Posted on by Staff Report

Get the on-track times for everything at Atlanta Motor Speedway

Play: NASCAR Fantasy Live

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, NASCAR XFINITY Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series head to Atlanta Motor Speedway for a tripleheader of NASCAR action, including a unique doubleheader on Saturday, Feb. 28. Check out the full schedule below.

Note: All times are ET.

SUNDAY, MARCH 1:

RACE-DAY RUNDOWN
11 a.m.: NSCS Driver/Crew Chief Meeting (Media Center)
11:15 a.m.: Cole Swindell Concert
12:24 p.m.: AMS Presentation to Aaron’s by: Ed Clark AMS President & GM
12:30 p.m.: NSCS Drivers Introductions w/ NASCAR Special Awards (Awards will be read earlier in pre-race)
12:30 p.m.: FOX Live on AIR
12:55 p.m.: Team FasTrax Skydiving Team
12:58 p.m.: God Bless America: Rick Schroeder, United States Air Force Veteran
1 p.m.: Taps by: James Brannon, Dobbins Base Honor Guard
1:00:30 p.m.: Presentation of Colors by: Riverside Military Academy- Gainesville, GA
1:00:50 p.m.: Invocation by: Billy Mauldin- President & CEO of MRO
1:01:30 p.m.: National Anthem by: Brent Whitaker, Air National Guard "Band of the South"  – McGhee Tyson ANGB, TN
1:03 p.m.: TOT Fly-by: 2 T-38’s Talons from the 301st Fighter Squadron Tyndall AFB, FL (Turn 4 to Turn 1)
1:08 p.m.: "Drivers, Start Your Engines" by: Maj. Dan Rooney, CEO and Founder of Folds of Honor Foundation
1:16 p.m.: Start of the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 (325 Laps, 500.5 Miles)

ON TRACK
–1 p.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, FOX (325 laps, 500.5 miles) (Get results)

PRESS CONFERENCES (Watch live)
— Post-NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race

THURSDAY, FEB. 26:

ON TRACK
— 1 p.m.-2:25 p.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team test
— 3 p.m.-4:55 p.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team test
*Test will have one car and one driver from any organization

PRESS CONFERENCES (Watch live)
— 2:30 p.m.: Kyle Larson
— 2:40 p.m.: Carl Edwards
— 5 p.m.: Gene Stefanyshyn, NASCAR Senior VP, Innovation and Racing Development
— 5:15: David Ragan

FRIDAY, FEB. 27:

ON TRACK
— 10-10:55 a.m..: NASCAR XFINITY Series practice, FOX Sports 1 (Get results)
— 11:30 a.m.-12:55 p.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series final practice, FOX Sports 1 (Get results)
— 1-2:25 p.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice, FOX Sports 1 (Get results)
— 2:30-5:25 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series final practice, FOX Sports 1 (Get results)
— 5:45 p.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying, FOX Sports 1 (Get results)

PRESS CONFERENCES (Watch live)
— 9 a.m.: Joey Gase
— 11 a.m.: Danica Patrick
— 11:15 a.m.: Tyler Reddick
— 12:15 p.m.: Kasey Kahne
— 3:15 p.m.: Jeff Gordon
— 4:30 p.m.: Motor Racing Outreach announcement with Matt Kenseth
— Post-NASCAR Sprint Cup Series qualifying

GARAGECAM (Watch live)
— 9:30 a.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series
— 2 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series

SATURDAY, FEB. 28:

ON TRACK
— 9:10 a.m..: NASCAR XFINITY Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying, FOX Sports 1 (Get results)
— 10:40 a.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Keystone Light Pole Qualifying, FOX Sports 1 (Get results)
— noon-1:20 p.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series final practice, FOX Sports 1 (Get results)
— 2 p.m.: NASCAR XFINITY Series Hisense 250, FOX Sports 1 (163 laps, 251.02 miles) (Get results)
— 5:30 p.m.: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Hyundai Construction Equipment 200, FOX Sports 1 (130 laps, 200.2 miles) (Get results)

PRESS CONFERENCES (Watch live)
— 10 a.m.: CMS and JGR announcement with Marcus Smith, Denny Hamlin
— Post-NASCAR XFINITY Series race
— Post-NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race

GARAGECAM (Watch live)
— 11:30 a.m.: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

