Daytona Beach, FL (My Sportsbook) - Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup. Date: Sunday, February 14. Race: Daytona 500. Site: Daytona International Speedway. Track:2.5-mile tri-oval. Start time: 1:00 p.m. (et). Laps: 200. Miles: 500. 2009 winner: Matt Kenseth. Television: FOX. Radio: Motor Racing Network (MRN) /SIRIUS NASCAR Radio.

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.