Stats Advance: Analyzing the Daytona 500

Posted on February 17, 2014 by Nascar

Check out the statistics for drivers in Sunday’s race at 1 p.m. ET on FOX

Below is a statistical look at some of the top performers at Daytona International Speedway, including both the Daytona 500 and the annual July race:

Clint Bowyer (No. 15 5-hour ENERGY Toyota)

· Three top fives, seven top 10s

· Average finish of 14.8

· Average Running Position of 16.3, seventh-best

· Driver Rating of 86.2, eighth-best

· 76 Fastest Laps Run, fifth-most

· 3,359 Green Flag Passes, eighth-most

· Average Green Flag Speed of 189.078 mph, fifth-fastest

· 1,841 Quality Passes (passes of cars in the top 15 under green), 12th-most

Kurt Busch (No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet)

· 10 top fives, 13 top 10s

· Average finish of 17.9

· Average Running Position of 16.4, eighth-best

· Driver Rating of 88.8, fifth-best

· 64 Fastest Laps Run, 12th-most

· 3,296 Green Flag Passes, 10th-most

· 1,947 Laps in the Top 15 (60.1%), fifth-most

· 2,385 Quality Passes, fourth-most

Kyle Busch (No. 18 M&M’s Toyota)

· One win, five top fives, six top 10s; one pole

· Average finish of 18.6

· Series-best Average Running Position of 12.3

· Series-best Driver Rating of 96.9

· 78 Fastest Laps Run, third-most

· 3,485 Green Flag Passes, seventh-most

· Average Green Flag Speed of 189.115 mph, second-fastest

· Series-high 2,307 Laps in the Top 15 (71.3%)

· Series-high 2,569 Quality Passes

Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No. 88 National Guard Chevrolet)

· Two wins, 10 top fives, 16 top 10s; one pole

· Average finish of 13.8

· Average Running Position of 14.5, fourth-best

· Driver Rating of 89.7, fourth-best

· 83 Fastest Laps Run, second-most

· 3,751 Green Flag Passes, second-most

· Average Green Flag Speed of 189.089 mph, third-fastest

· 2,069 Laps in the Top 15 (63.9%), third-most

· 2,495 Quality Passes, second-most

Jeff Gordon (No. 24 Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet)

· Six wins, 12 top fives, 19 top 10s; three poles

· Average finish of 16.6

· Average Running Position of 14.6, fifth-best

· Driver Rating of 87.2, seventh-best

· 3,255 Green Flag Passes, 11th-most

· 1,873 Laps in the Top 15 (57.9%), seventh-most

· 2,039 Quality Passes, 11th-most

Denny Hamlin (No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota)

· Two top fives, two top 10s

· Average finish of 21.5

· Average Running Position of 16.5, ninth-best

· Driver Rating of 83.7, ninth-best

· 77 Fastest Laps Run, fourth-most

· Average Green Flag Speed of 189.038 mph, seventh-fastest

Kevin Harvick (No. 4 Budweiser Chevrolet)

· Two wins, six top fives, 11 top 10s; one pole

· Average finish of 16.0

· Driver Rating of 82.3, 12th-best

· Series-high 85 Fastest Laps Run

· 3,199 Green Flag Passes, 12th-most

· Average Green Flag Speed of 189.080 mph, fourth-fastest

Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet)

· Three wins, eight top fives, 11 top 10s; two poles

· Average finish of 17.5

· Average Running Position of 13.9, third-best

· Driver Rating of 88.4, sixth-best

· 2,062 Laps in the Top 15 (63.7%), fourth-most

· 2,185 Quality Passes, seventh-most

Kasey Kahne (No. 5 Farmers Insurance Chevrolet)

· Two top fives, seven top 10s

· Average finish of 19.0

· Average Running Position of 16.8, 12th-best

· Driver Rating of 82.4, 11th-best

· 69 Fastest Laps Run, ninth-most

· 3,726 Green Flag Passes, sixth-most

· Average Green Flag Speed of 188.999 mph, 11th-fastest

· 1,667 Laps in the Top 15 (51.5%), 10th-most

· 2,167 Quality Passes, eighth-most

Matt Kenseth (No. 20 Dollar General Toyota)

