2026 Coke Zero Sugar 400 predictions, odds, time: NASCAR Daytona Night Race picks, best bets from proven model

Mike McClure's computer model reveals its surprising picks and NASCAR at Daytona props for the Coke Zero Sugar 400

Aug 29, 2026 at 10:11 am ET • 3 min read

The Cup Series wraps up its regular season at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday with the 2026 Coke Zero Sugar 400. The green flag drops at 7:30 p.m. ET for the Daytona Night Race 2026, with Ryan Blaney the defending winner and coming off a victory last week. Tyler Reddick began the year with a NASCAR Daytona triumph at The Great American Race, while Denny Hamlin sits atop the Cup Series standings entering the Coke Zero Sugar 400 2026. Visit our DraftKings promo code review and get $200 in bonus bets as a new user after $5+ in wagers here:

Blaney and Joey Logano are +1000 co-favorites according to the 2026 NASCAR Daytona Night Race odds. Austin Cindric (+1400) rounds out the top three, while Reddick is at +1600 to sweep at Daytona in 2026. A total of 10 drivers are priced shorter than +2000 to target with Coke Zero Sugar 400 bets, including Hamlin (+1700), who is also the +100 favorite to win the Cup Series championship. 

Before locking in any NASCAR at Daytona predictions or NASCAR DFS lineups, you need to see the projected leaderboard from Mike McClure's proven model.

McClure is a legendary professional DFS player with more than $2 million in career winnings. He uses a powerful prediction model that simulates every lap of NASCAR action 10,000 times. All told, the model has nailed a whopping 30 winners since 2021 and nailed Denny Hamlin's back-to-back wins at Michigan and Pocono in June. Anyone following his NASCAR betting picks at their favorite betting apps could have seen huge returns.

Now, McClure has turned his attention to the NASCAR Daytona Night Race. He's only sharing his best bets at SportsLine.

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2026 NASCAR at Daytona predictions

For NASCAR Daytona Night Race 2026, McClure is fading Chase Elliott at +1600, saying he finishes outside the top 10 despite just three drivers having shorter odds. Elliott has checkered flags at 14 different NASCAR tracks, but Daytona is not one of them. That's despite having 21 starts at the track, which is his second most of any circuit. He hasn't led for a single lap at either of the last two Daytona Night Races, and Elliott's limping towards the end of the 2026 Cup Series season as he has one top 10 over his last 11 starts.

Another surprise: The model is high on Alex Bowman at +2700. He has an average finish of 17.1 across 20 career Daytona races, which is third-best among all active drivers. That includes four top-6 finishes over his last seven trips to the track, with a runner-up at the 2024 Daytona 500. Bowman, who placed third at a comparable drafting track in Talladega earlier this year, also has the backing of Hendrick Motorsports, whose seven wins at this Daytona race are the most of any team over the last 50 years. See which other drivers the model is backing at SportsLine.

How to make 2026 Coke Zero Sugar 400 picks

McClure is also high on another pair of longshots at around +3000 who make runs for the top of the leaderboard, potentially netting any backer a huge payday. You can only see who they are here.

So who wins the 2026 Coke Zero Sugar 400, and which longshots could stun NASCAR at Daytona? Visit SportsLine now to see the 2026 NASCAR Daytona Night Race picks and best bets from a NASCAR model that nailed back-to-back Denny Hamlin wins, and find out.

2026 NASCAR at Daytona odds, lineup

See full NASCAR Coke Zero Sugar 400 picks at SportsLine.
(Odds from FanDuel, subject to change)

Ryan Blaney +1000
Joey Logano +1000
Austin Cindric +1400
Chase Elliott +1600
Tyler Reddick +1600
Carson Hocevar +1600
William Byron +1600
Denny Hamlin +1700
Christopher Bell +1700
Bubba Wallace +1800
Brad Keselowski +2000
Chase Briscoe +2000
Chris Buescher +2000
Kyle Larson +2200
Ty Gibbs +2700
Alex Bowman +2700
Ross Chastain +3000
Austin Dillon +3000
Todd Gilliland +3000
Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. +3300
Josh Berry +3300
Ryan Preece +3300
Erik Jones +3500
Zane Smith +3500
Michael McDowell +4000
Daniel Suarez +4500
Corey Heim +4500
Shane Van Gisbergen +4500
John Hunter Nemechek +5000
Austin Hill +5000
Noah Gragson +5000
Ty Dillon +6000
Connor Zilisch +6000
Riley Herbst +6000
A.J. Allmendinger +7500
Cole Custer +7500
Cody Ware +8000
Casey Mears +10000
Daniel Dye +22500
Gray Gaulding +22500
Joey Gase +22500