Kurt Busch wins his first Daytona 500 with last-lap pass

Posted on February 26, 2017 by Staff Report

RELATED: Race results | Standings | Detailed breakdown | Shop for winner gear

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — His car damaged in a wreck on the backstretch and held together with tape, Kurt Busch grabbed the lead on the final lap of the 59th Daytona 500 on Sunday and took the checkered flag in the Great American Race as a capstone to a checkered career that has trended upward since Busch joined Stewart-Haas Racing in 2014.

In a race that featured the first test of a new three-stage race format in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series — and featured enough twisted sheet metal to keep fabricators busy for a month — Busch surged to the front with a run around the outside when more than half the vehicles in an 11-car lead draft sputtered and ran short on fuel.

Having pushed other drivers to victory in the 500 on three previous occasions, Busch took the prize himself this time, finishing .228 seconds ahead of Ryan Blaney, who came from the rear of the lead pack on the final two laps.

AJ Allmendinger ran third after conserving fuel over the final 20 laps, as a race that had produced eight caution flags for 40 laps ran green for the final 47 circuits. Aric Almirola finished fourth as a single car for Richard Petty Motorsports, with Paul Menard and Joey Logano coming home fifth and sixth, respectively.

"I can’t believe it!" Busch shouted on his team radio after claiming the 29th victory of his career and by far the most significant. "I love you guys! Thank you! Thank you!"

Busch lost his rear view mirror in the middle of the final green-flag run, but it didn’t matter.

"There is nothing predictable about this race any more, and the more years that have gone by that I didn’t win I kept trying to go back to patterns that I had seen in the past," Busch said. "My mirror fell off with 30 laps to go and I couldn’t even see out the back. And I thought that was an omen. Throw caution to the wind.

"It just got crazy and wild, and I am so proud of all the drivers at the end. We put on a show for a full fuel run, and nobody took each other out and it was one of the smartest chess games I have seen out there. All the hard work that Ford and SHR put into this — this Ford Fusion is in Daytona’s Victory Lane!"

Busch did what other drivers with seemingly stronger cars could not. Pole winner Chase Elliott was disconsolate after running out of fuel on the white-flag lap. He finished 14th.

Kyle Busch won the first 60-lap stage and collected the first playoff point in series history, but on Lap 105, he spun in Turn 3 when he cut a rear tire and collected fellow Toyota drivers Erik Jones and Matt Kenseth, as well as Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was returning to competition after missing the final 18 races of the 2016 season while recovering from a concussion.

Busch fell out of the race in 38th place. Earnhardt took his car to the garage in 37th.

Kevin Harvick led 50 of the 200 laps and took the second stage, but he fell victim on Lap 128 to the 17-car pileup on the backstretch that also did the most damage to the sheet metal on Kurt Busch‘s car. The 2014 series champion finished 22nd, three laps down.

Busch’s team owner, Tony Stewart, retired from Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series competition at the end of the 2016 season. Stewart-Haas spent the winter converting from Chevrolet to Ford, but it seemed to make little difference to Busch, who won his 2004 series championship in a Roush Fenway Racing Ford.

"It was a crazy race, even crazier to sit and watch it from a pit box finally," Stewart said. "If I had known all I had to do was retire, I would have retired 17 years ago, if I knew it was what it took to win the race … I ran this damn race for 18 years and didn’t win it.

"Kurt did an amazing job. He doesn’t even have a rear view mirror. The mirror folded on him. His spotter, Tony Raines, did an amazing job. That is the most composed I have ever seen Kurt at the end of a race. He deserved this."

2018 DAYTONA 500 VIP Ticket Packages are now available from PrimeSport! As the Official Ticket Exchange of Daytona International Speedway, PrimeSport has your access to all the action at the World Center of Racing! Receive $50 off per reservation when you book your 2018 DAYTONA package by Saturday March 4th. Use code DAYTONA18 at checkout. Coupon code DAYTONA18 is active now through Saturday March, 4th. | GO HERE

Posted on February 26, 2017 by Staff Report

MORE: Elliott through the years

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Chase Elliott led the Daytona 500 field to the green flag Sunday, a repeat pole-starter in NASCAR’s crown-jewel race. Similarly to last year, the 2016 Sunoco Rookie of the Year victor was unable to lead the field to the checkered flag. This time, however, an empty fuel cell was the culprit.

Elliott led five times for 39 laps, a total second only to early leader Kevin Harvick. But his powerful Speedweeks — with a Coors Light Pole Award, a Can-Am Duel victory and tons of momentum — fizzled when he sputtered off the pace just two and half laps from the finish.