· Two wins, six top fives, 13 top 10s; one pole

· Average finish of 17.5

· Average Running Position of 13.9, second-best

· Driver Rating of 92.6, third-best

· 76 Fastest Laps Run, fifth-most

· 2,082 Laps in the Top 15 (64.3%), second-most

· 2,215 Quality Passes, sixth-most

Tony Stewart (No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet)

· Four wins, nine top fives, 14 top 10s; one pole

· Average finish of 16.5

· Average Running Position of 15.6, sixth-best

· Driver Rating of 93.0, second-best

· 73 Fastest Laps Run, eighth-most

· 1,892 Laps in the Top 15 (58.4%), sixth-most

Daytona International Speedway Data

Race #: 1 of 36 (2-23-14)

Track Size: 2.5 miles

Race Length: 500 miles (200 laps)

Banking/Corners: 31 degrees

Banking/Straights: 3 degrees

Banking/Tri-Oval: 18 degrees

Top 10 Driver Ratings at Daytona
Kyle Busch                  96.9
Tony Stewart                93.0
Matt Kenseth                92.6
Dale Earnhardt Jr.         89.7
Kurt Busch                   88.8
Jimmie Johnson            88.4
Jeff Gordon                 87.2
Clint Bowyer                 86.2
Denny Hamlin               83.7
Kasey Kahne                82.4
Note: Driver Ratings are compiled from 2005-2013 races (17 total) at Daytona.

Qualifying/Race Data

2013 pole winner: Danica Patrick, (196.434 mph, 45.817 seconds)

2013 race winner: Jimmie Johnson (159.250 mph, 2-24-13)

Qualifying record: Bill Elliott, (210.364 mph, 42.783 secs. 2-9-87)

Race record: Buddy Baker, (177.602 mph, 2-17-80)

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Final 2013 Top 12 at Daytona International Speedway

	Driver	Races	Poles	Wins	Top Fives	Top 10s	DNFs	Average Finish	Driver Rating
1	Jimmie Johnson	24	2	3	8	11	5	17.5	88.4
2	Matt Kenseth	28	1	2	6	13	5	17.5	92.6
3	Kevin Harvick	25	1	2	6	11	3	16.0	82.3
4	Kyle Busch	18	1	1	5	6	4	18.6	96.9
5	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	28	1	2	10	16	3	13.8	89.7
6	Jeff Gordon	42	3	6	12	19	6	16.6	87.2
7	Clint Bowyer	16	0	0	3	7	2	14.8	86.2
8	Joey Logano	10	0	0	2	3	2	20.9	79.0
9	Greg Biffle	22	1	1	3	6	2	19.7	79.1
10	Kurt Busch	26	0	0	10	13	1	17.9	88.8
11	Ryan Newman	24	0	1	4	6	5	20.0	81.8
12	Kasey Kahne	20	0	0	2	7	4	19.0	82.4

Note: Driver Rating from races at Daytona International Speedway from 2005-2013.

