Okay, by the time this gets posted, we will be less than two weeks (weather permitting – remember last year’s Texas race?) from finding out the winner of the Daytona 500. As with all superspeedway races, even without the addition of restrictor plates, there is always the belief that any driver whose engine fires on the morning of the 500 has a chance to win.
While I don’t necessarily believe that (after all, Trevor Bayne and Derrike Cope are probably the only two real “long-shots” in the last 30-plus years to win the Daytona 500), it’s hard to discount anyone as a possible winner of the Daytona 500.
That being said, there are five drivers I think could win the 2021 Daytona 500:
- Chase Elliott – I have to be honest, Chase is probably my sentimental favourite to win this race but I definitely think he’s got to be considered a front-runner for the win as well. Besides the fact that, as I am sure I have mentioned, he’s my Dad’s favourite current driver (and the son of his all-time favourite driver, Bill Elliott), he has to have a ton of momentum coming off winning the 2020 Cup Championship. While Chase is probably best known for his road course prowess, he has had some success at the superspeedways (sitting on the pole for his first two Daytona 500s, a win at Talladega and an Xfinity win a couple of years ago). Could definitely see him being getting the win in 2021.
- Ryan Blaney – Blaney’s teammate, Brad Keselowski, almost made this list because I definitely see him winning a Daytona 500 before all is said and done. You also can’t discount the Fords on the superspeedways. Blaney gets the nod because he is probably the best superspeedway racer currently in Cup. He’s won twice at Talladega and is one of those drivers always in the hunt for a win at those big tracks.
- Ryan Newman – Ryan Newman has a Daytona 500 to his credit. However, the reason he’s on this list is because of what happened in the final moments of the last lap of the 2020 Daytona 500. How great of a story would it be if Ryan Newman was to come back to the Daytona 500 a year removed from a horrific wreck and win it? If there’s a dry eye in the house when that happens…well, it won’t be mine, I can guarantee you that.
- Denny Hamlin – Okay, I’m not a huge fan of Joe Gibbs Racing (although I would also count myself a fan of Denny’s teammate Martin Truex, Jr.) but even despite his run-ins with Chase Elliott and opinion of Chase Elliott fans, I kinda like Denny. I definitely think he deserves to win a championship before he calls it a career. While I like to see new faces in Victory Lane wherever possible, having Denny be the first driver to win three Daytona 500s in a row would be historic.
- Matt DiBenedetto – For some reason I think people assume a Matt DiBenedetto would be a long-shot. First of all, he’s driving for the Wood Brothers which has won five Daytona 500s and is looking for their 100th overall Cup win. Secondly, DiBenedetto just kept leading and leading in the 2019 Daytona 500 running for Leavine Family Racing. This is a contract year for Matt DiBenedetto so a win in the Daytona 500 (and automatic entry into the playoffs) would certainly put him on a lot of teams’ radars -which he should be already. How about the 21 in ’21 to win the Daytona 500? Yeah, I guess Matty D is still an underdog, but who doesn’t love an underdog story?
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