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Posted on by Staff Report

Get full lineup of NASCAR programming for the week

RELATED: See the full Speedweeks schedule

All times ET

Monday, February 23
10 a.m., DAYTONA 500 (re-air), FOX Sports 1
5 p.m., NASCAR America, NBC Sports Network
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FOX Sports 1
7 p.m., NASCAR Gridiron Challenge (re-air), NBC Sports Network
7 p.m., NASCAR Gridiron Challenge (re-air), NBC Sports Network
7 p.m., 1979 DAYTONA 500 (re-air), FOX Sports 2
8 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub (re-air), FOX Sports 2
9 p.m., DAYTONA 500 (re-air), FOX Sports 1

Tuesday, February 24
5 p.m., NASCAR America, NBC Sports Network
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FOX Sports 1
7 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub (re-air), FOX Sports 2

Wednesday, February 25
6 a.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series NextEra Energy Resources 250 (re-air), FOX Sports 2
8 a.m., NASCAR XFINITY Series Alert Today Florida 300 (re-air), FOX Sports 2
10:30 a.m., DAYTONA 500 (re-air), FOX Sports 2
1:30 p.m., NASCAR Victory Lane (re-air), FOX Sports 2
5 p.m., NASCAR America, NBC Sports Network
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FOX Sports 1
7 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub (re-air), FOX Sports 2

Thursday, February 26
5 p.m., NASCAR America, NBC Sports Network
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FOX Sports 1
6:30 p.m., The List: Dale Earnhardt Sr. (re-air), NBC Sports Network
11:30 p.m., NASCAR Gridiron Challenge (re-air), NBC Sports Network
12:30 a.m., NASCAR America: Celebrate the States 1 (re-air), NBC Sports Network
1 a.m., The List: Greatest Finishes (re-air), NBC Sports Network
1:30 a.m., NASCAR America: Celebrate the States 2 (re-air), NBC Sports Network
2 a.m., NASCAR America: Celebrate the States 3 (re-air), NBC Sports Network
2:30 a.m., NASCAR America: Celebrate the States 4 (re-air), NBC Sports Network

Friday, February 27
10 a.m., NASCAR XFINITY Series practice, FOX Sports 1
11 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Weekend Edition, FOX Sports 1
11:30 a.m., NASCAR XFINITY Series final practice, FOX Sports 1
1 p.m., NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice, FOX Sports 1
2:30 p.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series final practice, FOX Sports 1
5:30 p.m., NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying, FOX Sports 1
7 p.m., NASCAR America, NBC Sports Network

Saturday, February 28
3:30 a.m., NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying (re-air), FOX Sports 1
5 a.m., The Perfect Storm: DAYTONA 500 (re-air), FOX Sports 1
9 a.m., NASCAR XFINITY Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying, FOX Sports 1
10:30 a.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Keystone Light Pole Qualifying, FOX Sports 1
Noon, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series final practice, FOX Sports 1
1:30 p.m., NASCAR Race Day: XFINITY, FOX Sports 1
2 p.m., NASCAR XFINITY Series Hisense 250, FOX Sports 1
4:30 p.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Set Up, FOX Sports 1
5:30 p.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race, FOX Sports 1
10 p.m., NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race (re-air), FOX Sports 1
Midnight, NASCAR XFINITY Series Hisense 250 (re-air), FOX Sports 1

Sunday, March 1
11 a.m., NASCAR Race Day: Atlanta, FOX Sports 1
12:30 p.m., NASCAR Race Day: Atlanta, FOX
1 p.m., NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, FOX
1 p.m., NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500, FOX Deportes
6 p.m., NASCAR Victory Lane, FOX Sports 1
2:30 a.m., NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 (re-air), FOX Sports 1
5:30 a.m., NASCAR Victory Lane (re-air), FOX Sports 1
3 a.m., NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 (re-air), FOX Sports 1

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Posted on by Zack Albert

Crafton: ‘It was very, very tough, but that’s what we get paid to do’

SHOP: Buy Daytona 500 gear
RELATED: Get full race results | Series standings

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — NASCAR’s first Sprint Cup Series race since 2001 without a driver named Busch in the field featured two high-profile substitutes in stock-car racing’s highest-profile event. In the end, keeping a low profile worked out for both late-hour fill-ins.

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

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Both Matt Crafton and Regan Smith had hopes for higher finishes from their Daytona 500 experience Sunday at Daytona International Speedway, but each gave their teams some solace amid the Daytona Speedweeks disarray with clean, respectable results.