Daytona 500 Tidbits

The 2014 edition will be the 56th running of the Daytona 500.
Although the first Daytona 500 was held in 1959, it has been the season-opener only since 1982.
523 drivers have competed in at least one Daytona 500; 311 in more than one.
35 drivers have won a Daytona 500.
Youngest Daytona 500 winner: Trevor Bayne (2/20/2011 – 20 years, 0 months, 1 days)
Oldest Daytona 500 winner: Bobby Allison (2/14/1988 – 50 years, 2 months, 11 days)
10 drivers have won more than one Daytona 500, led by Richard Petty with seven victories.
The 10 drivers who have won the Daytona 500 more than once: Richard Petty (seven), Cale Yarborough (four), Bobby Allison (three), Dale Jarrett (three), Jeff Gordon (three), Bill Elliott (two), Matt Kenseth (two), Jimmie Johnson (two), Sterling Marlin (two) and Michael Waltrip (two).
A driver has won back-to-back Daytona 500s three times. Richard Petty (1973-74), Cale Yarborough (1983-84) and Sterling Marlin (1994-95).
Active Daytona 500 winners and the number of NSCS starts in their careers when they won: Jeff Gordon won his third Daytona 500 on his 402nd career start (2005). Gordon also posted his second Daytona 500 win on his 190th career start (1999). Jimmie Johnson posted his second Daytona 500 win on his 400th career start (2013) and Matt Kenseth won his second Daytona 500 on his 437th career start (2012). Michael Waltrip posted his second Daytona 500 win on his 535th career start (2003).
Seven drivers posted their career-first victory with a win in the Daytona 500: Tiny Lund (1963), Mario Andretti (1967), Pete Hamilton (1970), Derrike Cope (1990), Sterling Marlin (1994), Michael Waltrip (2001) and Trevor Bayne (2011).
Three other drivers posted their career-first victory in (points-paying) qualifying races: Johnny Rutherford (1963), Bobby Isaac (1964) and Earl Balmer (1966).
Lee Petty, who won the inaugural Daytona 500, and Trevor Bayne, 2011 Daytona 500 champion, are the only two drivers to win the Daytona 500 in their first appearance.
Dale Earnhardt leads the series in runner-up finishes in the Daytona 500 with five; Dale Earnhardt Jr. leads all active drivers with four.
Dale Earnhardt had 12 top fives in his 23 Daytona 500 starts, more than any other driver. Dale Earnhardt Jr., Mark Martin and Terry Labonte lead all active drivers in Daytona 500 top-five finishes with six.
Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty each posted a series leading 16 top 10s in the Daytona 500. Terry Labonte and Mark Martin lead all active drivers in Daytona 500 top-10 finishes with 12; followed by Michael Waltrip with nine.
Only 12 drivers have an average finish of 10th or better in the Daytona 500, five of those competed in the Daytona 500 only once.
Clint Bowyer has an 11.9 average finish in nine appearances, the best of the active drivers who have competed in more than one Daytona 500.
28 of the 35 drivers, who have won, participated in at least two Daytona 500s before visiting Victory Lane.
Dale Earnhardt competed 19 times before winning his only Daytona 500 (1998), the longest span of any of the 35 race winners.
Six drivers made 10 or more attempts before their first Daytona 500 victory: Dale Earnhardt (19), Buddy Baker (18), Darrell Waltrip (16), Bobby Allison (14), Michael Waltrip (14) and Sterling Marlin (12).
The driver with the all-time most Daytona 500 starts without a victory is Dave Marcis with 33 races; the active drivers with the most starts without a Daytona 500 win is Terry Labonte (31 races), Mark Martin (29 races), Joe Nemechek (18) and Tony Stewart (15).
Kevin Harvick’s 0.020-second margin of victory over Mark Martin in the 2007 Daytona 500 is the 12th-closest overall since the advent of electronic timing in 1993, and the closest in a Daytona 500.
Nine of the 55 Daytona 500s (16.3%) have been won from the Coors Light pole. The last to do so was Dale Jarrett in 2000. Jeff Gordon is the only active driver to accomplish the feat (1999).
Cale Yarborough (1968, 1984) and Bill Elliott (1985, 1987) are the only two drivers to win the Daytona 500 from the Coors Light pole more than once.
16 of the 55 Daytona 500s (29.0%) have been won from the front row.
27 of the 55 Daytona 500s (49.0%) have been won from a top-five starting position.
40 of the 55 Daytona 500s (72.7%) have been won from a top 10 starting position
Matt Kenseth won the Daytona 500 from the 39th starting position in 2009, the deepest a race winner has started.
Five reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champions have gone on to win the Daytona 500 the following season: Lee Petty (1959), Richard Petty (1973), Cale Yarborough (1977), Jeff Gordon (1999) and Dale Jarrett (2000).
Five drivers have won the Daytona 500 and the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship in the same season, Richard Petty has done it four times: Jimmie Johnson (2006, 2013), Jeff Gordon (1997), Richard Petty (1964, 1971, 1974, 1979), Cale Yarborough (1977) and Lee Petty (1959).
Danica Patrick on Sunday, Feb. 19, 2013 became the first female in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series history to win a Coors Light pole for the Daytona 500 posting a speed of 196.434 mph.
Janet Guthrie previously held the record for top starting position by a female NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver, starting ninth twice in 1977 – at Talladega Superspeedway on Aug. 7, 1977 and at Bristol Motor Speedway on Aug. 28, 1977.

