NASCAR Cup Series

Surprise endings part of Daytona Sprint Cup racing

Published Jul. 1, 2010 1:00 a.m. ET

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Though the first half of the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup season has been exciting – more exciting than what we have seen in recent years – it also has become somewhat predictable.

Of the 17 races so far, 10 have been won by Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson, who have five wins each. Kyle and Kurt Busch have two wins each, meaning four drivers have won all but three of the 17 races.

The only real surprises have been Ryan Newman’s last-lap victory at Phoenix (Newman has just two wins in the past five years) and Jamie McMurray’s stunning Daytona 500 victory.

That could all change this weekend at Daytona International Speedway, where surprises tend to happen.

Four of the past six Cup races at Daytona have produced at least a mild surprise, and a couple of big ones. Newman and Matt Kenseth, though both frequent winners on the Cup circuit, were both surprise winners of the Daytona 500 in 2008 and 2009, respectively.

McMurray has produced the two biggest upsets in recent years, scoring his second career Cup victory in the July 2007 race there, and then pulling off the upset again this past February.

“When I think about coming back to Daytona after winning the 500 in February, it is really hard for me to fathom that just five months ago, we were celebrating winning that race,” McMurray says. “It truly was a dream come true.”

Two of McMurray’s four career victories have come at Daytona. When he won there in February, his was not the only surprise performance. Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished second, a surprise only because he came out of nowhere to do it, followed by Greg Biffle, Clint Bowyer, David Reutimann and Martin Truex Jr.

Daytona and Talladega, more than any other tracks, have a way of mixing things up, the mysterious draft shuffling the field and serving as the great equalizer among the top teams and everyone else.

Though the top drivers and teams are still the favorites, Daytona always provides the potential for an upset and it seems the July holiday weekend race is typically ripe for drama.

The great A.J. Foyt produced the first two big July upsets at Daytona, moving over from Indy cars to win in 1964 and ’65. Though Foyt was regarded as one of the top drivers in the world, he drove Indy cars for a living and his foray into NASCAR was on a limited basis, making his success somewhat of a surprise.

Greg Sacks provided the biggest upset at Daytona, winning the July 1985 race in a DiGard Racing R&D car for his only Sprint Cup victory.

Jimmy Spencer scored one of his two Cup victories at Daytona, winning the July 1994 race for Junior Johnson.

Three years later, John Andretti won his first Cup race for Cale Yarborough at Daytona in July 1997.

Biffle won his first Cup race at Daytona in July of 2003. Then came McMurray’s upset in 2007.

Another win by McMurray would be no surprise. Three of his four career wins have come on restrictor-plate tracks, making him the new Michael Waltrip.

Though Reutimann, Truex or AJ Allmendinger could each pull off an upset, one could also come from drivers either in the top 12 in points or fighting to get into the Chase field.

Earnhardt Jr. hasn’t won since 2008. Neither have Bowyer or Burton. Roush Fenway Racing, which is winless this year, could also get back on track at Daytona.

The track, and the July event, provide hope and optimism for teams and drivers that are just a bit off this season.

“I’m looking forward to Daytona, but Daytona is one of those places that can either make or break you,” says Bowyer, who led 37 laps in this year’s Daytona 500. “You have to be able to realize that. You have to be able to put yourself in a situation for a good finish at the end. In order to do that, you have to take some chances, and it will get dicey.”

“I’ve been sitting in the Daytona 500 races in the past three years thinking I had a chance to win the race,” says Burton, who won at Daytona in July 2000. “Something ended up happening in each race and it was one thing after another.”

Such unpredictability tends to be a factor at Daytona, making the July race one of the summer’s most anticipated events.

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