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Ryan Newman may have won the Daytona 500 last year but he had one of his worst Cup seasons.By the Numbers: Daytona
Winning the 500 doesn't always mean a strong season
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After two months of waiting ... and waiting ... and waiting ... the Cup Series returns to action with Sunday's running of the grueling Daytona 500 (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX).
The excitement surrounding the 200-lap event reaches a fever pitch every year. This is the Great American Race, the biggest race on the Cup schedule. But, in reality, while a win highlights a career and bolsters a resume, it is only one race in 36.
A Daytona 500 victory doesn't guarantee any success for that upcoming season. Of the 50 past winners, only eight have gone on to win the championship in the same year.
Even in this new Chase era, a Daytona 500 victory doesn't mean a spot in New York in November -- just ask Ryan Newman. Newman was on cloud nine after his Daytona 500 win last year, but it led to a season of struggles and disappointment culminating in a 17th-place point finish.
That doesn't mean drivers don't want to start the season on top of their game.
"It makes it so much easier if you can come out organized and at the pace that you need to," three-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson said. "As we all know it's hard to stay on top for a long period of time so if you can start peaking [early], I think that at that moment you have a lot of things working in your direction. It doesn't guarantee the championship but you have a lot of things going your way."
So as 43 cars battle for the checkered flag under the Florida moon on Sunday, only one will start the season as the point leader heading to Fontana. Question is will he still be in the top 12 after Richmond in September?
Inside the Data
How successful were the Daytona 500 winners in the Chase era?
2004Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the Daytona 500 and would go on to make the inaugural Chase. Winning the Daytona 500 would propel Junior to his best Cup season to date with six wins, 16 top-fives and 21 top-10s -- all career highs. Earnhardt wouldn't win the title, Kurt Busch did, but Junior did finish fifth in points.
2005Jeff Gordon won the Daytona 500 but it did not lead to better things. The '05 season would actually go down as one of Gordon's worst with a career-low average finish of 17.8 and nine DNFs. Gordon had four wins, eight top-fives and 14 top-10s but missed the Chase, finishing the season in 11th place.
2006Winning the Daytona 500 was the springboard Jimmie Johnson needed to finally get that first Cup title. Johnson was strong all of 2006 with five wins, 13 top-fives, 24 top-10s, 31 lead-lap finishes and just one DNF. Not much went wrong for Johnson on the track and he hasn't looked back since.
2007Kevin Harvick edged Mark Martin at the line to win the '07 500 and that's how his season would end up as well. The win didn't lead to greater things for Harvick as it was his only win and he would finish in the top-five just three more times. Harvick did make the Chase -- barely -- as he was 12th in points after Richmond. He was never a title threat and ended the season 10th.
2008Ryan Newman gets the distinction of having the worst season in the Chase era following a Daytona 500 victory. The 500 was Newman's only win and he would post just seven more top-10s. Newman had an average finish of 20.3 with four DNFs and once he left the top 12 in points after a 37th-place finish at Darlington, he never returned. Newman finished the season 17th in points -- his second-worst Cup finish.
Necessitous numbers
4Laps Terry Labonte needs to run on Sunday to reach 5,000 laps run in the Daytona 500. With 4,996 laps run, he leads all drivers.
5Drivers who have won the Daytona 500 and the Cup championship the same year: Jimmie Johnson (2006), Jeff Gordon (1997), Richard Petty (1964, '71, '74, '79), Cale Yarborough (1977) and Lee Petty (1959).
6Drivers whose first career Cup victory was the Daytona 500: Tiny Lund (1963), Mario Andretti (1967), Pete Hamilton (1970), Derrike Cope (1990), Sterling Marlin (1994) and Michael Waltrip (2001).
6.39The average number of starts before winning a Daytona 500, excluding the drivers who won the first four Daytona 500s.
12.3Average finish for Clint Bowyer at Daytona, tops among active drivers. In six races at the track, Bowyer has four top-10s with his best finish, a sixth, coming in his Daytona debut in the 2006 Daytona 500.
18The age of Joey Logano on Sunday. He will become the youngest driver to start the Daytona 500. The previous youngest was Clark Dwyer, who was 19 in 1983.
27.2Average number of lead changes in the last five Daytona 500s. The 2007 Daytona 500 featured 42 lead changes, the most since the 2001 Daytona 500 had 49. The record for lead changes in the Daytona 500 is 59 in 1974.
616Number of laps Bill Elliott has led at Daytona, tops among active drivers. His four wins at the track is second among active drivers behind Jeff Gordon's six.
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Daytona International Speedway
Drivers with multiple wins at track
| Driver | Starts | Wins | Top-fives | Top-10s |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richard Petty | 74 | 10 | 28 | 37 |
| Cale Yarborough | 57 | 9 | 20 | 27 |
| David Pearson | 54 | 8 | 22 | 34 |
| Fireball Roberts | 17 | 7 | 8 | 10 |
| Jeff Gordon | 32 | 6 | 11 | 17 |
| Bobby Allison | 55 | 6 | 17 | 22 |
| Dale Jarrett | 42 | 4 | 9 | 17 |
| Junior Johnson | 20 | 4 | 7 | 9 |
| Bill Elliott | 56 | 4 | 15 | 24 |
| Bobby Isaac | 27 | 3 | 8 | 14 |
| Dale Earnhardt | 46 | 3 | 22 | 34 |
| Michael Waltrip | 44 | 3 | 6 | 12 |
| Sterling Marlin | 52 | 3 | 12 | 21 |
| A.J. Foyt | 54 | 3 | 15 | 17 |
| LeeRoy Yarbrough | 24 | 3 | 8 | 13 |
| Jack Smith | 15 | 2 | 8 | 10 |
| Fred Lorenzen | 24 | 2 | 16 | 18 |
| Buddy Baker | 64 | 2 | 22 | 31 |
| Tony Stewart | 20 | 2 | 6 | 10 |
| Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 18 | 2 | 6 | 11 |
| Davey Allison | 14 | 2 | 4 | 5 |
| Joe Weatherly | 15 | 2 | 8 | 10 |
| Pete Hamilton | 10 | 2 | 4 | 5 |
| Ernie Irvan | 21 | 2 | 6 | 11 |
• Bold: Active drivers
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