Best Daytona 500 debuts

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- NASCAR released a five-part series on the best Daytona 500 debuts by either rookie of the year candidates or drivers making what amounted to an initial "NASCAR cameo" appearance in the event.

No. 1: Jeff Gordon, 1993 Daytona 500

RacingOne

Jeff Gordon's rivalry with Dale Earnhardt began with the 1993 Daytona 500.

Jeff Gordon's Cup Series debut had been nondescript, but he had little control over that. His first series start came in the 1992 season finale at Atlanta Motor Speedway, which also happened to be Richard Petty's last start. There also was the little matter of a championship being decided, with Alan Kulwicki emerging from a pack of five contenders who were still in the running starting the event; Kulwicki ended up edging Bill Elliott for the title by a mere 10 points.

Gordon? He started 21st and finished 31st and immediately turned his attention to 1993 and his run at the rookie of the year title.

And so he came to Daytona International Speedway -- and hit the high banks running.

In only his second Cup event and his first at Daytona, he won the first of the two 125-mile qualifying races to earn an audacious third-place start for the 500.

He led the first lap of the 500 and went on to finish fifth. And again, he was overshadowed, this time by Dale Jarrett's victory that featured an emotional national TV call by CBS commentator Ned Jarrett -- Dale's dad.

• Notable 500 first-timers in 1993: Jeff Gordon, Bobby Labonte, Kenny Wallace, Al Unser Jr., Jimmy Hensley.

• The Intangible: Some people considered Gordon's victory in one of the "Twin 125s" a fluke of sorts. They were overlooking the fact that Gordon, while a NASCAR novice, had more than 15 years of rough-and-tumble, on the-edge open-wheel racing experience. What translated to stock-car racing in terms of expertise is debatable. What it meant in terms of building Gordon's nerve is not. And nerve is always essential to success at Daytona International Speedway.

• The Recap: The 1993 Daytona 500 was, like so many other recent years, a party-in-waiting for Dale Earnhardt who, despite dominating the Cup Series, had somehow failed to win the sport's biggest event. Earnhardt again emerged as an overwhelming favorite after winning both the Budweiser Shootout (then known as the Busch Clash) and the second of the "Twin 125s." As further punctuation, he won the Nationwide Series season opener for the fourth consecutive year, the day before the 500. Earnhardt led 107 laps, but not the last one as Dale Jarrett, with drafting help from behind from Geoff Bodine, got by Earnhardt. Gordon led the first lap and the 22nd, and brought the No. 24 Chevrolet home in fifth.

• Gordon's Take: "That was my first Daytona 500 and I was freaking out. I didn't know what I was doing and I was along for the ride. I had a fast race car and a great opportunity, but a lack of experience probably hurt my chances of winning. The racing was a lot more single file, so you had to work lap after lap after lap to pass a car. With this car at the restrictor-plate tracks, it's a lot different. The second, third or fourth-place car usually has some momentum and can pull out at any time to attempt the pass. If you're in a position to make a move, the question is whether the cars behind you will go with you -- or if they'll leave you high-and-dry without drafting help."

• The Follow-Up: Gordon has since won the Daytona 500 three times and the Cup Series championship four times. He also has won Daytona's annual summer race three times. Overall, he has 13 victories at Daytona. The 1993 500 got him off and running to the rookie of the year title.

No. 2: Scott Wimmer, 2004 Daytona 500

RacingOne

Scott Wimmer said he got "beat by the best" in Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Tony Stewart.

Here's one way a third-place Daytona 500 finish by a rookie could get buried: Dale Earnhardt Jr. wins the race with President George W. Bush watching.

Scott Wimmer's performance was the forgotten story in 2004. But it shouldn't have been.

Wimmer's finish was a surprise -- a big one. He struggled all through Speedweeks, lacking speed in practice and finishing 13th in his qualifying race. Thus, he started the 500 in 26th.

But his tales of Speedweeks woe ended once the green flag dropped on the Daytona 500. By the quarter pole, Wimmer was seventh. By mid-point, his No. 22 Bill Davis Racing Dodge was fifth.

Savvy pit strategy by crew chief Frank Stoddard put Wimmer at the front after a Lap 169 pit stop. Only 31 laps separated Wimmer and Daytona's Victory Lane.

But Earnhardt and second-place finisher Tony Stewart soon caught, and passed, Wimmer. The rookie would pace the field for four laps after the stop, and added another one for five laps led overall. He was the only rookie to lead a lap.

• Notable 500 first-timers in 2004: Scott Wimmer, Kasey Kahne, Brian Vickers, Scott Riggs, Brendan Gaughan, Johnny Sauter and Larry Foyt.

