After the Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum exhibition race in the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season, the series heads to Daytona Beach for the first points-paying race of the new season.
Sunday’s Daytona 500 is expected to be exciting as it will kick off the new season after a three-month off-season. All the drivers who will take the grid for Sunday’s Cup race will be racing to win the 2.5-mile-long Superspeedway.
The Daytona 500 can be enjoyed live on FOX, FOX Sports app, Peacock and MRN. It will be broadcast on Sunday, February 19, 2023, at 2:30 pm ET.
All the drivers across all three NASCAR’s top-national series will be competing for monetary incentives this weekend. This year, the Cup Series race in Daytona Beach boasts a prize pool of $26,934,357, while the Xfinity Series will reward drivers with $3,327,595, and the Craftsman Truck Series has a reward of $1,025,847.
On Twitter, motorsport journalist Bob Pockrass announced the prize money that is up for grabs at Daytona Beach across the Cup Series, Xfinity Series, and Truck Series. He wrote:
“Purses for Daytona weekend (includes all payouts through the field as well as all per-race charter payouts for Cup and historical performance payouts for Cup): Daytona 500: $26,934,357 Xfinity: $3,327,595 Trucks: $1,025,847”
On February 15, 2023, the Cup Series action at the Daytona began with Busch Light Pole Qualifying at 8:15 pm ET. It will be followed by Bluegreen Vacations Duels races the next day from 7:00 pm ET. Both the qualifying races and duels will go live on FS1 and MRN.
Which NASCAR driver is the favorite to win the Daytona 500?
Heading to Daytona International Speedway, three-time Daytona 500 champion Denny Hamlin occupies the top position on the board as the favorite. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has odds of 10-1 to win Sunday's race, according to CBS Sports.
Three drivers are tied for the second-highest betting odds at 12-1, including Ryan Blaney, Kyle Larson, and Chase Elliott to win the race. Drivers like Joey Logano, Kyle Busch, and Ross Chastain have odds of 13-1, 15-1, and 16-1, respectively, to win on Sunday.
Team Penske driver Austin Cindric, the winner of last year’s Daytona 500, is going off with the eighth-highest betting odds at 22-1 to repeat as champion.
Catch NASCAR in action at the Daytona International Speedway on Sunday, February 19, 2023.