifying and the Daytona Duels yet to take place, the odds are sure to shift based on the Dawsonville, Georgia native's performance.

Elliott has been in position to win the Daytona 500 in the past. He was leading with three laps to go in the 2017 event but ran out of gas, costing him the win. In 2021, Elliott scored a runner-up finish to Michael McDowell, who won his first career race. The 19-time Cup Series driver has three top fives at Daytona with another second-place effort coming in the September race in 2020.

Chase Elliott is also a proven superspeedway/drafting track ace as he's won three career races on drafting tracks. He has two victories at Talladega in 2019 and 2022 and also has a victory at Atlanta in 2022 under the newly-introduced drafting package at the 1.5-mile track.

However, Daytona has been Elliott's Achilles' heel, especially in the NextGen era. In the last three Daytona 500s, all in the NextGen car, Elliott has only a best finish of 10th in 2022. He led 13 laps and finished 14th in last year's event, but didn't lead a lap in the two Daytona 500s prior. While Elliott does hold a Daytona top-five in the NextGen era, that came in the August 2023 race, not the Daytona 500.

Overall, Elliott's performances at Daytona have been subpar. While he's had decent finishes, he's failed to be much of a threat to win the Daytona 500 other than in 2017 and 2021, which were both pre-NextGen car.

However, this season is different as Chase Elliott carries momentum into the Daytona 500 after a win in the Cookout Clash and coming off one of the most consistent seasons of his career in 2024. On top of that, Elliott's HMS teammate, William Byron, won last year's Daytona 500, which indicates the HMS drivers have the speed to get it done. He probably won't be a favorite to win, but as NASCAR's Most Popular Driver, most fans will leave the Daytona 500 happy if Elliott is the victor.

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Chase Elliott seeking second NASCAR Cup Series title in 2025

While he's yet to win a Daytona 500, Chase Elliott is already a NASCAR Cup Series champion after winning the crown in 2020. Elliott wheeled the #9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet to five victories that year to become champion in his fifth full-time Cup Series season.

Now, Elliott will gun for his second Cup Series title amid his 10th full-time season. In 2024, Elliott scored a win at Texas early in the season and made it all the way to the Round of 8. While he was in position to win the next-to-last race of the campaign at Martinsville and advance to the championship race, Elliott was passed in the late stages by Ryan Blaney.

Chase Elliott has 19 career Cup Series victories, all coming with HMS. He has a career-high five wins in both 2020 and 2022.