Daytona Beach, FL (My Sportsbook) - Another season for NASCAR has arrived, with the Daytona 500 and Danica Patrick's Nationwide Series debut highlighting four days of likely wild racing at Daytona International Speedway.
NASCAR
Sprint Cup Series
Daytona 500 - Daytona International Speedway - Daytona Beach, FL
Boys, have at it.
Sunday's Daytona 500 should be a wild one thanks to NASCAR relaxing some of its on-track rules for drivers and modifying the restrictor plates on the cars.
NASCAR is eliminating its bump-drafting restrictions for Daytona. Drivers now are allowed to bump draft each other throughout the high-banking turns at the 2.5-mile superspeedway. Last November, NASCAR aggressively policed bump- drafting at Talladega Superspeedway by assessing penalties to anyone caught bumping in the turns. Drivers responded in a way that made for boring racing, as they ran single-file for a majority of the 500-mile race.
Drivers also will have more horsepower with the hole size on the restrictor plates increased to 63/64 inch, making it the largest plate since one-inch openings were used for the 1989 Daytona 500.
Restrictor plates -- used at Daytona and Talladega -- reduce airflow from the carburetor to the engine and therefore decrease the cars' speeds.
Based on last Saturday's Budweiser Shootout and qualifying for the Daytona 500, both rule modifications will make for a thrilling Speedweeks.
Drivers went at it just after the final restart with two laps to go in the Budweiser Shootout. Kevin Harvick, who suffered from flu-like symptoms earlier in the week, won the Shootout for the second year in a row after the race ended under caution.
"I think the biggest thing that we learned for us is our handling package is fairly good," Harvick said. "Obviously it will change a little bit as we go through the week, because everything is going to shift to daytime temperatures."
Harvick won the Daytona 500 in 2007, but has not driven into Victory Lane for a Sprint Cup Series points-paying race since then. He is among the favorites to win this year's event.
Martin also emerged as a favorite when he claimed his first career pole for the Daytona 500. The 51-year-old driver has yet to win NASCAR's biggest race in 25 starts, but could his 26th attempt be the golden charm?
"It's the Daytona 500, and everybody wants to win it," Martin said. "It's the crown jewel of stock car racing, and it's Daytona. It's the same as every year."
It's never too late in one's racing career to win the Daytona 500, as Dale Earnhardt proved it in 1998 when he won this race in his 20th try.
Hendrick Motorsports once again showed why they are the top of the class in NASCAR's top circuit after Martin and teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. secured the front starting row for the Daytona 500. Team owner Rick Hendrick has made Earnhardt Jr.'s team his number-one priority this season after NASCAR's most popular star finished a disappointing 25th in points last year.
"We've made a lot of changes in the off-season with our personnel and changing the entire culture in the shop, and I hope those things are really going to improve our team and get us where we need to be competitively," Earnhardt Jr. said.
Earnhardt Jr., the 2004 Daytona 500 champion, has not won in his last 57 Cup starts. His late-father snapped his career-long 59-race winless streak with his '98 Daytona 500 victory.
Jimmie Johnson begins his campaign for an unprecedented fifth-straight Cup championship this year. Johnson won the Daytona 500 in 2006, but has finished 27th, 31st and 39th in the last three season-openers.
"For me the second win is probably the toughest thing," Johnson said on his hopes of winning another Daytona 500. "The 500 was amazing for us and really helped us to mature as a race team and grow so that we could win that first [Cup] championship."
The media selected Johnson as the top-ranked driver in this year's NASCARMedia.com preseason poll.
Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers with three Daytona 500 victories (1997, '99 and 2005). Gordon has only one race win to his credit since the end of the 2007 season. Another Daytona 500 victory could be what the four-time Cup champion needs to rejuvenate his already illustrious career.
Last year's Daytona 500 was curtailed due to rain, but Mother Nature didn't ruin Matt Kenseth's day. Kenseth, who started from the rear of the field after switching to a backup car, happened to be up front when the skies opened up at Daytona. NASCAR called the race 48 laps short of the scheduled 200-lap distance, giving Kenseth and team owner Jack Roush their first victory in the Daytona 500.