Smith — a former Sprint Cup Series regular, now a title hopeful in the NASCAR XFINITY Series — finished 16th behind the wheel of the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 41 Chevrolet as a late substitute for Kurt Busch, who was suspended indefinitely by NASCAR for his off-the-track legal issues. Crafton, the two-time defending champion of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, made his Sprint Cup debut on the sport’s biggest stage, finishing 18th in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota in place of Kyle Busch, who remains sidelined indefinitely after suffering multiple lower leg injuries in Saturday’s XFINITY Series opener.

Smith’s seventh Daytona 500 was hampered by an ill-handling car, made worse by one, a lack of practice time after being named Kurt Busch’s replacement late Friday night, and two, weather conditions far warmer than the rest of the week leading up to the Great American Race. 

"Started off really tight with the race car and never got it turning," said Smith, who made his 173rd Sprint Cup start Sunday. "I don’t know, kind of frustrating. I actually anticipated a much better day and nothing much more to show for it. Those guys did a nice job all weekend but we just plowed through the corners."

Still, Smith managed to keep the car straight in the midst of increasingly intense racing in the aerodynamic draft during the final laps, drawing praise from Tony Gibson, the team’s veteran crew chief. SHR shifted Gibson over to the No. 41 team with three races remaining last season in an effort to build some early chemistry with Busch leading into 2015. When Busch’s suspension was handed down Friday and both options for appeals were exhausted Saturday, Gibson and Co. were forced to uproot their original plan for starting the year with momentum. 

"It’s tough on guys," Gibson said. "We were all so pumped up at the beginning of the season. We had three races last year and were really good, then we go to Vegas and have a tire test and he’s just blistering fast. We come into here wanting to start off with a win or a top-five and get us going. Yeah, it’s hard to keep morale up, but that’s my job to be that coach and that guy that keeps everybody swinging, and that’s my plan."

Crafton became an even-later replacement for Kyle Busch, receiving a call at 7 p.m. ET Saturday night that he was the top pick for the interim Daytona 500 ride. Already back at his North Carolina home after racing in the Truck Series opener Friday night, Crafton was whisked back to Florida, fitted for the car and plugged in for his first Sprint Cup start.

"Pretty gnarly," said Crafton, who lacked any benefit of practice but leaned instead on his 339 career truck starts. "It was very, very tough, but that’s what we get paid to do — drive race cars and figure it out quick. I felt fine, just my back from being in that seat hurt. Under yellows I would loosen up the belts as much as I could and just try to bow myself up in the seat just because my back was just cramped so unbelievably bad. We made it."

With an unexpected driver change to start the season, JGR found itself in similar fettle to Stewart-Haas Racing. The Daytona 500 was intended to serve as a kickoff to the Gibbs’ team’s realignment of crew chiefs, in particular the pairing of Adam Stevens with Kyle Busch. Instead, the No. 18 team resorted to Plan B, even though the injured driver has already been lobbying from his hospital bed about making a hasty return. 

"Everybody is in high spirits to start this season. We got the wind taken out of our sails yesterday, but we’ve all been in communication with Kyle and we know that he’s a strong person and he’s going to come back stronger than ever," Stevens said. "Whatever the doctors tell him, he’s probably going to shave about three or four weeks off of that and be beating on our door. I’m sure he’ll be in my office sometime next week talking about how we’re going to make this happen."

The backup plan remains murky for both organizations once the Sprint Cup Series hits Atlanta Motor Speedway next weekend. In naming their Daytona 500 replacements, neither team went on to indicate who would drive their cars in the second race of the season.

While that component of the 2015 campaign remains up in the air, both teams have some consolation of emerging from Daytona with better-than-middling results after making last-minute alterations behind the wheel.

"When you have a bad finish at Daytona, it makes it really, really hard to overcome, so for us and the road we’re traveling down right now, we want to log as many points as we can get and have that cushion there, so when Kurt comes back, we’ll be ready to roll," Gibson said, adding that he’ll prepare the No. 41 with an eye open for Busch’s return. "That’s the best we can do. We’ll just take it one race at a time, one day at a time, and when they come down and tell me who’s driving it each week, that’s what we’ll do, and we’ll approach it like Kurt’s driving it every week and we’ll adjust on it and do the best we can."

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Posted on by Zack Albert

2012 Sprint Cup champion saw his day go up in a trail of smoke

Play: NASCAR Fantasy Live
RELATED: Get full race results | Series standings

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Brad Keselowski’s hopes for a Daytona 500 crown went south with a loud pop and a trail of smoke Sunday at Daytona International Speedway.