"Out of gas," Elliott signaled over the radio as his blue-and-yellow Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 Chevrolet slowed toward the inside lane on the backstretch. Elliott was able to salvage a lead-lap finish in 14th, but it was far from the ultimate prize — a breakthrough Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory on the sport’s grandest stage.

Elliott emerged from his car and left the track quickly, hopping into a waiting vehicle with his father — NASCAR Hall of Famer Bill Elliott — driving. But he struck a regretful but pragmatic tone in a post-race tweet, saying, "Lessons learned the hard way today, let’s get to Atlanta!"

Before his fuel tank ran dry, Elliott had led 23 consecutive laps — the longest sustained span up front of the entire race. But the race-long dicing had given way to a settled, single-file pack with his crew chief, Alan Gustafson, concerned about his car’s mileage. Leading the way and burning up precious fuel with zero aerodynamic tow wasn’t helping.

"We knew we were short, but what do you do?," Gustafson told NASCAR.com. "It’s hard to say hey, let’s give up the Daytona 500 or follow in third or fourth. The way the shuffle ended up, Kurt was probably in the best spot because he could save a little fuel, whereas us and the 78 (Martin Truex Jr.) and the 42 (Kyle Larson, also in the top five) were having to run wide-open.

"I think we did all we could in the circumstances. We knew we were going to be really close, just ended up short."

Also working against Elliott was the 47-lap green flag stretch — the race’s longest — that preceded the dramatic end.

"We were hoping for a few cautions and I think if we were in third or fourth, we could’ve saved it, but I wasn’t about to give up the lead of the Daytona 500 and say ‘hey, we’ve got to fall back and save gas,’ " Gustafson said. "Little bit of wishful thinking and hoping the circumstances would play our way."

Elliott otherwise ran a masterful race, exhibiting patience on a day when it was in short supply for several in the field. Elliott has taken defeat hard in the past, but Gustafson said he had no concerns about Sunday’s defeat rattling his 21-year-old driver.

"There’s nothing he can do. I’d rather lose like that than I would be sitting in the garage or running 12th or 13th or 10 or lucking into a fifth, right? I don’t think that’s a bad thing. You go to the race track and you fight your guts out, and you win the pole, you win a Duel and lead the Daytona 500 with two laps to go. I don’t know that you should be sad about that."

Posted on February 26, 2017 by Staff Report

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — All the game planning, pit strategy and teamwork had been overhauled due to the implementation of stages, those in-race resets that reward points for drivers running in the top 10 after a predetermined number of laps.

But when the final laps of the 59th annual running of the Daytona 500 began to play themselves out, such things no longer mattered.

In the end, it was a freight train of sheet metal and horsepower churning and chugging toward the start/finish line, every team and every driver acting selfishly with only one thing in mind — get to the line first.

Kurt Busch did, and the 2004 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion exorcised the demons of past restrictor-plate shortcomings in winning his first Daytona 500 after finishing second here a heartbreaking three times.

Sunny skies and warm temperatures had long given way to the cool of evening here at Daytona International Speedway when Busch whipped his No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford into the lead, shooting high and to the outside of Kyle Larson as a 10-car line snaked its way into Turn 1 for the final time around the legendary 2.5-mile track.

With help from a fast-closing Ryan (where’d he come from?) Blaney, and with the fuel-starved Chevrolet of Larson falling back, Busch stayed in the throttle and drove his way into Daytona lore.

It was the first full points race of the season, the first for series sponsor Monster Energy and it played out in front of grandstands filled to the brim.

It was a classic Daytona 500 finish in what had been a different, bizarre-at-times race up to that point.

It was different because the format called for it to be different. A change in approach and a change in strategy was required. It was obvious that teams had spent time trying to figure out how to make the best of points opportunities while not giving away a shot at the big prize. Many will go back to the drawing board after Sunday.

Why else would nearly everyone driving a Toyota drop off the track and hit pit road under green after less than 20 laps of the opening 60-lap stage? At that point, they’d have enough fuel to make it to the end of the stage, they had ready-made drafting partners and stage points would be there for the taking.

Simple, right?

Only it didn’t work out that way. Rookie Daniel Suarez was too fast on pit road and his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Matt Kenseth flat-spotted his tires trying to slow his car. Both had to return to pit road. The best laid plans, you know …

It did pay dividends for JGR’s Kyle Busch, who was indeed out front at the end of Stage 1 to collect 10 additional points. And it looked as if it might work again in the second stage, until a tire issue sent Busch spinning up and into the wall where he collected Kenseth as well as Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Ford teams appeared to have a similar strategy, albeit their pit cycle seemed to fall a bit later in each stage, and to be honest, when the caution flag began appearing every 10 laps or so, strategy went out the window.

