The 2024 NASCAR Cup Series schedule officially begins on Monday with the 2024 Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway after the race was postponed a day due to weather. The Great American Race has been the Super Bowl of the NASCAR schedule since 1959 and the green flag is scheduled to drop at 4 p.m. ET following the Xfinity race. Brad Keselowski is the 19-2 favorite in the 2024 Daytona 500 odds, while Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin are 10-1. Last year's Cup series champion Ryan Blaney is 11-1, while Joey Logano is 12-1. Five drivers are 12-1 or shorter in the 2024 NASCAR Daytona odds.

Before making any NASCAR picks, be sure to see what CBS Sports NASCAR writer Steven Taranto has to say.

Taranto is the lead NASCAR writer for CBSSports.com, and he chronicles stock car racing with the same thoroughness and passion that he's had since becoming a full-time race fan in 2001. He has an annual NASCAR media credential and will be covering the 2024 Daytona 500 live. Taranto also publishes a popular weekly NASCAR predictions column and famously called Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez's breakthrough wins in 2022. He also moonlights as a sim racer and has 20 career wins in iRacing.

For the 2024 Daytona 500, we can tell you Taranto is high on William Byron, even though he's a 16-1 longshot. Byron led the NASCAR Cup Series with six victories last season and his third-place finish in the standings was his best yet. He won the 2020 Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona for his first career win and has brought a fast car to Daytona Speedweek the last several seasons.

Another curveball: He's fading 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson (14-1). "I expect Byron to have a good car for Speedweeks yet again, as he has since 2019 when he won the pole and led 44 laps," Taranto told SportsLine.

Taranto also locked in two more Daytona 500 best bets and is also high on a major dark-horse priced at over 50-1! You ABSOLUTELY need to see his picks before locking in any NASCAR picks of your own for the 2024 Daytona 500.

So who wins the 2024 Daytona 500? And which MASSIVE longshot do you need to target NOW? ... Join SportsLine right now to see the NASCAR at Daytona best bets, all from the expert who called Chastain and Suarez's first career wins as huge darkhorses in 2022!