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

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• Standings
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Keselowski wheeled his steaming Team Penske No. 2 Ford into the Daytona garage to the attention of crew chief Paul Wolfe. After the white Deuce simmered for a while, Roger Penske crackled over the team’s two-way radio with the grim diagnosis: "We’re done, Paul."
 
Last season’s most polarizing driver ended his day on Lap 161 in the prestigious NASCAR Sprint Cup Series opener. For Keselowski, who’s shown a special agility at restrictor-plate tracks with three victories at similar Talladega Superspeedway, the early exit left him 0-for-12 at Daytona.
 
"It is what it is," Keselowski said. "We had a good car. We were in position in the top five, top 10 and was just kind of counting down some laps and getting ready for a crazy finish, and just wanted to be there for it, but, unfortunately, that’s not gonna happen."
 
Keselowski didn’t lead a lap during his stint in the race, but he put himself in position for a chance at victory in the lead pack. One moment he was running competitive laps in close formation with teammate and eventual Daytona 500 winner Joey Logano; the next moment, his powerplant erupted with gusto.
 
"It scares the crap out of you, to be honest," Keselowski said. "It’s a big explosion and you’re sitting right next to it, so it’s not fun. Once you get recovered from that, then all you can think about is you had a shot to win the race, and that’s pretty cool."

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Three-time Daytona 500 champ got caught up in last-lap wreck, finished 33rd

SHOP: Buy Daytona 500 gear
RELATED: Get full race results | Series standings

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Jeff Gordon’s streak of consecutive Daytona 500 starts reached its conclusion here Sunday at Daytona International Speedway, one final charge in the Great American Race that ended with a crash on the backstretch during a green-white-checkered finish.

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

• Latest news
• Standings
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Gordon, a three-time winner of the race, dominated the first half of the 57th running of the event, leading more than 75 of the first 100 laps and 87 in all here on a sun-drenched day. 

But the multi-car incident relegated the four-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion to a 33rd-place finish, his worst since a 40th-place run in 2012. 

"I’m not going to miss those final laps," Gordon told members of the media on pit road afterward. "That was just crazy, but (I) certainly would have liked to have had a shot to win. 

"If you are over there in Victory Lane it is awesome and you enjoy it. If you are not in Victory Lane, you are like, ‘oh gosh, when is that next restrictor-plate race?’"

Gordon, who will turn over his well-known No. 24 to youngster Chase Elliott in 2016 to focus on other matters, is scheduled to make just three more starts on the plate tracks. The good news is that 32 others remain where the horsepower-robbing plates aren’t a factor.

In a race that was won for the first time by Team Penske’s Joey Logano, Gordon rallied from lost track position to pull within striking distance in the final 10 laps. But the unusual nature of racing at Daytona, where 200-mph packs of cars often edge forward or drift back depending on the draft, found Gordon 13th when the field roared across the start/finish line with the white flag in the air.

On the backstretch, contact with Austin Dillon sent his car spinning, and six others were caught up in the melee.

"The bottom line was not as organized and then we stacked them in the middle of (Turns) 1 and 2," Gordon said. "The outside line formed and (I) got a little bit of a run. At that point everybody is just trying to shuffle and take (his or her) momentum and do something with it. 

Hooked up with Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kasey Kahne, Gordon had begun to muscle his way forward. Getting the lead seemed unlikely, but a top-five wasn’t out of the question. 

"Then they started wrecking, or somebody hit me, I don’t know," he said. 

Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyle Larson said the outside lane "got kind of squirrelly and got into me.

"And then the guy behind me just turned me sideways," he said. "It’s nobody’s fault. We were just racing hard." 

The crash brought out the yellow flag, sealing Logano’s win, with defending series champion Kevin Harvick second and defending race winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. third.

Over in the garage, Gordon’s crew had begun the task of loading the damaged entry back into the transporter for the trip home to its shop in Concord, North Carolina. Fans milled about, shouting the occasional words of encouragement.

"Win at Atlanta (next week’s stop), please 24," one shouted to the team.

Meanwhile, Gordon soaked it all in, a final Daytona 500 come to an end.

"It is disappointing, because things were going so well," he said, "especially that first half. That first half was amazing. I was enjoying that moment very, very much – just being out front, being in control of the race. I felt like we were just doing everything perfectly. 

"That one restart I chose the outside (lane) and that line just didn’t go. From that point on, we were just playing catch-up."