Suddenly it was a game of survival.

Nearly a half-dozen former Daytona 500 winners loaded up and departed as just that — former Daytona 500 winners. Some before the checkered, some incredibly made it to the end.

Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Denny Hamlin and Jamie McMurray saw their hopes at victory end or be severely curtailed due to their involvement in any one of the four multi-car accidents that gobbled up as few as five cars and as many as 17.

Nearly the entire final 50 laps were run caution free, without delays to slow the action. Fuel concerns began to creep into the equation. Too late for some. The time for strategy had passed.

From here up until the end, it was about racing. Flat-out, pure and simple.

In the end it was exactly what everyone hoped for and most expected. It was bizarre at times, yes, but in the end, when it mattered most, it was a classic.

It was the Daytona 500.

Posted on February 26, 2017May 9, 2017 by Staff Report

RELATED: Results | Standings | Fast facts: Enhancements

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The early reviews from NASCAR’s first race weekend with a stage-based format laden with performance incentives are in. For the sport’s top competition official, those reviews were boffo.

Steve O’Donnell — NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer — held an informal media scrum after Sunday’s Daytona 500, fielding questions about the race’s three-stage process, the five-minute pit repair clock, and the multiple multi-car crashes that affected all three national-series events.

“I’d say overall really pleased,” O’Donnell said in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series garage at Daytona International Speedway. “Saw a lot of great, hard racing. Everybody knows that every driver wants to win the Daytona 500. We saw drivers up on the wheel all day long, racing hard, and that’s exactly what we expected from the format.”

O’Donnell said he was content with the frenzied competition that produced race winners in Kurt Busch for the Daytona 500, Ryan Reed (XFINITY Series) and Kaz Grala (Camping World Truck Series) in the other national circuits. All three races were marked with attrition in several sizable accidents, but O’Donnell chalked that up to the high stakes of racing for victories at the historic 2.5-mile speedway.

“I think people wanted to win,” O’Donnell said. “People want to win at Daytona and we wanted drivers racing hard up front and racing hard for wins. So that’s we expected. In terms of good, hard racing, I think that’s what you saw all three days.”

O’Donnell noted that despite the wrecks that snared Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick among others, those two drivers had a semblance of consolation prizes with an accumulation of points by virtue of their stage victories.

O’Donnell also pointed out that the five-minute time limit for repairs made on pit road worked as anticipated. He said he did not expect officials to expand the time span, noting that no teams had raised an issue with it over the course of the weekend.

“I doubt it because this came from the teams,” O’Donnell said, “and when we looked at what was the proper amount of time, their suggestion was five minutes because they thought their day was really done if they couldn’t fix something within the five-minute clock. Obviously if a lot of folks come to us from a team standpoint and say we need more, but the whole point of that was to make sure the cars were safe and in race-able condition.”

O’Donnell also said he was content with the number of laps that were completed under caution between stages — seven after Stage 1 and five after Stage 2 — but said that the number would be a “work in progress” during the season.

Posted on February 25, 2017May 9, 2017 by Staff Report

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Matt Crafton‘s position as a 17th-year veteran and two-time champion in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series has afforded him the clout to hand out scrutiny about how his peers race.

The late-race intensity that sent his No. 88 Toyota arcing skyward like paper in a gale, though, was met with a shrug and a grin.

“That was just last-lap Daytona,” Crafton said.

Rookie Kaz Grala prevailed in Friday’s Camping World Truck Series opener at Daytona International Speedway, somehow threading his way through chaos at the front of the pack to win the NextEra Energy Resources 250. The event was bookended by wild crashes, one on Lap 2 and the last on the 100th and final trip around the 2.5-mile track.

Crafton’s wheels-up pirouette became the focal point of the last-lap fracas. The 40-year-old driver’s ThorSport Racing entry emerged at the front of the pack shortly after the white flag dropped, helped by an aerodynamic assist from teammate Ben Rhodes. The pack wound up in a three-wide jumble as it headed to the backstretch for the final time, with Johnny Sauter, winner of the race’s opening two stages, in the middle and Rhodes shuffled up top.

Patience was long gone by then. Rhodes lost control as new teammate Grant Enfinger’s bumper shoves amplified. Crafton was nearly clear of the fray, but Rhodes’ truck clipped his right-rear fender to trigger the chain reaction.