"It was really exciting to win the Daytona 500 last year, because every driver dreams of being able to win this race in their career," Kenseth said. "We were able to race last weekend in the Shootout, and I feel that racing the weekend before the Daytona 500 really gives us a chance to see what we have in terms of our cars before we get into this week's practices and races."
Kenseth won again the following week at California, but faltered from there and missed last year's championship chase.
Kyle Busch, Tony Stewart, Elliott Sadler and Kurt Busch likely will be factors in the Daytona 500. All four drivers have yet to win this race. Kyle Busch has led the most laps in the last two season-openers at Daytona. Stewart, Sadler and Busch have each finished the race in the top-10 the last two years.
Gatorade Duel -- Daytona International Speedway -- Daytona Beach, FL
Thursday's Gatorade Duel at Daytona -- the two 150-mile qualifying races -- will set the starting field for the Daytona 500. Martin and Earnhardt Jr. became the first two drivers who secured their starting positions in the Sprint Cup season-opener. Martin captured the pole, while Earnhardt Jr. secured the outside pole in last Saturday's qualifying.
The top-35 in last year's owner points are guaranteed a starting spot in the Daytona 500. Three drivers -- Bill Elliott, Scott Speed and Joe Nemechek -- finished outside of the top-35 last season, but are warranted a position in the race based on their qualifying speeds. Bobby Labonte, the 2000 Cup champion, also is assured a spot based on the champion's provisional.
Therefore, 15 drivers will vie for the four final positions in the Daytona 500.
Michael Waltrip, Reed Sorenson, Max Papis, Jeff Fuller, Terry Cook, Michael McDowell and Kirk Shelmerdine will attempt to make Sunday's show when they compete in the first qualifying race.
Mike Bliss, Casey Mears, David Gilliland, Aric Almirola, Dave Blaney, Derrike Cope, Mike Wallace and Norm Benning will try to race their way into the 500 during the second qualifying event.
Teams with odd-numbered positions in last year's owner points will compete in the first qualifying race, while even-numbered teams in points will run in the second qualifying event. However, Martin, who finished second in points last season, starts first in race one, due to his Daytona 500 pole win. Earnhardt Jr., the outside pole sitter, leads the field to the green for the following event.
With NASCAR easing up on its bump-drafting restrictions at Daytona and modifying the size of the restrictor plate, both qualifying races could be wild, but maybe not as frantic as the Budweiser Shootout.
"I don't think it's going to be as rough as a lot of people might be anticipating, because it's starting in the early afternoon," Earnhardt Jr. said. "It's going to be run in the daylight hours, and the track itself will be a little slick.
"Throughout the day, you'll see a lot of close racing in the first 15 laps of a tire run, but after that, you're going to see a lot of guys sliding around, trying to hang on to their race cars and keeping up with each other."
The odd-number starting positions for the Daytona 500 will be based on the finishing order of the first qualifying race, and even-number starting spots will be determined on the outcome of the final qualifier.
Nationwide Series
DRIVE4COPD 300 - Daytona International Speedway - Daytona Beach, FL
Danica-mania continues at Daytona.
Danica Patrick, the center of attention during this year's Speedweeks, will make her much-anticipated Nationwide Series debut at Daytona. Patrick and her JR Motorsports team made the decision shortly after her stellar performance in the 80-lap ARCA race at Daytona. She overcame a spin just past the half-way point to finish sixth.
"The ARCA race was a great learning experience," Patrick said. "That had a lot to do with my decision. The amount of uncertainty surrounding the race had dwindled. After reviewing the options with my team, we decided it was the right decision to race this weekend. I feel confident in our choice."
Patrick now is scheduled to compete in 13 Nationwide races this season. Her initial debut was slated for February 20 at California.
Saturday's Nationwide race will be more star-studded than ever, with Patrick and her boss/teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the lineup.
"I have to think of him as a fellow driver and teammate, not my boss," Patrick said. I'm really looking forward to racing with him this Saturday. Hopefully we'll be in a position to work together at some point, because I know he's a master at this track. I could learn a lot from him."