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Team owner lauds spirit of his driver, NASCAR community

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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Kyle Busch is "resting comfortably" following surgery Saturday night at Halifax Medical Center, but how soon he returns to competition is unknown.
 
"Kyle … was kind of light-hearted and joking around with me and talking about wanting to get back in the car right away before surgery," said team owner Joe Gibbs. "(The doctor) said everything went very well.

RELATED: See the updated Daytona 500 lineup

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"The major portion of what they did yesterday was his lower right leg … they took care of that. They’re going to wait on his (left) foot. … They said there’s no rush on that."
 
Busch, 29, sustained a compound fracture of his lower right leg and a mid-foot fracture of his left foot in an accident on Lap 112 of the season-opening NASCAR XFINITY Series event, the Alert Today Florida 300.

RELATED: Kyle Busch undergoes surgery on right leg

His No. 54 Toyota was involved in a multi-car crash, slid across the track and struck the interior wall just beyond the exit of pit road on the frontstretch at Daytona International Speedway.
 
After being treated at the scene, Busch was transported to Halifax. On Sunday afternoon, he tweeted for the first time since the wreck:

Two-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion Matt Crafton will drive the No. 18 Toyota in today’s season-opening Daytona 500.
 
"Matt has driven some of Kyle’s stuff," Gibbs said. "He’s a veteran guy and we felt like it was the perfect fit.
 
"As far as time or length, I don’t have a good understanding of that with the doctors and everything — I think we’re just going to pray for him to bounce back."

"I can tell you this, Kyle’s already telling (wife Samantha), ‘Hey, I just want to get back to racing.’ He has a great spirit about things like that.

"… I told him before surgery, ‘Hey, I love you.’ And that’s the way we feel about it."
 
Gibbs said no further surgeries dealing with Busch’s right leg are anticipated and that the left foot injury can be dealt with at a later date.
 
"As far as going back to Charlotte, we’re on standby with the plane," he said. "Whenever he feels that he can travel, we’ll get him back to Charlotte."
 
Crafton, driver of the No. 88 ThorSport Toyota, will be making his first start in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series. He has driven Sprint Cup cars previously, qualifying for Robby Gordon in 2008 at Dover International Speedway as well as testing for JGR a year ago.
 
Busch was slated to start today’s race from the fourth spot, but because Crafton was not the driver of record during qualifying, he will be required to drop to the rear of the field.
 
"We’re going to ride in the back for a little bit, get comfortable with the car," Crafton said Sunday morning. "We’ve got 500 miles to figure it out. I’m sure for the first half of the race, we’re going to ride, be smart and just see what I can learn."
 
The area of the wall struck by Busch’s car is not protected by the SAFER (Steel and Foam Energy Reduction) barrier, although much of the 2.5-mile track features the energy dissipating system.
 
Saturday night, track president Joie Chitwood III said tire packs would be place along the wall as a safety measure for today’s race, and that SAFER barrier would be installed "on every inch at this property" following the race.
 
"This is not going to happen again," he said. "We’re going to live up to our responsibility. We’re going to fix this and it starts right now."
 
Defending Sprint Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick said Sunday he had hit close to the same spot as Busch during last year’s 500 "and kind of voiced my opinion."
 
"Unfortunately I was just a dot on the chart and there was no reaction," the Stewart-Haas Racing driver said. "Hopefully this is a lesson learned.
 
"We know what fixes these walls. … That’s why we wear a helmet. That’s why we wear HANS. That’s why we wear fire suits. That’s why we have fire bottles. It’s for that one moment that you have to protect yourself against."

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Busch taken to hospital by ambulance after big XFINITY Series wreck

Play: NASCAR Fantasy Live | Related: Hard hit sidelines Busch | Matt Crafton to sub for 500

Kyle Busch hit the interior wall of Daytona International Speedway hard during Saturday night’s Alert Today Florida 300 season-opening XFINITY Series event, sustaining injuries that will keep him out of Sunday’s Sprint Cup Series Daytona 500.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver’s peers immediately took to Twitter to offer their well-wishes.


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Buescher: ‘We have a good mentality around our group’

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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The No. 16 Roush Fenway Racing Ford driven by Ryan Reed made one final pit stop on its way to Victory Lane on Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway.

With the checkered flag in tow, Reed parked his ride next to the No. 60 of teammate and close friend Chris Buescher, who stuck his hand into Reed’s window to exchange just about as emotionally charged of a handshake as one could imagine.

