Daytona 500 Qualifying 2017 Results and Latest Driver Odds

The 2017 NASCAR Cup Series season will kick off with the biggest race of the year Sunday in the form of the Daytona 500, and all 40 drivers in the field will have a chance to set the tone for a long and arduous campaign.

The first row of starters was determined through qualifying, as Chase Elliott secured the pole and Dale Earnhardt Jr. grabbed the No. 2 spot. The rest of the field will be set by the results of Thursday's Can-Am Duels.

Although only the top two finishers count for starting position purposes, here is a full rundown of the Daytona 500 qualifying times, along with a look at the current betting odds and which drivers stand out as the biggest threats to take the checkered flag.

Qualifying Times

Position	Driver	Best Time (Seconds)
1	Chase Elliott	46.663
2	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	46.665
3	Brad Keselowski	46.707
4	Clint Bowyer	46.736
5	Martin Truex Jr.	46.8
6	Denny Hamlin	46.823
7	Kevin Harvick	46.829
8	Kasey Kahne	46.853
9	Matt Kenseth	46.871
10	Ryan Newman	46.876
11	Kyle Busch	46.932
12	Ty Dillon	47.009
13	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	46.874
14	Jimmie Johnson	46.9
15	Daniel Suarez	46.905
16	Kyle Larson	46.923
17	Joey Logano	46.929
18	Ryan Blaney	46.937
19	Trevor Bayne	46.944
20	Erik Jones	46.95
21	Paul Menard	46.989
22	Kurt Busch	47.017
23	Jamie McMurray	47.023
24	Danica Patrick	47.042
25	Aric Almirola	47.123
26	Austin Dillon	47.127
27	Landon Cassill	47.285
28	AJ Allmendinger	47.298
29	Matt DiBenedetto	47.355
30	Michael McDowell	47.438
31	Chris Buescher	47.513
32	David Ragan	47.518
33	Brendan Gaughan	47.545
34	Cole Whitt	47.592
35	Michael Waltrip	47.599
36	Elliott Sadler	47.73
37	Reed Sorenson	48.043
38	D.J. Kennington	48.175
39	Joey Gase	48.428
40	Corey LaJoie	48.584
41	Jeffrey Earnhardt	48.71
42	Timmy Hill	48.886

Driver Odds

Driver	Odds
Dale Earnhardt Jr.	9-2
Brad Keselowski	7-1
Joey Logano	9-1
Jimmie Johnson	10-1
Kyle Busch	10-1
Kevin Harvick	12-1
Denny Hamlin	12-1
Chase Elliott	12-1
Matt Kenseth	14-1
Martin Truex Jr.	14-1
Clint Bowyer	18-1
Kyle Larson	22-1
Kurt Busch	25-1
Jamie McMurray	28-1
Austin Dillon	33-1
Erik Jones	33-1
Kasey Kahne	33-1
Ryan Blaney	40-1
Danica Patrick	50-1
Ryan Newman	50-1
Trevor Bayne	50-1
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	66-1
Paul Menard	66-1
Elliott Sadler	66-1
AJ Allmendinger	75-1
Aric Almirola	75-1
Ty Dillon	100-1
Michael Waltrip	100-1
Joey Gase	100-1
Chris Buescher	100-1
Landon Cassill	150-1
David Ragan	150-1
Brendan Gaughan	150-1
Michael McDowell	150-1
Jeffrey Earnhardt	150-1
Matt DiBenedetto	200-1
Timmy Hill	200-1
Reed Sorenson	200-1
Corey LaJoie	200-1
Cole Whitt	200-1
D.J. Kennington	200-1

Drivers to Watch

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Despite missing the final 18 races of 2016 due to a concussion, Earnhardt seemingly hasn't missed a beat since returning to the track with a second-place qualifying run to his credit.

Junior is a two-time Daytona 500 winner, and with four Cup Series wins at Daytona International Speedway to his credit, he is the winningest active driver at the track.

Earnhardt also has the second-best average finish at Daytona among active drivers, and that makes him the favorite to enter victory lane.

According to Chase Wilhelm of FoxSports.com, however, Dale Jr. is well aware that he needs to drive with complete confidence in order to prevail: "I know when I get in the car, I can't have any concern or worry, or I'll drive completely different. I know what result I can get by driving without fear and I know what kind of result I'll get if I drive with even a sliver of apprehension. I just won't be able to go out there and win the race."

He added:

"

Once you second-guess yourself one time, it snowballs and it just continues throughout the rest of the race. To be able to win the qualifying race and win the Daytona 500, you've got to race with no fear.

"

Earnhardt has been an aggressive driver over the course of his career, and that has served him well at restrictor-plate tracks such as Daytona.

Although the environment will be completely different when the race begins, Earnhardt's performance in qualifying suggests he is ready to vie for his third career Daytona 500 triumph.

Denny Hamlin

As the defending Daytona 500 champion, Hamlin enters this year's Great American Race as one of the top drivers to beat.

Last year's 500 marked Hamlin's first win at Daytona International Speedway, and he did so in dramatic fashion over Martin Truex Jr., as seen in the following tweet courtesy of NASCAR on NBC:

After winning the 2016 Daytona 500 and running well at a number of restrictor-plate tracks, Hamlin has a great deal of confidence on his side, per ESPN.com's Bob Pockrass:

"

We've run up front at every superspeedway race and over the last four years. I feel like we've been a team to win just about every restrictor-plate race. 

I feel as confident as any that we can go out there and do it again. ... I feel like I've learned a few things over the last few years that have increased my odds of winning these races.

"

Hamlin is still in search of his first NASCAR Cup Series championship, and winning the Daytona 500 for the second year in a row would go a long way toward establishing him as a contender.

There is an element of luck involved with succeeding at Daytona since avoiding crashes is a big part of the equation, but in terms of tactics and execution, Hamlin has everything needed to win.

Austin Dillon

While Austin Dillon has yet to win a NASCAR Cup Series race, he has been more consistent than anyone at Daytona.

With an average finish of 11.7 in seven career Daytona starts, Dillon is tops among active drivers in that department.

He has five top-10 finishes and one top-five result to his credit, but he believes he is ready to take the next step.

According to Tom Jensen of FoxSports.com, Dillon has been exploring every avenue and has an idea of what he has to do in order to contend for a win: "To take it to that next level, I've watched a lot of tape. Seeing what it's going to take. I sat down with our engineers and crew chiefs, and I think the biggest thing is just getting a little bit more aggressive in the side-drafting department."

It is easy to look past Dillon due to the star power in the field and his lack of a victory, but he has been trending in the right direction at Daytona and has a golden opportunity to make his first win a memorable one.