In the end, Daytona 500 just another points race

Face it: The Daytona 500 is just another points race. So, you're asking yourself, "What kind of a hilljack idiot would say such a thing, much less believe it?" Fact is, the winner of the Daytona 500 is not crowned the Cup Series champion. Right, Ryan Newman?

While the Great American Race is a spectacle, it is one of 36 chances that drivers have to rack up as many as 195 points (or as few as 34, as the case may be). That makes the Daytona 500 1/36th of the season -- roughly as important as ... well, the Pennsylvania 500.

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Nonetheless, what sets apart Daytona from Pocono is the season-opening marketing vs. promoting a late-summer return to Long Pond -- or any other race not nicknamed the Super Bowl of stock-car racing.

Just because there are more eyeballs on Daytona, it should not overshadow the rest of the schedule. There are tent-pole events -- Daytona, Charlotte, Richmond and Homestead -- but those races, again, are 1/36th of the schedule.

Twenty-two tracks will play host to Cup Series races this year, pick one and you will not be disappointed. And in the big picture, that race will be just as important as the Daytona 500.

Only eight times has the winner of the Daytona 500 gone on to capture the series championship, four times by Richard Petty. Two active drivers have turned the trick: Jeff Gordon (1997) and Jimmie Johnson (2006). Eight times in the past 50 years, that's 16 percent. Odds are, whomever wins Sunday night won't be doing the hat dance nine months from now at Homestead.

The green flag at Daytona merely starts the clock toward the checkered flag at Homestead on Nov. 22. In between, there will be plenty of bumping and grinding on the track, gum-flapping and finger-flipping off the track.

Winning the Daytona 500 unquestionably is a boon for the driver; a huge payday, a nifty Harley J. Earle trophy, a sweet leather jacket. Think winning the Daytona 500 isn't a big deal? Ask Rusty Wallace about the most glaring void on his resume.

Speedweeks is certainly an event unto itself. However, the climax -- the champagne shower in Victory Lane -- must be kept in perspective. Tony Stewart finished 43rd in the 2002 Daytona 500 yet rebounded to win his first series championship.

Enjoy the pomp and cirumstance of the Daytona 500. The pre-race concert. The flyover. The post-race celebration. Soak it in, bask in its enormity, yell until your throat is as red as Smoke's shiny No. 14 Chevy.

From the time Carl Edwards rolled into Victory Lane at Homestead on Nov. 16, 2008, we've all longed for the return of the roar of 43 cars screaming around the track. That time is at hand -- but there's always next week, and Fontana pays a maximum 195 points, too.

How important is the Daytona 500?
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