In 2012, Danica Patrick became the third female driver to compete in a Daytona 500 joining Janet Guthrie and Shawna Robinson. Below are the previous female driver performances in the Daytona 500.

Race	Season	Driver	Start	Finish
Daytona 500	1977	Janet Guthrie	39	12
Daytona 500	1980	Janet Guthrie	18	11
Daytona 500	2002	Shawna Robinson	36	24
Daytona 500	2012	Danica Patrick	29	38
Daytona 500	2013	Danica Patrick	1	8

· Driver Ratings for Winners – Pre-Race Daytona 500 Driver Ratings heading into 2013 for the past Daytona 500 winners (past 6 years)
Driver – Year – Driver Rating

o Jimmie Johnson – 2013 – 82.8

o Matt Kenseth – 2012 – 89.0

o Trevor Bayne – 2011 – 68.9

o Jamie McMurray – 2010 – 80.2

o Matt Kenseth – 2009 – 89.0

o Ryan Newman – 2008 – 82.9

o Kevin Harvick – 2007 – 86.3

o Jimmie Johnson – 2006 – 87.5

· Drivers who have won the Daytona 500 in more than one car manufacturer:
Driver – Manufacturer (Number of wins in that manufacturer)

o Richard Petty – Plymouth (3), Dodge (2), Oldsmobile (1) and Buick (1)

o Cale Yarborough – Chevrolet (2), Mercury (1) and Pontiac (1)

o Bobby Allison – Buick (2) and Ford (1)

o Dale Jarrett – Ford (2) and Chevrolet (1)

· Drivers who have won The Sprint Unlimited and the Daytona 500 in the same season:
Driver – (Year)

o Bobby Allison (1982)

o Bill Elliott (1987)

o Dale Jarrett (1996 and 2000)

o Jeff Gordon (1997)

· Car Numbers that have produced three or more Daytona 500 victories:
Car Number – Drivers – (Years)

o No. 43 – Richard Petty (1964, ’66, ’71, ’73, ’74, ’79, ‘81)

o No. 21 – Tiny Lund (1963), Cale Yarborough (1968), A.J. Foyt (1972), David Pearson (1976) and Trevor Bayne (2011)

o No. 28 – Fred Lorenzen (1965), Buddy Baker (1980), Cale Yarborough (1983 and 1984) and Davey Allison (1992).

o No. 4 – Ernie Irvan (1991), Sterling Marlin (1994 and 1995)

o No. 15 – Bobby Allison (1978), Michael Waltrip (2001 and 2003)

o No. 17 – Darrell Waltrip (1989), Matt Kenseth (2009 and 2012)

No. 24 – Jeff Gordon (1997, 1999 and 2005)

At Daytona International Speedway

History

· Groundbreaking for Daytona International Speedway was Nov. 25, 1957. The soil underneath the banked corners was dug from the infield of the track and the hole filled with water. It is now known as Lake Lloyd.

· The first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Daytona was a 100-mile qualifying race for the Daytona 500 on Feb. 20, 1959.

· Richard Petty won his 200th career race on July 4, 1984 at Daytona.

· Lights were installed in the spring of 1998. However, the July race was delayed until October that year due to thick smoke from wildfires. The second Daytona race has been held under the lights ever since.

· The track underwent a repave in 2010.