After a joint, loud roar of "Yeah!," Reed burned his tires and took off to celebrate his first career NASCAR XFINITY Series victory while Buescher basked in the glory of a 1-2, last-lap finish for the apparently resurgent Roush camp.

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

"(That last lap) was insane," said Buescher, who hooked up with Reed to overtake Brad Keselowski’s dominant No. 22 Ford on the final go-around. "First off, congrats to Ryan Reed. That was huge for us as an organization. For him to get his first win here, to start off the XFINITY season like this, it’s great. It’s perfect. It’s what we needed to come out here and do.

"It was a wild finish right there to the end with a couple of cars getting torn up and it just left holes and it left people down on momentum, and we just shot through the middle and we had a chance to work together down the backstretch and we got to the 16’s bumper and that was about all she wrote."

For Buescher, the runner-up finish in this race is beyond a boon for getting his season started on the right note. The 22-year-old driver picked up his first NASCAR victory last season at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, but failed to qualify for the XFINITY season opener at Daytona to start 2014.

"It’s just night and day difference (from last year)," Buescher said. "To sit and watch this race from a pit box last year, it hurt. It’s just something that really set us back for the whole year and we came into this year and had to do something different and we did."

For the Roush organization as a whole, the statement made by the pair of young drivers at the front of the field is unparalleled. Jack Roush’s group has seen trying times over the past few seasons, from struggles at the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series level (including the departure of longtime flagship driver Carl Edwards) down to the XFINITY Series range (no drivers placing in the top five in the standings since Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s second consecutive title in 2012).

With a pair of new drivers joining the fold in 2015 in Darrell Wallace Jr. (who finished 12th) and veteran Elliott Sadler (19th), starting the season on a high note was crucial — but not something the stable didn’t see coming.

"I think we knew beforehand (that we were building something at Roush)," Buescher said. "Leading up to this, we made so many personnel changes in the offseason, we have new teammates in the form of Bubba Wallace and Elliott Sadler. … Elliott has taken on a role more of like a mentor, someone that has the extreme amount of experience that he does and it able to bring a lot to the table.

"We’re excited; we have a good mentality around our group. Everyone is working hard together to get here and make this happen. We’re going to be contenders for more wins this year and we’re going to be contenders for the championship between our four teams."

The XFINITY Series races next at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday in the Hisense 250 (2 p.m. ET, FS1) as part of a joint doubleheader with the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

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Get caught up before the 57th running of the Great American Race

Play: NASCAR Fantasy Live | Buy Daytona 500 gear

What: 57th annual Daytona 500
Where: Daytona International Speedway, 2.5-mile tri-oval in Daytona Beach, Florida
When: Sunday, Feb. 22, 2015
TV/Radio: FOX Sports, MRN (1 p.m. ET)

Race Length: 200 laps
Pit Road Speed: 55 mph
Caution Car Speed: 70 mph
Fuel Window: 42 laps

FULL SERIES COVERAGE

• Latest news
• Standings
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On The Front Row | Starting Lineup
Jeff Gordon, Hendrick Motorsports No. 24 Chevrolet (201.293 mph)
Jimmie Johnson, Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 Chevrolet (201.135 mph).

Notable: Kyle Busch will miss the Daytona 500 after taking a hard hit with his No. 54 Toyota in Saturday’s XFINITY Series season opener He sustained a compound fracture of the right lower leg and a mid-foot fracture of his left foot. Busch was alert but taken to Halifax Medical Center where he underwent surgery. Matt Crafton was named as the replacement driver

Notable II: Gordon’s Coors Light Pole Award is his fourth for the Daytona 500, and he’s one of just seven drivers to win the Great American Race from the pole. Gordon and Dale Jarrett won the race from the pole in back-to-back seasons in 1999 and 2000. This will be Jeff Gordon’s final Daytona 500. | Gordon ready for last 500 ride

To The Rear 
Twelve drivers will drop to the back of the field before the start of the Daytona 500. Denny Hamlin, Danica Patrick, Casey Mears, AJ Allmendinger, Sam Hornish Jr., Trevor Bayne and Johnny Sauter, David Ragan, Ryan Newman and Bobby Labonte (backup cars); Regan Smith and Matt Crafton (replacement drivers).

Notable III: Officially, the deepest in the field a Daytona 500 winner has started is 39th (Matt Kenseth, 2009).