• The Intangibles: Though Wimmer's finish was a surprise, maybe it shouldn't have been. Just two year's earlier, his No. 22 Dodge won the Daytona 500, though with a different driver -- Ward Burton.

• The Recap: President Bush was the first sitting president to attend the Daytona 500 and he saw quite a show. NASCAR's marquee names -- and a little-known rookie -- headlined The Great American Race. To the delight of fans, it was all Earnhardt and Stewart. Wimmer had little chance against the drafting buddies, as the two restrictor plate heavyweights traded the lead almost the entire day. Stewart led a race-high 97 laps; Earnhardt led 59. Jimmie Johnson was the only other driver to lead double-digit laps -- 16. After Earnhardt's win, he got a congratulatory call from President Bush.

• Wimmer's Take: "'It would have been a dream come true. We led the race really late in the going and I thought we had a real good shot at winning, but just ended up getting passed there at the end. But I got beat by two of the best at Daytona, Tony Stewart and Dale Jr., and for my first 500 that was real memorable to go down there and run well and have a shot at winning. It turns a lot of emotions, a lot of memories to this day, and every time I go through that tunnel I think back to 2004 when we had that good run and try to duplicate it every year I can."

• The Follow-Up: Wimmer finished 27th in the final 2004 series standings. His best performances have come in the Nationwide Series, where he has won six career races and helped the No. 29 Richard Childress Chevrolet capture the owner title in 2007. This season, Wimmer will drive a number of races in the No. 40 Key Motorsports Chevrolet in the Nationwide Series.

No. 3: Joe Ruttman, 1982 Daytona 500

RacingOne

Joe Ruttman's best Daytona finish came in his first race at the track.

In 1982, the Daytona 500 assumed its rightful place as the annual season-opening event for the Cup Series. As if on cue, the race featured a battle between two of the sport's greats -- Bobby Allison and Cale Yarborough.

Allison was a year away from winning his sole Cup championship; Yarborough had won three in a row from 1976-78. It was a star-powered 1-2 finish and it overshadowed one of the best first-time efforts in the history of the Daytona 500 by Joe Ruttman.

Ruttman finished third, driving one of three Jim Stacy-owned Buicks in the race -- a No. 2, blue-and-yellow Regal.

Ruttman, younger brother of 1952 Indianapolis 500 champion Troy Ruttman, came to NASCAR from USAC, where he won that organization's 1978 stock car rookie of the year honor and the 1980 series championship. He made his Cup debut in 1963 and in 1981 drove 17 races -- including the Firecracker 400 at Daytona on July 4, where he finished 29th in the No. 6.

The next year at the 500, Ruttman rolled to what could be considered his career highlight.

• Notable 500 first-timers in 1982: Joe Ruttman, Rusty Wallace, Mark Martin, Ron Bouchard, Jim Sauter, Rick Wilson, Tom Sneva, Delma Cowart and Lake Speed.

• The Intangible: J.D. Stacy's fingerprints were all over the 500. He owned the cars driven by Ruttman and Sauter, and sponsored five others in the field.

• The Recap: Bobby Allison raced most of the 500 without a back bumper; it fell off after contacting Yarborough's car early in the event. Allison's car seemed to benefit significantly sans bumper, which led to controversy. Some drivers accused Allison's "inventive" crew chief Gary Nelson -- the future director of the Cup Series -- of rigging the bumper to intentionally break away on impact. Allison ended up leading 147 of the 200 laps, and beat Yarborough by 22.87 seconds.

• The Follow-Up: Ruttman raced in the Daytona 500 nine more times, and enjoyed further success, finishing fourth in 1983 and third again in 1991. In 1982 he got his first NASCAR win in his first start in the Nationwide Series, winning at Dover. Ruttman's best stretch came in the Truck Series. Between 1995-2007 he won 13 Truck races, including two in the series' inaugural 1995 season when he finished second in the final points. He finished in the final standings' top five a total of five times.

No. 4: Al Unser Sr., 1968 Daytona 500

Getty Images

Al Unser Sr. never made another Cup Series start at Daytona after 1968.

Here's a good one. The year was 1968 and the Great American Race was a relative youngster in the world of big-time auto racing, being held for the 10th time to be exact. Nonetheless, it was already attracting IndyCar drivers seeking to test their mettle against the best stock-car drivers in the world.

Mario Andretti had won the Daytona 500 in 1967. Other open-wheelers such as A.J. Foyt, Gordon Johncock, Johnny Rutherford, Dan Gurney and Troy Ruttman had also given it a go.

Al Unser Sr. chose to do so for the first time in '68.

Driving the No. 6 Dodge Charger for Cotton Owens, Unser, then 28 years old, qualified eighth via his time-trial speed. The two qualifying races for the 500 were cancelled because of rain.