Notebook

· There have been 133 NASCAR Sprint Cup races since the track hosted its first race in 1959: 55 have been 500 miles, 51 were 400 miles and four 250 miles. There were also 23 qualifier races that were point races.

· Fireball Roberts won the inaugural pole at Daytona.

· Bob Welborn won the first race at Daytona, the 100-mile qualifying race for the Daytona 500.

· Lee Petty won the inaugural Daytona 500 on Feb. 22, 1959; he led 38 laps and won by 2 feet.

· Fireball Roberts won the first 400-mile race at Daytona, the 1963 Firecracker 400.

· 57 drivers have posted poles at Daytona.

· Cale Yarborough leads all drivers with 12 poles at Daytona.

· Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin lead all active drivers with three poles at Daytona.

· 56 drivers have won at Daytona.

· Richard Petty leads all drivers in victories at Daytona with 10.

· Jeff Gordon has six victories at Daytona, more than any other active driver.

· The Wood Brothers have won 15 races at Daytona, more than any other car owner.

· 17 full-length races at Daytona have been won from the pole; the last to do it was Jimmie Johnson in the 2013 Daytona 500.

· A driver has swept both the Daytona 500 and the July race only five times at Daytona International Speedway: Jimmie Johnson (2013), Bobby Allison (1982), LeeRoy Yarborough (1969), Cale Yarborough (1968) and Fireball Roberts (1962).

NASCAR in Florida

There have been 174 NASCAR Sprint Cup races in Florida.

Track Name	City	NSCS
Daytona International Speedway	Daytona Beach	133
Homestead-Miami Speedway	Homestead	15
Daytona Beach & Road Course	Daytona Beach	10
Palm Beach Speedway	W. Palm Beach	7
Speedway Park	Jacksonville	6
Five Flags Speedway	Pensacola	1
Golden Gate Speedway	Tampa	1
Titusville-Cocoa Speedway	Titusville	1

· 171 drivers in NASCAR’s three national series have their home state recorded as Florida.

· There have been 10 race winners with their home state recorded as Florida in NASCAR’s three national series:

Driver	NSCS	NNS	NCWTS
Fireball Roberts	33	0	0
LeeRoy Yarbrough	14	0	0
Marshall Teague	7	0	0
Joe Nemechek	4	16	0
Bobby Johns	2	0	0
David Reutimann	2	1	1
Shorty Rollins	1	0	0
Rick Wilson	0	2	0
Aric Almirola	0	1	2
Joey Coulter	0	0	1

MORE:

READ: Austin Dillon wins
Daytona 500 pole

READ: How to qualify
for the Daytona 500

WATCH: Massive wreck
in Sprint Unlimited

READ: Daytona Duel 150-mile
qualifying race lineups

Posted on February 17, 2014 by Staff Report

Predicting the final four drivers, Sprint Cup champion and more

Ah, a new season. Last year’s successes (or failures) are wiped clean, and everyone begins the Daytona 500 with exactly the same amount of points — zero.

Last year saw a historic championship push from Jimmie Johnson, an unprecedented Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup field and multiple drivers (hello, Matt Kenseth) succeeding with a new team.

What’s in store for 2014?

Well, we know the Chase field will be bigger, and that postseason eliminations are on tap. We know Johnson is gunning for his seventh Cup title, which would tie the all-time record, and that this year’s rookie class is the most heralded in years.

With that in mind, we asked Zack Albert, Kenny Bruce, Holly Cain, David Caraviello and Alan Cavanna to give us their picks for 2014.

See their answers below (and bookmark to say who has earned bragging rights come November), and chime in with your own predictions in the comments section.