“I’m like, ‘oh, this is not good,’ ” said Crafton, who wound up 14th in the 32-truck field. “Then you feel that light sensation and you know what’s going to happen from there. …

“I’m very happy that it only went over one time and landed back on its wheels, without a doubt. The race was just … it was crazy, just chaos all night and there was just stupidity all night to say the least. Some of this plate racing is crazy. I mean, they beat the rear bumper off some of these trucks. I don’t know how they didn’t wreck more, to be honest. A lot of people did a lot of great, great saves out there.”

Sauter was attempting to become the season opener’s first back-to-back winner since Todd Bodine repeated in 2008-09. But his GMS Racing truck was snared in the late pileup, with Crafton’s No. 88 appearing to land on the bed of Sauter’s.

“I elected to go three-wide and tried to make something happen, because who the hell wants to finish second, you know?” said Sauter, who was scored 15th. “In hindsight, there’s a million different scenarios that go through your mind and I’ll have a lot better grasp of it when I can sit home and watch it, study it and try not to make the same mistake next time.”

The final crash was especially costly to ThorSport, which had all four of its Toyotas added to the 12-truck crash tally.

“I don’t know what else to say because these guys have worked so hard,” said Rhodes, credited with 12th place. “I’ve got such good teammates. It’s unfortunate we were all caught up in it.”

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

Posted on February 25, 2017 by Staff Report

See which drivers NASCAR.com’s staff are picking to win the 2017 title

Posted on February 25, 2017 by Staff Report

Dale Earnhardt Jr. isn’t the same person we saw in a race car July 9 at Kentucky, his last of 2016 before stepping aside with concussion-related symptoms.

He’s much better, he told NASCAR.com. He’s a husband now after marrying girlfiend Amy Reimann on New Year’s Eve. And he’s on the front row for Sunday’s Daytona 500. But how we got from July to February has had fans transfixed and reporters writing a whole lot about the journey. Here are some of the best stories and tidbits from Junior’s recovery and return.

Junior sees himself as altered in significant ways, telling the New York Times, "I do feel like this is a new chapter, for whatever reason. I don’t have a vision for what’s going to happen. I don’t know how to explain it, but it feels like a new me." And that new man is less stressed out and more at ease in every aspect of his life. | Read more

Tommy Tomlinson captures the soul of the driver and the images from Junior’s test session this winter at Darlington. And goes deep into what makes our sport’s perennial NMPA Most Popular Driver tick.

One key piece of the new-and-improved Dale Jr. is Amy. Now his wife, she told Tomlinson she often provides Earnhardt with confidence and stays close, especially in stressful situations: "I’m his binky."

But she’s much more than that, and he gives her credit for improving every relationship in his life. | Read more

A tale about brisket and pickled eggs from Dan Wetzel at Yahoo! shows us yet again how forthright and just, well, normal Dale Earnhardt Jr. is — even when his life felt like it was spinning far out of that normal range. | Read more

The days of dizziness and blurry vision were nightmares for Junior, who told USA Today’s Brant James exactly how hard it was fighting back from wrecks at Michigan and Daytona.

"My eyes were jumping around in my head real bad just riding down the street or in the car," Earnhardt said. "Like a road sign jumping around. It was so annoying. I was scared to death I was going to be stuck with that all my life." | Read more

Friends and colleagues MartinTruex Jr. and Elliott Sadler tell Bob Pockrass of ESPN all about how grueling the exercises were to bring Junior back. And Pockrass writes what everyone in NASCAR is feeling: "When Earnhardt rolls off Sunday for the Daytona 500, the industry will celebrate it as an accomplishment of a race car driver and also with a huge selfish deep breath that the sport is whole again." | Read more

Junior’s return to racing is a victory for him, for the sport and for fans.

SB Nation sums it up: "It’s always more compelling when its favorite son is in the news for what he’s doing on the track."

Posted on February 25, 2017May 9, 2017 by Staff Report

NASCAR.com’s Kenny Bruce, Holly Cain, Zack Albert and Jonathan Merryman make their predictions for the 2017 NASCAR season:

KENNY BRUCE

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion: Timothy Peters. Rebounds from winless ’16 to ride the Red Horse to the title.

NASCAR XFINITY Series champion: Elliott Sadler. So close a year ago; his JRM team is rock solid.

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Rookie of the Year: Daniel Suarez. Stepping into a title-contending car; just needs seat time to become a challenger.

