From Cody Ware to Joey Logano, ranking entire 2025 Daytona 500 field

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — NASCAR’s biggest race of the season is the Daytona 500, and it all goes down this Sunday, Feb. 16 on FOX. It will be part battle, part chess match for 200 laps — at least.

The nature of racing at Daytona International is a combination of roll-of-the-dice luck and fearless genius.

So who will win the 2025 race?

Here’s a ranking of drivers, along with insight on their chances of winning the sport’s most cherished trophy.

41. Cody Ware (Starting 28th)

Ware will be without crew chief Billy Plourde as Plourde was ejected for the weekend after his team adjusted weight in the car after tech. Tommy Baldwin, a former crew chief and team competition director, will guide the Rick Ware Racing team — which had to make significant repairs to his car after a crash in the duels. Ware was 14th in the 2023 Daytona 500, but even to finish there could be an uphill climb after a rough week.

40. Helio Castroneves (41st)

The four-time Indianapolis 500 winner is in the race with a special provisional for an elite driver who can bring a significant audience. He is driving a non-chartered car for Trackhouse and hopes a test last month at Talladega (where he primarily worked on pit stops) and his experiences this week will give him enough experience to at least make it to the end. He didn’t get that far in his qualifying race on Thursday and his team had to repair the entire front of the car for the 500.

39. Zane Smith (37th)

Smith has competed in the Daytona 500 twice, and both times he finished 13th. He does have two truck wins at Daytona (2022, 2023) so he has shown some ability to work the draft at the end of the race. But his team had to make significant repairs after the Thursday races and the car likely