Zack Albert
Daytona 500 winner: Tony Stewart
Most likely to succeed with new team: Martin Truex Jr.
Top Chase seed: Jimmie Johnson
Biggest Chase surprise: Marcos Ambrose
Final four (post-Eliminator round): Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch
Crew chief of the year: Darian Grubb
Rookie of the Year: Austin Dillon
Sprint Cup Series champion: Jimmie Johnson

Kenny Bruce
Daytona 500 winner: Martin Truex Jr.
Most likely to succeed with new team: Kurt Busch
Top Chase seed: Matt Kenseth
Biggest Chase surprise: Ryan Newman
Final four (post-Eliminator round): Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards, Brad Keselowski
Crew chief of the year: Gil Martin
Rookie of the Year: Austin Dillon
Sprint Cup Series champion: Matt Kenseth

Holly Cain
Daytona 500 winner: Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Most likely to succeed with new team: Martin Truex Jr.
Top Chase seed: Jimmie Johnson
Biggest Chase surprise: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Final four (post-Eliminator round): Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, Tony Stewart
Crew chief of the year: Chad Knaus
Rookie of the Year: Kyle Larson
Sprint Cup Series champion: Jimmie Johnson

David Caraviello
Daytona 500 winner: Matt Kenseth
Most likely to succeed with new team: Kevin Harvick
Top Chase seed: Jimmie Johnson
Biggest Chase surprise: Marcos Ambrose
Final four (post-Eliminator round): Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Matt Kenseth, Kevin Harvick
Crew chief of the year: Rodney Childers
Rookie of the Year: Austin Dillon
Sprint Cup Series champion: Jimmie Johnson

Alan Cavanna
Daytona 500 winner: Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Most likely to succeed with new team: Kevin Harvick
Top Chase seed: Kyle Busch
Biggest Chase surprise: Austin Dillon
Final four (post-Eliminator round): Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Crew chief of the year: Chad Knaus
Rookie of the Year: Kyle Larson
Sprint Cup Series champion: Kyle Busch

MORE:

READ: Austin Dillon wins
Daytona 500 pole

READ: How to qualify
for the Daytona 500

WATCH: Massive wreck
in Sprint Unlimited

READ: Daytona Duel 150-mile
qualifying race lineups

Posted on February 16, 2014 by

Mexico’s Daniel Suarez earns second career win, Rev Racing’s 13th victory

RELATED: NASCAR Home Tracks

NEW SMYRNA, Fla. — Offseason did nothing to slow Daniel Suarez’s momentum.

The Monterrey, Mexico, driver held off Cameron Hayley in a door-to-door battle of NASCAR’s rising stars to win the New Smyrna 150 presented by JEGS Saturday night at New Smyrna Speedway. The race was the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East season opener and the inaugural visit to the banked half-mile.

Driving for Rev Racing and NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity, the 22-year-old Suarez picked up his second career victory and gave Rev Racing its 13th win since 2010.

It marked Suarez’s sixth top-three finishes in eight NASCAR K&N Pro Series East races dating back to last year. And it was his second straight NASCAR touring series win; Suarez won the NASCAR Toyota Mexico Series finale at Mexico City in November.

Hayley, 17, won the 21 Means 21 Pole Award presented by Coors Brewing Company earlier in the day. But it was Suarez and Brandon Jones, 16, who led the way for most of the night. Jones led 34 laps before giving way to Suarez on Lap 48 and eventually finishing third.

Ben Rhodes and Lee Pulliam rounded out the top five. It was the series’ debut for Pulliam, the two-time defending NASCAR Whelen All-American Series champion.

A late race caution set the stage for tense closing laps. Pulliam restarted alongside Suarez, slipped up and dropped out of the top five.

That allowed Suarez to get away and Hayley to move back into second.

With four to go, Hayley muscled his way alongside Suarez. They rubbed and stayed side-by-side, with Suarez leading by inches to the white flag and beating Hayley to the finish by .083 seconds.

Kenzie Ruston finished sixth, followed by Gray Gaulding, Mackena Bell, Brandon Gdovic and rookie Kaz Grala.

The NASCAR K&N Pro Series East will get right back at it. The series will be part of the UNOH Battle At The Beach Tuesday on the backstretch at Daytona International Speedway, along with the non-points special event for the NASCAR Whelen Modified and NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tours.

