Is Joe Gibbs Racing the biggest threat to Dale Jr.'s third Daytona 500 win?
Since first unloading at Daytona International Speedway last weekend, the Joe Gibbs Racing cars have been stout and, in some cases, even dominant.
Denny Hamlin won the Sprint Unlimited.
Matt Kenseth qualified on the outside of the front row.
Kyle Busch won his Can-Am Duel.
While there are certainly some strong non-JGR cars in the field -- two-time Daytona 500 winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. being chief among them -- all signs point toward the Gibbs boys being a force in Sunday's 58th running of The Great American Race.
This much is certain: You'll be hard-pressed to find a more confident bunch, which is seeking to deliver Toyota's first win in the 500 and the first for JGR in this race since 1993.
"We've had fast race cars all week," said Edwards, a second-year JGR driver. "Joe Gibbs Racing has worked really hard over the winter and it really shows. I had a lot of fun racing in the Sprint Unlimited. It was really neat to see Denny Hamlin out in front and stay out there. ... We have fast race cars, we qualified well, our cars drive well and they have a ton of speed. We are just going to have a good time and enjoy it."
Of the four JGR drivers, only Kenseth -- a two-time Daytona 500 winner -- has captured the sport's biggest race. But of the four JGR drivers, the 2003 Sprint Cup champion also has the steepest hill to climb. He'll be forced to drop to the rear of the field in a backup car after his primary was badly damaged in a wreck on the final lap of his Can-Am Duel.
Earnhardt Jr., arguably the favorite on the shortlist of Daytona favorites, isn't willing to bet against Kenseth or any of the JGR drivers, for that matter.
"Denny's car is fast, he's smart," Earnhardt Jr. told FOXSports.com after Saturday's XFINITY Series race at Daytona. "The 18 (Busch), obviously he won the Duel. He's a hell of a race car driver. Matt's won a couple Daytona 500s. I don't care if he's in a backup; that's still a good race car. And the 19 (Edwards). ...
"There's 25 cars that can win this race, maybe more. I mean, you got to do the right things and be smart, but they're going to be up there. It ain't going to be easy."
Hamlin, who finished second to Earnhardt Jr. in the 2014 Daytona 500 and has enjoyed a superb overall Speedweeks, feels good about where his No. 11 Toyota stacks up to the competition.
"We have certainly shown that we have the speed in the car that we need to win at Daytona," Hamlin said. "It's just a matter of putting it all together in the big race on Sunday. We have put ourselves in position to win the Daytona 500 the last few years, but it hasn't all come together yet. There are so many other variables involved that need to go your way to win the 500, and hopefully they will come together for our FedEx team this weekend."
Busch, who led 35 of the 60 laps in his Duel, missed last year's Daytona 500 while cooped up in a Daytona Beach hospital with a broken foot and leg suffered in the previous day's XFINITY Series race.
Does the reigning Sprint Cup champion feel like the fabled 2.5-mile superspeedway perhaps owes him one after last year's Speedweeks disaster?
"No, I don't think so," Busch told FOXSports.com. "There's been a lot of guys that maybe have thought that, maybe have discarded that theory over the years. I've kind of discarded it. I don't think you're ever owed anything.
"I think certain things just come back through cycle. ... I think if I could end up in Victory Lane on Sunday, then I certainly think it would kind of come full circle, essentially. I'd love to have that happen, but I'm not expecting anything from the racetrack or the racing gods to make that happen."