He led a lap, and at the finish, was the last of only four drivers on the lead lap trailing race winner Cale Yarborough.

Unser finished ahead of Andretti -- and also in front of Foyt, who would eventually win the 500, in 1972.

It was Unser's only Daytona 500 appearance.

• Notable 500 first-timers in 1968: Dave Marcis, Earl Brooks, Bud Moore.

• The intangible: Guess you could say there were a couple of significant "X factors" at work in 1968. To start, speeds were up considerably -- cars exceeded 185 mph at Daytona for the first time. David Pearson even reached the outlandish speed of 190.746 during practice. Cale Yarborough ended up with the pole, based on a 189.222 lap.

• The recap: Yarborough outdueled LeeRoy Yarbrough, winning by a mere second, then flew his small plane home to Timmonsville, S.C., where friends and family waited at the airstrip for an impromptu celebration. ... The race had 11 caution periods for a total of 60 laps -- both were race records. One caution was caused by Andretti, whose Lap 105 wreck was the lowlight of the defending champion's day, after which a number of NASCAR drivers "remarked" on his all-out driving style. ... Unser led Lap 27 and was able to avoid the recurring mayhem during the long afternoon.

• The follow-up: For Unser, the 1968 Daytona 500 was somewhat like the '67 500 was for Andretti -- a preview of greatness. Andretti went on to the win the Indianapolis 500 in 1969 and the Formula One championship in 1978. Unser? All he did was win the Indianapolis four times, an all-time record he shares with Foyt and Rick Mears. ... Unser never raced in the Daytona 500 again after 1968. He ended his career with only five starts in the Cup Series -- three at the old Riverside, Calif., road course and one at Watkins Glen International, with Daytona being the sole oval. ... Unser did come back to Daytona eight times between 1976-93 for International Race of Champions events and usually looked right at home. He won the 1986 IROC event at Daytona and finished third in 1991.

No. 5: Clint Bowyer, 2006 Daytona 500

Autostock

Clint Bowyer (07) had a strong surge to the front late in the 2006 Daytona 500.

This third annual "Best of the Daytona 500" series focuses on driver debuts in the Great American Race.

There have indeed been some classics.

In determining the hypothetical best five debuts, drivers' results in both the 500 and the qualifying races were factors -- or not. In the case of the fifth-best Daytona 500 debut, it was all about the big show.

Clint Bowyer, driving the No. 07 Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing, started all the way back in 37th in the 2006 Daytona 500. But he didn't stay there long.

After 20 laps, he jumped to 23rd. After 20 more, he was 19th. And by Lap 60, he was in the top 15.

When the checkered flag flew, he crossed the stripe in sixth place.

Not surprisingly, according to NASCAR's Loop Data statistics, Bowyer had more passes than any other driver that day -- an incredible 304.

It was the start of a, let's say, "interesting" relationship between Bowyer and the Daytona 500. The glory of finishing solidly in the top 10 as a rookie was followed by the agony of famously sliding across the finish line on his roof only one year later.

• Notable 500 first-timers in 2006: Clint Bowyer, Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr., David Stremme and J.J. Yeley.

• The intangible: The 2006 rookie class was the strongest in years, yet this was still the Daytona 500. Talent alone likely wouldn't be enough to overcome the awe of a driver's first Daytona 500. Perhaps that played into the fact that only one rookie finished in the top 10, and only two finished in the top 20.

• The recap: Bowyer's first trip to Daytona started with a solid effort on Pole Day, as he qualified sixth-fastest -- earning the fourth starting position in the first of the two Gatorade Duel qualifying races. But he then went on to finish 21st in his qualifier, relegating him to the 37th spot on the 500's starting grid. Combining consistency and the ability to avoid several accidents that ruined others' chances, Bowyer steadily climbed through the field. ... Bowyer's teammate at Richard Childress Racing, Jeff Burton, started on the pole. ... Jimmie Johnson won the 500, getting an immediate boost toward what would be the first of his three consecutive championship seasons.

• Bowyer's take: Despite his impressive finish, Bowyer wanted more. He thought a green-white-checkered finish worked against him at the end. "Didn't really want to see that," Bowyer said. "We had some momentum going. I think we could have maybe passed a couple more of them."

• The follow-up: Bowyer finished 17th in the series standings that season, and second in the rookie of the year race to Hamlin. Since then, he has been one of the top drivers in the Sprint Cup Series, finishing third in the points in 2007 and fifth in 2008. He has a victory in each of the last two seasons -- at New Hampshire in 2007 and Richmond in 2008. He also won last season's Nationwide Series championship. ... He starts the 2009 season in a new RCR entry, the No. 33 Chevrolet.