The New Smyrna 150 presented by JEGS will air on FOX Sports 1 on Saturday at 9 a.m. ET.

MORE:

READ: Austin Dillon wins
Daytona 500 pole

READ: How to qualify
for the Daytona 500

WATCH: Massive wreck
in Sprint Unlimited

READ: Daytona Duel 150-mile
qualifying race lineups

Posted on February 16, 2014 by

Rookie shows poise of a veteran after push for the Coors Light Pole

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Atop the Fan Deck in the Daytona International Speedway infield, spectators pointed their cell phone cameras toward the exit of Turn 4. On the roof of a transporter, a television photographer tightened the focus of his lens squarely on Richard Childress. Down in the garage area, people shielded their eyes from the bright sun as they looked skyward, directing their gazes toward the track’s scoring tower, waiting for a certain red number to flash at the top.

On Austin Dillon‘s second qualifying lap, it happened. And when the No. 3 car moved into the provisional pole for the Daytona 500, an almost awestruck "oooohhhhhh" echoed through NASCAR’s most famous race track. The No. 3 wasn’t just back at the sport’s top level — it was in position to lead the field to the green flag in the sport’s biggest race.

Really, it shouldn’t have been a surprise — Dillon was fastest in a January test at Daytona that was shortened by rain to a single day, and cars owned by or affiliated with his Richard Childress Racing team dominated both qualifying practices on Saturday. The big stunner would have been if Dillon hadn’t contended for the pole, given the consistent speed he had shown on the 2.5-mile layout over more than a month. But that certainly didn’t lessen the impact of the No. 3 returning with such a flourish, for its first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event since Dale Earnhardt’s fatal crash here 13 years ago.

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"It was kind of emotional," Childress, Dillon’s grandfather, said after the pole was clinched, just as Richard Petty walked over to shake his hand. "It was really special to be able to come back and put the 3 up there on the pole. Now we’ve got a bigger job ahead of us."

Indeed, anything can happen in the Daytona 500, and a fast car doesn’t always guarantee success in the Great American Race. But all that is still a week away. Sunday’s front-row qualifying session was the culmination of all the groundwork laid to make the return of the No. 3 a success, something evident in the nervousness Dillon’s crewmen showed while waiting out the final few qualifiers — crew chief Gil Martin bore a visible wince, and there were audible sighs of relief after Martin Truex Jr. slid into second — and the whoops and hugs they exchanged after the first spot had finally been secured.

The coolest cat in the room was the 23-year-old Dillon, who during the entire ordeal seemed about as edgy as a Frisbee. Worn out by a few days of hustling back and forth between the big track and the Volusia Speedway Park dirt track, and having the benefit of a late draw in front-row qualifying, he slept in until past noon on Sunday, and then dozed through most of the Russell Crowe film "Broken City." He ate a wrap, walked out to the garage, chatted with Martin, put on his suit and jumped in his car. No sweat.

"We were pretty confident when we came down here for the test, and it was that fast right off the trailer," Dillon said. "We weren’t sandbagging much, we were just kind of giving everything we got from the beginning, and the car held on. … I guess the wind helped us a little bit, and everything has to go right. Your team works so hard to put everything together, and that last, final tune-up going into qualifying is so important. For me, it’s just not messing up — making sure I hit the shifts at the right RPM, and then holding a line."

There’s no rattling this kid, who last fall at Talladega when filling in for the injured Tony Stewart was third at the white flag before being caught up in a crash. Dillon has grown up around RCR, to the point where he used equipment in the race shop to put together science projects in high school. He’s grown up with the No. 3, having used it as his jersey number when playing in the Little League World Series, well before his championship runs in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and NASCAR Nationwide Series. And he’s grown up around the Earnhardt legacy, even appearing alongside the "Intimidator" in Victory Lane.

No wonder then, when it came time for his money lap, he jumped up the board from 20th to first. No wonder when the cameras and microphones arrived, he handled all the questions with aplomb.