Surprise playoffs qualifier: Daniel Suarez. There will be hurdles for last year’s XFINITY Series champ, but he’s proven to be a quick study.

Daytona 500 pick: Kyle Busch. It’s one of the few accomplishments left for one of NASCAR’s best.

Championship 4:

Kevin Harvick: Switch to Ford proves to be a non-issue for 2014 champion.

Joey Logano: Simple game plan: Get to the front and stay there.

Kyle Busch: Bad-fast car. Extremely talented driver and team.

Martin Truex Jr.: Team makes silly speed; gotta be there at the end, though.

2017 Monster Energy Series champion: Joey Logano. Can win a slew of races or be crazy consistent. This year he could do both.

HOLLY CAIN

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion: John Hunter Nemechek. My repeat pick from 2016, but hoping the right (generous) sponsor sees this young talent and he gets the backing to match his potential.

NASCAR XFINITY Series champion: Elliott Sadler — The veteran has been oh-so-close and this is the year it all comes together for him.

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Rookie of the Year: Erik Jones. The Furniture Row Racing‘s newest team member is super-talented, highly motivated and knows how to shine even among such fantastic first-year talent.

Surprise playoffs qualifier: Kasey Kahne. This will be a resurgent year for the talented 17-time Cup winner who is ready to remind people of his place in the sport. Out front.

Daytona 500 pick: Denny Hamlin. Daytona has been Hamlin’s playground and he’s poised to be the first back-to-back 500 winner since Sterling Marlin in 1994-95.

Championship 4: Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch and Joey Logano will decide the Cup after hugely competitive playoffs that ends in a history-making moment.

2017 Monster Energy Series champion: Jimmie Johnson. Reigning champ makes history with his eighth title.

ZACK ALBERT

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion: Christopher Bell. The 22-year-old standout bookends a season that started with a Chili Bowl victory with his first national series crown.

NASCAR XFINITY Series champion: William Byron. A hotshot rookie for the title? Gobs of talent and JR Motorsports resources go a long way.

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Rookie of the Year: Daniel Suarez. First-year driver steps into a well-established team that contends for victories.

Surprise playoffs qualifier: AJ Allmendinger. Planets align for the No. 47 team at one of the series’ two road-course visits.

Daytona 500 pick: Brad Keselowski. Team Penske‘s strength shows, with one of the best in the restrictor-plate biz leading the charge in the “Great American Race.”

Championship 4: Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson, Brad Keselowski. The cream rises, with four organizations and all three manufacturers represented in the final bracket.

2017 Monster Energy Series champion: Denny Hamlin. He’s been on the podium three times before. In 2017, Hamlin should make it to the top step.

JONATHAN MERRYMAN

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion: Matt Crafton. Great, consistent racer. That style will fit the new format.

NASCAR XFINITY Series champion: Elliott Sadler. Coming off of a solid 2016, the No. 1 JRM team should be in position to win it all.

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup NASCAR Series Rookie of the Year: Erik Jones. Seat time in a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series car in 2015 should help the rookie seal the deal.

Surprise playoffs qualifier: Erik Jones. I think the rookie wins a race in 2017 clinching a playoff berth.

Daytona 500 pick: Brad Keselowski, with four wins at Talladega and one win at Daytona in the summer of 2016, Keselowski has quickly become one of the best plate-racers in NASCAR.

Championship 4: Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch. All four consistently finish races and have multiple win seasons.

2017 Monster Energy Series champion: Kevin Harvick. Mr. “Where did he come from?” has turned in to Mr. Consistency over the past few seasons. Consistency combined with the new points format should complement Harvick well.

Posted on February 25, 2017May 4, 2017 by Staff Report

RELATED: Daytona 500 quick info

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Wearing eyeglasses, a black shirt with the Stewart-Haas Racing logo and black jeans, Tony Stewart very calmly sat on the stage alongside Ford executive Raj Nair and fellow Ford owners Roger Penske and Jack Roush ready to address reporters about the upcoming NASCAR season.

It’s a new gig for the newly retired three-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion — new in his role solely as team owner at the track and also new in representing Ford’s blue oval.

Ironically, it was the legendary Penske who cut up first, reminding Stewart he was in the wrong color attire — black for his team instead of white for Ford.

“We’ll get him in gear here before long,” Penske joked. “My white one (shirt) may be too big, though.’’

Stewart grinned and insisted he had “no answer” for the tease. Roush took a good-natured shot at Stewart a few minutes later — a welcome-to-the-club rite of passage. The popular driving champion, however, smiled a lot and looked absolutely comfortable answering questions on stage as an owner only for the first time in 18 years of full-time NASCAR competition.

