CONCORD, N.C. -- David Stremme doesn't care what the car he drives in this year's Daytona 500 has on its hood.

Whatever it is -- even if it's nothing but the bare No. 12 -- at least he'll be driving something. Last year, after two seasons with not much success as a full-time Cup driver at Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, Stremme was out of a ride for NASCAR's biggest race.

“

David brought some experience to the table that actually forwarded our test program a bit.

”

ROY McCAULEY, 12 crew chief

Now he not only has one, but he'll be driving the No. 12 Dodge that Ryan Newman drove to Victory Lane a year ago. That's hard to believe for a guy who spent most of last season as a Cup test driver for Penske Racing while also driving for owner Rusty Wallace on the Nationwide side.

"To test for them and then to have the opportunity to drive the 12, I wouldn't have thought that would happen back in June," said Stremme, 31. "But now I'm looking to go to Daytona and make a statement."

Newman left Penske Racing at the end of last season to join the newly formed Stewart-Haas Racing organization. He will drive the No. 39 Chevrolet for Stewart-Haas this season.

Newman's departure after nine seasons at Penske left the opening that Stremme eventually was pegged to fill. Crew chief Roy McCauley said that it was Stremme's willingness to take the usually thankless job of test driver without complaint -- and then use it to give back valuable information to the Penske organization -- that led to the driver's promotion.

"The thing that was neat about David being our test driver was that he had some Cup experience," McCauley said. "With most of your test drivers, you're like, 'Hey, kid, go run us 1,000 laps at Greenville and give us some brake data.' David brought some experience to the table that actually forwarded our test program a bit.

"He's had 75 Cup starts. He would be at a test and would be more like, 'You know guys, I think this would be better in these conditions or those conditions. Or this would work better in the draft than in single-car. Or this would work better at Martinsville than at Richmond.' That's what he brought to the test program, whereas if you had a younger driver, he's not going to be able to bring that to you from a test standpoint. That really helped us quite a bit, I think.

Stremme's two Cup seasons with Ganassi were disappointing, perhaps especially so to the driver himself. He registered a total of only three top-10 finishes -- and when he led two laps in his only start of the Cup season at Talladega last season, it matched his total laps led for the entire Cup season he ran a year earlier.

But that was then. This is now.

Stremme said a year of "polishing" his driving style while working for Wallace has helped him, as has working with fellow Penske drivers Kurt Busch and Sam Hornish Jr. He finished 11th in points in the Nationwide Series last year, posting top-10s in half of his 32 starts, along with five top-fives.

He said he also has learned from his previous Cup experiences.

“

A year ago, I wasn't sure if I made the right choice by sitting out and not taking certain rides. I wanted to be with an 'A team' and I consider this to be an 'A team.'

”

DAVID STREMME

"I figure with the teammates that I have, my performance will be a lot better than it has been in the past," Stremme said. "Obviously I'm better, having had that [previous Cup] experience. But also I'm better because of the people I have surrounded myself with. A year ago, I wasn't sure if I made the right choice by sitting out and not taking certain rides. I wanted to be with an 'A team' and I consider this to be an 'A team.'"

Stremme said he turned down two offers to drive for other Cup teams last season. Yet when the offer came up this past May to serve as a test driver for Penske, he did not consider it beneath him.

"I wanted to make sure that I stayed in the [new] car -- because obviously I had only run the short tracks with it [the previous year]. Also, I didn't have to think twice about joining the Penske organization. I knew it would make me a better driver and a better person, and I think it did sharpen my skills," Stremme said.

"Then it kind of snowballed into getting the ride there. Now with the testing ban [at NASCAR-sanctioned tracks] and everything, it really looks like it was a good move. I've already worked within the organization and I'm not walking into the place in December, trying to learn new faces and new names."

McCauley said that he is glad Stremme waited for a better ride to open up.

"Obviously, there are some things that we need to work on from the 12's standpoint," McCauley said. "Consistency is the biggest thing. If we took out some DNFs and some of our bad days where we were 30th with a blown tire or something like that, if we could eliminate most of those days and look at our point spread, we're there. We just need to consistently put solid finishes on the board, and make a bad day 15th to 20th instead of 30th or worse.

"David is going to do a good job for us. The main thing is consistency, and David and I have talked about that. If you can win the race, win the race; if you can finish top-five, finish in the top five. But don't try to finish fifth in a 12th-place car. You'll end up turning an average day into a really bad day.

"I'm a very big supporter of David's, and I think he realizes what a great opportunity he has in front of him. He's been awesome to work with so far."

The No. 12 car Stremme drives in this year's Daytona 500 won't look like the one Newman wheeled to victory in the race last year. That was the Alltel Dodge, and Alltel since has been bought out by Verizon Wireless -- a communications company in direct competition with series sponsor Sprint.

But while NASCAR cannot permit Verizon to adorn the hood of Stremme's car, Verizon can and will fully fund the No. 12 car's Cup program for the year -- in addition to being on the hood of No. 12 car to be driven by Justin Allgaier in the Nationwide Series.

Of the unique sponsorship arrangement, vice chairman Walt Czarnecki of Penske Racing added that "NASCAR has certain accommodations to their other sponsors, and obligations. We sat down with NASCAR and worked through all this, and that's why we branded the car the Penske Dodge. Verizon is totally on board with this.

"Once the business transaction occurred [between Alltel and Verizon], NASCAR was kept fully informed of what was transpiring. ... NASCAR has made it very clear, even with Alltel as our sponsor, what their requirements were related to branding on cars and branding at the race track; so working with NASCAR and the people at Verizon, I believe we were able to accommodate all those requirements."

As long as his car is fully funded for the entire season, and competitive, Stremme couldn't care less about those particulars.

"There will be something on the car. We're just not quite sure what it is yet," Stremme said. "Obviously, Ryan did a really good job of driving the car in last year's [Daytona 500]. But I feel like I can do the same.

"When I look at driving the 12 car, I look at Bobby Allison and Neil Bonnet and Ryan, obviously. I have a strong team behind me and there is no reason I can't go out there and do some of the same things."

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