Defending Daytona 500 Winner
Dale Earnhardt Jr., Hendrick Motorsports No. 88 Chevrolet.

Notable IV: Only three drivers, Richard Petty (1973-’74), Cale Yarborough (’83-’84) and Sterling Marlin (’94-’95) have won back-to-back Daytona 500 titles.

Budweiser Duel Winners

Race #1

Winner: Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Hendrick Motorsports No. 88 Chevrolet).

Who Raced Their Way In: Landon Cassill (Hillman Racing No. 40 Chevrolet), Cole Whitt (Front Row Motorsports No. 35 Ford), Michael McDowell (Leavine Family Racing no. 95 Ford, J.J. Yeley (BK Racing No. 23 Toyota), Michael Annett (HScott Motorsports No. 46 Chevrolet), Ty Dillon (Circle Sport Racing No. 33 Chevrolet).

Who Failed To Transfer: Ron Hornaday Jr. (The Motorsports Group No. 30 Chevrolet), Justin Marks (No. 29 RAB Racing Chevrolet).

Race #2:

Winner: Jimmie Johnson (Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 Chevrolet)

Who Raced Their Way In: Ryan Blaney (Wood Brothers Racing No. 21 Ford), Reed Sorenson (Team Xtreme Racing No. 44 Chevrolet), Mike Wallace (Jay Robinson Racing No. 66 Toyota), Justin Allgaier (HScott Motorsports No. 51 Chevrolet, David Gilliland (Front Row Motorsports No. 38 Ford) and David Ragan (Front Row Racing No. 34 Ford).

Who Failed To Transfer: Josh Wise (Phil Parsons Racing No. 98 Ford), Jeb Burton (BK Racing No. 26 Toyota), Alex Bowman (Tommy Baldwin Racing No. 7 Chevrolet), Brian Scott (Premium Motorsports No. 62 Chevrolet).

Fastest In Practice
First Practice: Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Roush Fenway Racing No. 17 Ford (202.643 mph).
Second Practice: Michael McDowell, Leavine Family Racing No. 95 Ford (199.322 mph).
Third Practice: Kyle Busch, Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota (200.776 mph).
Fourth Practice: Alex Bowman, Tommy Baldwin Racing No. 7 Chevrolet (200.495 mph).
Fifth Practice: Kyle Larson, Chip Ganassi Racing No. 42 Chevrolet (192.699 mph).
Seventh Practice: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Hendrick Motorsports No. 88 Chevrolet (194.405 mph).
Eighth Practice: Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 Toyota (202.106 mph).

Driver rating (Best driver rating average in the Daytona 500 based on the past nine years, minimum 5 starts):
Matt Kenseth, 91.6 
Dale Earnhardt Jr., 90.3

They said it I: "I don’t think anybody wants to be in the scenario where you have to sub under circumstances, whatever they may be. And with that said, if it happens, you want to make the most of that opportunity. And there are some guys, I don’t know how many, but we’ll say 200 employees because I don’t know how many Stewart-Haas has, but there are a lot of people that have had their hands on that race car and have worked hard on that race car and they deserve to still have the opportunity to go out there and win that race; and that’s what we’re going to try to do for them." — Regan Smith, on filling in for the suspended Kurt Busch in the No. 41 Chevrolet 

They said it II: "When someone of (Jeff Gordon’s) caliber isn’t on the track, it definitely is going to have a big effect. Not only in the 500 next year, but the entire season. Our sport is going to be different without him there. I feel very good about Chase Elliott going into the car. We’ll all have fun watching him grow and mature as a driver, see what he’s capable of, kind of fill in that Jeff space that’s there. I wasn’t around to watch the King (Richard Petty) step down and some of the other greats that have been in our sport, so I don’t know exactly how it’s going to go. If Jeff Gordon isn’t on the track, for 23 years he’s been such a force on the track. Our sport is not going to necessarily suffer from it, but it’s just not the same. It’s Jeff Gordon." — Jimmie Johnson on Jeff Gordon’s final Daytona 500 appearance

They said it III: "Well, I don’t think it boosts our confidence a lot. Winning the Daytona 500 is a real challenge. The challenge didn’t get easier tonight. One thing I am happy about is being able to get this car through the Duels without any trouble because it’s such a good racecar. We’ll be very careful throughout the rest of track activities the remainder of the week. I’m just excited to be able to put this car on the grid for Sunday. I wouldn’t want to be driving anything else.  The car’s so spectacular; it’s just going to be great. A proud moment to put it on the grid because I think it’s such a good racecar." — Dale Earnhardt Jr. on his Budweiser Duels-winning No. 88 Chevrolet 

Former Daytona 500 Winners In Field
Jimmie Johnson (2013; ’06); Matt Kenseth (2012; ’09); Trevor Bayne (2011); Jamie McMurray (2010); Ryan Newman (2008); Kevin Harvick (2007); Jeff Gordon (2005, ’99, ’97); Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2014; ’04); Michael Waltrip (2003; ’01).