RELATED: Stewart’s career highlights

“To be honest, it’s kind of nice,” Stewart said, smiling at his more-narrowly defined role. “If I’m late to practice, nobody yells at me. If I leave practice early, nobody yells at me. And if I don’t show up for practice at all, nobody yells at me. That side has been kind of nice. Really, the only drama I’ve had so far is Roger picking on me about the color of shirt I wear.”

In fact, after Stewart answered questions on stage alongside his fellow Ford owners, he lingered in the media room for nearly an hour doing one-on-one interviews and just generally catching up with reporters. It all had a first day of school feel to it.

Stewart was optimistic about his four-car team’s chances in Sunday’s Daytona 500, particularly noting the promise and enthusiasm he sees in Clint Bowyer taking over the No. 14 Mobil 1 Ford for Stewart.

A Ford driven by Penske driver Joey Logano won The Clash exhibition race last weekend. Kevin Harvick and Bowyer will start alongside one another in the 500 on the third row and Penske’s Brad Keselowski and Kurt Busch will start on row four. Roush’s Trevor Bayne will line up next to Danica Patrick on row six.

“We’ll need to check about halfway through the race and see how happy they are, but up to this point, they’re really really excited,” Stewart said. “Kevin, Kurt, Clint and Danica, they’ve all been really happy and pleased with what we’ve got this year.

“Working with Jack’s team and Roger’s team, it’s good to have some good allies out there on race day and I think we’ve already seen with Roger’s bunch how good that relationship is working out so far on the race track.

“So we’re looking forward to a great weekend.”

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

Posted on February 25, 2017 by Staff Report

RELATED: Daytona schedule | Starting lineup

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — There’s no such thing as a clear-cut favorite for Sunday’s Daytona 500. After six days of on-track activity for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, several camps can lay claim to having an edge, but singling out one driver is akin to a roulette wheel’s spin.

"We come down here a lot of years. You kind of pick a guy," said Jamie McMurray, the 2010 champion of the 500 who will start third in this year’s running. "If he finishes, he’s going to be there in the end. I think there’s 10 guys that have a legitimate shot to win this year."

What is clear is that Sunday’s winner of the Great American Race (2 p.m. ET, FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) will have the benefit of a fast horse, potential assistance from teammates and the combination of an adept spotter and a frequently-used mirror. And if conventional wisdom holds serve, Team Penske, Joe Gibbs Racing and Hendrick Motorsports should be the prime players in that game.

Preliminary races — Thursday’s Duel qualifiers and last weekend’s "The Clash" exhibition from a busy Speedweeks at Daytona International Speedway — have shown that a strong leading car has the ability to change lanes and stem the aerodynamic momentum from an onrushing line of cars. The Duels showed the powerful but precarious nature of leading: In the first 150-miler, polesitter Chase Elliott staved off the pack with a series of blocks to lead the final 24 laps. In the nightcap, Dale Earnhardt Jr. — who led for 53 circuits — zigged too late when Denny Hamlin zagged with two laps left, and Hamlin led an organized aero charge to the checkers.

MORE: Logano wins ‘The Clash’ | Duel 1 results | Duel 2 results

"Because the way the lanes form, it’s just power in numbers," said Elliott, the 500’s Coors Light Pole Award winner for the second straight year. "It’s a power in what cars are lined up in what row, how they’re stacked against you, whether they’re two-wide or three-wide behind you. There certainly are guys that do a good job. Once they get out front they’re tough to get by. We see that all the time at these places."

Momentum can be an intangible in other sports, the vibe of a winning streak or the underlying oomph of the tide turning in a certain game. In NASCAR — and especially in the restrictor-plate genre of stock-car racing — it’s a palpable phenomenon.

While aerodynamics can be a great equalizer for underdogs, the power of Penske’s pair of Fords driven by Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski stands out. But so does the muscle flexed by defending 500 champion Hamlin and his flotilla of Joe Gibbs Racing teammates. And it’s unwise to count out Hendrick & Co.; which monopolized the front row in qualifying with Elliott and Earnhardt.

MORE: Penske proves plate tracks take more than just luck

One thing is all but certain, especially when it gets to crunch time with the Harley J. Earl Trophy on the line: The cat-and-mouse between the race leader and the pack will be more exacting, with far more take than give.

"I’m sure that will be amped up Sunday," Elliott said after his Duel win. "I think it was similar to what you’ll see."