The Daytona 500, three-time winner Jeff Gordon said, “is the greatest race in NASCAR and one of the greatest races that exists in the world. … It's such an amazing, electrifying experience.”
It's also a race that has forged legends and given us some of the sport's defining moments, both infamous (the Donnie Allison-Cale Yarborough fight in 1979), tragic (Dale Earnhardt Sr.'s death in 2001) and of the water-cooler talk variety (Juan Pablo Montoya vs. the jet dryer in '12).
With a new car and a history-making pole-sitter, what will Sunday's 55th running of the Great American Race have in store? Here's your Five-Minute Guide to the 500.
Five Drivers to Watch
1. Danica Patrick. There's no shortage of buzz surrounding the first woman to win the pole for the Daytona 500. But ground-breaking performances are routine for Danica, who is also the first female driver to lead laps in the Indianapolis 500. While she's made history, it isn't on the Stewart-Haas Racing driver's side leading into Sunday, as no pole-sitter has won the race since 2000 and in the past 11 years, none of them have been better than eighth. Patrick has averaged a 25.5 finish in seven restrictor-plate starts in the Sprint Cup and Nationwide series, including a 38th in last February's Nationwide race, which she started on the pole.
2. Kevin Harvick. He's been the King of Speedweeks, wheeling his No. 29 Chevrolet to wins in the Sprint Unlimited and a Budweiser Duel and will now try to become the first driver to follow them with a trip to Victory Lane in the 500. One of the generation's best plate drivers with 21 top-10s at Daytona and Talladega, Harvick has been a force at Daytona International Speedway the past three years, posting five finishes of seventh or better in his last eight starts, including a second-place in the '09 opener and a win in the summer race in '10.
3. Brad Keselowski. A year ago he became a social media sensation by turning the red-flagged Daytona 500 into a tweet-up as he answered fans questions and posted a photo of the burning jet dryer. He's back at DIS as the defending Cup champion and driving a Ford after Penske Racing's move from Dodge. Brad K, who was 23rd in qualifying, has had his troubles in the series' premier race, with finishes of 36th, 29th and 32nd, which includes two DNFs. For those wondering, no defending champ has opened the season with a win since Dale Jarrett in 2000.
4. Tony Stewart. He has three Cup championships, 47 wins and, most certainly, a spot in the NASCAR Hall of Fame awaiting him. But the Daytona 500 continues to be one of the only things missing from Smoke's resume. He has 18 career wins on the track - which ranks second all-time behind Earnhardt's 34 -- including four in the summer race, but has come up short in the Great American Race 14 times, with a career-best finish of second in '04. Stewart has looked strong early, taking fourth in the Sprint Unlimited and he was fifth-fastest in qualifying.
5. Matt Kenseth. A two-time 500 winner and the defending champ, Kenseth is vying to become the fourth repeat winner and the first since Sterling Marlin did it in 1994 and '95 and is seeking a spot along slide Jarrett and Gordon and Bobby Allison as the only drivers to claim the Harley J. Earl Trophy three times. Kenseth will have to do it with a new number and a new car, switching from the No. 17 Ford he drove for 13 years at Roush Fenway for the No. 20 Toyota at Joe Gibbs Racing.
1. The Debut of the Gen 6 car. With a return to its “win on Sunday, sell on Monday” roots, NASCAR has done away with the Car of Tomorrow and introduced the Gen 6 car, which allowed the series' three manufacturers (Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota) to make unique versions of the cars that better resemble the product on the road. It also marks the end of the tandem racing that became prevalent on the superspeedways like Daytona. Word from the drivers is the Gen 6 car is a handful in the draft and since the back bumper and front bumper don't like up like the COT, which should mean plenty of pack racing - and the potential for The Big One.
2. The Dale Junior Factor. NASCAR's 10-time Most Popular Driver is always a story, struggled mightily during the COT era, winning just twice in its six years. He was also openly against the tandem racing at Daytona and Talladega. So will a new car and an expected return to the style of old prove a recipe for the return of the Junior that racked up nine finishes of seventh or better, including two victories, in the 13 races at DIS before the COT? A Patrick win would be a big mainstream story, but no result Sunday would carry more weight in the world of NASCAR than Dale Jr. in Victory Lane.
3. Jimmie Johnson's string of bad luck. As the five-time champion said earlier this week: “The 500 has been tough.” That's putting it lightly. Since winning the season opener in '06, Johnson has had an average finish of 27.3 at Daytona. That includes five DNFs, punctuated by last February in which he lasted all of one lap before finishing in 42nd. He got off to a rocky start, crashing out of the Sprint Unlimited after 14 laps, but on a positive note, he was fourth in his Duel, which marked the first time counting last year's Shootout and the Unlimited that he finished a race in seven straight restrictor-plate events.
4. Faces in new places. We've mentioned Kenseth, but he isn't the only one who will be behind the wheel of a new ride come Sunday. There's Joey Logano, who left behind the No. 20 Kenseth is now piloting to take over the No. 22 at Penske, while Ricky Stenhouse Jr., the two-time Nationwide champ who is bordering on household name territory as Danica's boyfriend, is in Kenseth's old ride at Roush. David Reutimann, who shared the No. 10 with Patrick last season is also with a new team, moving into BK Racing's No. 83 after Landon Cassill and team owner Ron Devine failed to come to terms.
5. The new jet dryer. The unexpected star of last year's 500 was of course the jet dryer that Juan Pablo Montoya collided with, resulting in an explosion and a trail of fire down as from the jet fuel running down the banking asphalt. Along with the Gen-6 car, NASCAR also has a new track-drying system in the Air Titan, which features large hoses that use compressed air to push water off the track and onto the apron, where it is removed by vacuum trucks and cars will be on pit road during its use. The system is worth mentioning with a possibility of rain the day Sunday.
Five Telling Stats
3 - Women who have competed in the Great American Race. Janet Guthrie ('77 and '80), Shawna Robinson ('02) and Patrick last season. Guthrie has the best finish with 11th in '80.
7 - Number of drivers whose first victory in NASCAR's premier series came in the Daytona 500, with Trevor Bayne in 2011 standing as the latest to get the breakthrough win.
6 - Top-five finishes by Terry Labonte, which is the most of any active driver. His last came when he was second in 1997.
39 - The deepest position in the starting grid to produce a race winner, with Kenseth in '09.
$19,050 and $1,588,887 - The winners share when Lee Petty won the first Daytona 500 in '59 and Kenseth's share from last season's victory.