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‘Nowhere but NASCAR’ brings to life the thrill of the sport

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.  — Riding a surge of momentum generated by the most thrilling Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup™ ever, NASCAR® and FOX are releasing a broad portfolio of original creative promoting the return of the most unpredictable and dramatic experience in sports.

Variations of nine unique spots across two national series comprise NASCAR’s robust season launch campaign, including three exciting pieces of creative showcasing the NASCAR XFINITY Series™. The new ads were designed to reach casual and avid fans and feature appearances from many of the sport’s notable drivers.

"We wanted to capture and capitalize on the unprecedented excitement fueled by last year’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup," said Kim Brink, NASCAR senior vice president, marketing. "NASCAR’s new creative puts its stars at the forefront and conveys the message that our sport is unlike any other — and that we’re anything but ordinary."

NASCAR and FOX worked with a pair of agencies to develop the creative across the two national series. NASCAR partners Ogilvy & Mather New York created the prolific NASCAR Sprint Cup Series campaign while Pereira O’Dell New York, FOX’s agency partner, worked on the NASCAR XFINITY Series spots.

"What If" will air during the Daytona 500® on Sunday, Feb. 22 (1 p.m. ET on FOX). The spot connects fans with the extraordinary nature of NASCAR, developed over time from a grassroots beginning to a modern era dominated by intense racing competition and driver rivalries.

"The Daytona 500 is a large-scale celebration of what makes NASCAR truly unique," said Terry Finley, senior partner, group creative director, Ogilvy & Mather. "By bringing to life these unique qualities — from the scale and pageantry, to the driver star power, the rich historical roots, or the embrace of technology, among others — the work makes a compelling case to existing and new fans alike that this type of experience can be found ‘nowhere but NASCAR.’ "

"Ice Cream" will promote the launch of NASCAR Acceleration Nation™, the sport’s new national youth platform. The remaining spots — "Thank You" and "Fantasy Owner" — highlight the NASCAR digital experience and suite of apps including Raceview and Fantasy Live.

The first of three NASCAR XFINITY Series spots will debut during the series’ race on Saturday, Feb. 21 (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1). The original creative, to be released over the next several months, will drive home the narrative that "Names Are Made Here" and feature popular, up-and-coming drivers.

"The sheer energy and momentum being felt in the NASCAR community creates a tremendous environment to work in," said Robert Gottlieb, FOX Sports EVP of marketing. "We are entering our 15th year of working together with NASCAR and our brands are part of each other’s DNA. This collaboration — in this environment — combines our strong history together with a series of fresh, new ideas that tap into the passion surrounding the sport."

The overall NASCAR creative campaign spots are:

• What If: Features a fresh and authentic take on NASCAR, highlighting the sport’s evolution into the greatest show on pavement.

o   Click here to view the spot: http://youtu.be/FdIYvsCjEf4

• Regular Season: In NASCAR, every race and every win matters. The intensity, the pressure, and the stakes are higher each week and if you win…you’re in the Chase. NASCAR’s regular season is anything but regular.

o   Click here to view the spot: http://youtu.be/YD2ZWRabgoE

• Ice Cream: Introduces NASCAR Acceleration Nation, the sport’s first-ever youth platform designed to make learning math and science fun for kids.

o   Click here to view the spot: http://youtu.be/m5uXQandkJE

• Thank You: Promotes NASCAR.com’s Raceview app, which brings fans all the information they need to follow the race when on-the-go.

o   Click here to view the spot: http://youtu.be/GbDIIxhiv5k

• Fantasy Owner: Promotes NASCAR.com’s Fantasy product and encourages fans to sign up and engage all season long.

o   Click here to view the spot: http://youtu.be/lt_sOU3ToSM

• Names: Introduces viewers to up-and-coming NASCAR XFINITY Series drivers who work tirelessly to prepare for their shot at glory on the track.

o   Click here to view the spot: http://youtu.be/Sb50axXbwaQ