Earnhardt Jr. has won five Nationwide races at Daytona, including three consecutive in the season-opener (2002-04). Tony Eury Sr. will serve as Earnhardt Jr.'s crew chief for the first time in five years. Also known as "Pops," Eury guided him to back-to-back Nationwide championships from 1998-99. His son, Tony Jr., takes on the role as Patrick's crew chief throughout her limited schedule this year.
Kyle Busch won the 2009 Nationwide championship, but Busch is running a partial schedule in the series this season. He will compete at Daytona.
Carl Edwards, Brad Keselowski and Paul Menard are those Sprint Cup regulars running full-time in Nationwide this year. Edwards and Keselowski likely are the favorites to win this year's championship. Justin Allgaier, last year's rookie of the year in the series, could be a factor as well.
Keselowski is running his first full-season in Cup.
Tony Stewart has won four of the last five Nationwide season-openers at Daytona, including last year's race. Stewart will drive one of Kevin Harvick Inc.'s entries in the 300-mile event.
"It's always a bonus when you can win on Saturday before going into the biggest race of the year on Sunday," Stewart said. "To get a Nationwide win there, that's how you like to go to bed the night before the Daytona 500, knowing that you've got that trophy sitting out there on your desk from what you did Saturday afternoon."
Fifty-six teams are on the entry list for the DRIVE4COPD 300.
Camping World Truck Series
NextEra Energy Resources 250 - Daytona Int'l Speedway - Daytona Beach, FL
Friday's Camping World Truck Series race at Daytona marks the debut of Kyle Busch's new team in the series.
At the conclusion of last season, Busch announced he would field two truck teams under the Kyle Busch Motorsports banner.
Busch will share driving duties with Brian Ickler in the No.18 Toyota, while Tayler Malsam will run a full-time schedule in the No.56 truck. Rick Ren serves as KBM's director of competition. Ren, a two-time championship crew chief with Ron Hornaday Jr., left Kevin Harvick Inc to assume his new role.
"I think our short-term goals for this year are to just go out and try to win a race," Busch said. "I want to win a race, of course, but to go out and win multiple races would be a success. To win a race for Brian Ickler and to win a race for Tayler Malsam -- we at least need three wins out of the shop this year -- one for all three drivers -- in order for it to be a success, in my book."
Busch is a 16-time race winner in trucks, but has yet to notch one at Daytona.
Last year, Todd Bodine became the first repeat winner in 10 truck races at Daytona. Bodine will attempt to join a short list of drivers in NASCAR's three national touring series that have won at least three races in a row here. Cale Yarborough won three consecutive Cup races at the famed track (1967-68), while Dale Earnhardt recorded five straight Nationwide victories (1990-94) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. had three Nationwide wins in a row (2003-04).
"We're lucky to get one win there, so to do it three times would be incredible," Bodine said.
Hornaday begins his campaign for a fifth truck championship. He set a record in the series last year by winning his fourth title. After Ren's departure at KHI, Dave Fuge has come on board as Hornaday's new crew chief.
Hornaday would love to kick off the new season by winning at Daytona for the first time.
"To win a race at Daytona would fulfill a dream; it would be a great accomplishment," Hornaday said.
Former Formula One driver Nelson Piquet Jr. will make his series debut. Piquet will team with Timothy Peters and rookie Justin Lofton at Red Horse Racing. He becomes the first F1 competitor to join the series since Scott Speed's entrance in 2008. Speed won at Dover International Speedway in just his sixth start.
Daytona also marks the return of former series champions Johnny Benson (2008) and Ted Musgrave (2005).
Staring with Daytona, new rules in the series will go into effect. Double-file restarts will be used throughout each truck race. The modified restart rule was implemented in Sprint Cup and Nationwide last year.
During the off-season, NASCAR changed its five-year-old truck qualifying format, which guaranteed the top-30 in owner points a starting position. Just the top-25 teams are "locked in." The revision will open up additional starting positions for those teams having to qualify on time.
Forty-two teams are on the entry list for the NextEra Energy Resources 250.
