Editor’s Note: Keep tabs on this page for lineup advice following qualifying, including changes you should consider.
And just like that, the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series is upon us. The 68th running of the “Great American Race” is days away on Sunday (2:30 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN Radio, HBO Max, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). William Byron is looking to carve his name among the greatest drivers to ever compete in the Daytona 500, should he score a third straight victory. The usual superspeedway aces continuously battle at the front of the field in the Daytona 500; it’s just whether they steer clear of the annual late-race madness. You can go plenty of different ways with superspeedway lineups, but I’ll take my chance with the elite.
Advertisement
Returning to Fastlane this year is my weekly NASCAR 36 for 36 pick, where you can come play along. It’s a season-long points battle introduced in 2024 where strategy is the primary emphasis. With 36 chartered cars and 36 races on the 2026 schedule, players can choose each car once for the duration of the season.
RELATED: NASCAR Fantasy Live hub | Play 36 for 36
MUST START
Driver: Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Team Penske Ford
Selections remaining: 10
Comment: Through 11 Daytona 500 starts, Blaney has six top-10 efforts, including a pair of runner-up finishes (2017, 2020). The 2023 Cup champion is the most recent winner at Daytona (August 2025) and has finished in the top two positions in 19% of his career starts at drafting tracks (10 of 52, five wins).
Advertisement
Driver: Chase Elliott, No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Selections remaining: 10
Comment: Elliott has yet to win a points-paying race at Daytona International Speedway, but does have three victories in the America 250 Florida Duel races, including the second Duel on Thursday. He also has four career wins at drafting-style tracks, with three of those at EchoPark Speedway (formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway).
Driver: Austin Cindric, No. 2 Team Penske Ford
Selections remaining: 10
Comment: Cindric scored his first career victory in the Daytona 500 as a rookie in 2022 and picked up a second drafting-style track win last year at Talladega Superspeedway. The No. 2 car tends to lead a plethora of laps at superspeedways, ranking second in the series in 2025 (127) and leading at the white-flag lap of last year’s event.
Ryan Blaney looks on.
DRIVERS TO AVOID
Driver: Denny Hamlin, No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Selections remaining: 10
Comment: Hamlin is on a short list of six drivers who have visited Victory Lane in the Daytona 500 on at least three occasions and ranks fifth all-time in laps led (496). Since the introduction of the Next Gen car, his numbers have swayed in the wrong direction, though, sitting at nine consecutive races without a top 10 effort at the “World Center of Racing.”
Advertisement
Driver: Brad Keselowski, No. 6 RFK Racing Ford
Selections remaining: 10
Comment: With seven victories at drafting-style tracks, Keselowski is regarded among the best superspeedway competitors of his generation. However, he has only three top-10 finishes in 16 Daytona 500 starts, with just one of those coming in the last 11 attempts.
Denny Hamlin looks on.
SLEEPERS OF THE WEEK
Driver: John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
Selections remaining: 10
Comment: Quietly, Nemechek seems to escape all the late-race chaos at the Daytona 500, holding an average finish of 7.67 through three starts, ranking second among all drivers in history with more than two starts. His 11.0 average finish at Daytona is the best of all active drivers and has never finished worse than 17th in six Daytona races.
Advertisement
Driver: Carson Hocevar, No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
Selections remaining: 10
Comment: The new Chevrolet body had no hiccups during Thursday’s Duel races — and the Spire teammates of Hocevar and Michael McDowell made note of it. Hocevar had a stout Duel race, finishing runner-up to Elliott. Daytona has never been his best circuit, but he led the league with four top-10 finishes at drafting-style tracks in 2025.
Carson Hocevar speaks.
FEATURED MATCHUPS
Kyle Larson vs. Denny Hamlin
Pick: Larson
Comment: As Larson mentioned on Wednesday during Daytona 500 Media Day, he has been in the mix at superspeedways for years but finally saw the fruits of his labor play out last year, earning the second-most points at drafting-style tracks. Hamlin has been feast or famine in the 500 over the last decade, but his ability in the Next Gen car has been hindered.
Advertisement
Ryan Blaney vs. William Byron
Pick: Blaney
Comment: This heavyweight battle is a true toss-up between the drivers who split the Daytona races last year. Blaney gets the nod, given the No. 24 team has unloaded a backup car after getting caught up in a wreck during the opening Duel race on Thursday.
Kyle Busch vs. Chase Elliott
Pick: Elliott
Comment: Busch has the fastest hot rod in Florida, scoring his second career Busch Light Pole award at a drafting-style track on Wednesday. His superspeedway numbers have improved with Richard Childress Racing, but Elliott has cracked the top 10 in three of the last four superspeedway races and won the second Duel.
Bubba Wallace vs. Ryan Preece
Pick: Wallace
Comment: Preece led the bulk of the opening Duel on Thursday evening, with his RFK Racing teammates all in tow. Wallace drove to the lead and was in position to contend for the victory until he spun off Austin Dillon’s front bumper late in the event. Wallace has the hat trick for runner-up finishes at Daytona, including two in the 500.
MY LINEUP
Starting five: Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott, Austin Cindric, Bubba Wallace, Michael McDowell.
Garage pick: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Advertisement
36 FOR 36
Pick: Cole Custer, No. 41 Haas Factory Team Chevrolet
Comment: Custer could be the dark horse to upset the field on Sunday. He was in position to win both Daytona races last season, leading on the final lap of the Daytona 500 last season until a collision with Hamlin. The No. 41 car led at the white-flag lap in August but dipped to fourth in a four-wide finish when the checkered flag waved.
