The second NASCAR Cup Series race weekend of the year is approaching, and the second-ever O’Reilly Auto Parts 253 is set to take place on Sunday at Daytona International Speedway. The road race will follow this past Sunday’s Daytona 500. One driver already stands out as an overwhelming favorite. Let’s take a look at the opening odds on DraftKings Sportsbook.
Chase Elliott (+225) has the best odds to win and took the checkered flag at last year’s race. Elliott is a world-class road racer, and his excellence away from the oval tracks helped him clinch his first Cup Series title. He won four straight road races last season and has won 36.36% of his races on road courses. Some other drivers with road-course experience could give Elliott a run for his money, though.
Martin Truex Jr. (+550) has the second-best odds. He has four career road-course wins and finished in third at Daytona just last year, behind Elliott and Denny Hamlin (+1000). His recent success at the venue could give him a shot at securing a win, but plenty of other drivers will be in the mix as well.
A.J. Allmendinger and Kyle Busch are both +900 and can be competitive. Most of Allmendinger’s road-course success has come in the Xfinity Series, but that could translate to the Cup Series this weekend. Busch is off to a strong start this season after winning just one race last year. He won the first race of the year on Daytona’s road course and could improve to 2-0 there this weekend.
Here are the odds for all the drivers competing.
2021 O’Reilly Auto Parts 253 opening odds
| Driver | To win |
|---|---|
| Driver | To win |
| Chase Elliott | +250 |
| Martin Truex Jr | +550 |
| AJ Allmendinger | +900 |
| Kyle Busch | +900 |
| Ryan Blaney | +1000 |
| Denny Hamlin | +1000 |
| Kevin Harvick | +1000 |
| Joey Logano | +1600 |
| Brad Keselowski | +1800 |
| William Byron | +2000 |
| Kurt Busch | +2500 |
| Alex Bowman | +2800 |
| Chase Briscoe | +3000 |
| Kyle Larson | +3000 |
| Matt DiBenedetto | +4000 |
| Christopher Bell | +5000 |
| Erik Jones | +5000 |
| Aric Almirola | +6000 |
| Cole Custer | +6000 |
| Tyler Reddick | +6600 |
| Michael McDowell | +8000 |
| Ross Chastain | +10000 |
| Ryan Newman | +10000 |
| Bubba Wallace | +10000 |
| Anthony Alfredo | +12500 |
| Austin Dillon | +12500 |
| Chris Buescher | +15000 |
| Justin Haley | +25000 |
| Ricky Stenhouse Jr | +25000 |
| Ty Dillon | +50000 |
| Ryan Preece | +50000 |
| Josh Bilicki | +75000 |
| James Davison | +75000 |
| Daniel Suarez | +75000 |
| Corey LaJoie | +100000 |
| Cody Ware | +100000 |
| Joey Gase | +150000 |
| Timmy Hill | +150000 |
| Quin Houff | +150000 |
| BJ McLeod | +150000 |