"He’s grown up in this. He’s grown up aground (the media) and seen Dale get swarmed and questioned," said Mike Dillon, dad to Austin and Ty Dillon, and RCR’s general manager. "It’s amazing to me — the biggest thing is, they really did pay attention growing up. I didn’t think they were. They’re your kids, you’re always busting their butts for something. I didn’t think they were paying attention, and they really were paying attention. I think he knew what was coming when he did this deal, and he wants it. He wanted to bring that number back. It’s been a number he wanted to run. He knows he’s got to perform, everybody expects that. But he expects that, too."

Richie Gilmore has also noticed it. The chief operating officer for Earnhardt Childress Engines — which supplies the power plants to RCR and its affiliated teams — was one of Earnhardt’s right-hand men during the heyday of Dale Earnhardt Inc., when no team was better on restrictor-plate tracks like Daytona. And he sees a little of the old driver of the No. 3 car in the new one.

"That’s probably the most amazing part, from being around him from the Truck championship to the Nationwide championship, just how cool he is," Gilmore said of Dillon. "Just sitting there every lap running for the championship last year in Nationwide, he gives you that same feeling that when I was around Dale. He was that calm guy. He always had the answer and the solution that would be all right. I told him after the Nationwide championship that he gives you that same feeling like an Earnhardt or a Jimmie Johnson. He just doesn’t get rattled."

Having a stout car certainly helped. Vehicles built by RCR swept the front row — the Furniture Row Racing team of Martin Truex Jr. is a Childress affiliate — and took four of the top 10 positions. Ryan Newman was fifth, Paul Menard was 10th and Brian Scott was 12th. Plate racing has been a priority at RCR since Earnhardt’s days, and that legacy lives on. The week after Thanksgiving, the team was testing at a General Motors proving ground in Arizona, with the work aimed squarely toward the Daytona 500.

How appropriate, then, that Sunday’s RCR assault on front-row qualifying was led by the No. 3 car. "I’m sure it’s emotional for all the fans, and fans of the number, but it’s got to be great for Austin," said Dale Earnhardt Jr., who has long since signed off on Dillon using his father’s former number. "… He’s going to have an awesome week, and he’s going to do a great job representing the heritage of that number and what that number means. So I feel real comfortable about it."

After the qualifying session had ended, when Dillon finally found his grandfather in the garage area, the two embraced in a vigorous hug. Childress was clearly moved by the moment, but kept his emotions in check — for now. "The emotion will fly if the 3 rolls it in there (next) Sunday," he said. "I won’t hold it back then, I promise."

As for Dillon? Sunday, as his qualifying lap approached, he was the one urging his grandfather to not be nervous. For all the emotion surrounding the No. 3, for all the attention it has and will receive this Speedweeks, the driver at the center of it all somehow seems able to just enjoy the ride.

"You want to perform with the No. 3, and everybody wants to see it perform, and that’s why my grandfather is always concerned. You want to go out there and run well," Dillon said. "It’s a long season. There’s a lot of ups and downs, and this is one of the top points, obviously starting off like this, so you want to carry that momentum going forward. But for me, I just have to stay grounded and have fun."

MORE:

READ: Austin Dillon wins
Daytona 500 pole

READ: How to qualify
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WATCH: Massive wreck
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READ: Daytona Duel 150-mile
qualifying race lineups

Posted on February 16, 2014 by

Truex Jr. will lead the second Daytona Duel, start second in Daytona 500

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Martin Truex Jr. was only half-joking when he said he was right where he wanted to be: leading the field to green in the second of Thursday night’s Budweiser Duel at Daytona 150-mile qualifying races.

That means, of course, that Truex was second-fastest in Sunday’s Daytona 500 time trials at 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway, second to Austin Dillon’s No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.

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Dillon won the pole for NASCAR’s most prestigious NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race, and he’ll start from the front in Thursday’s first Duel race. In this case, Truex is content to play second fiddle.

The Furniture Row Racing team that fields Truex’s cars gets its engines and chassis from RCR. So, forget the notion of Truex trying to upstage the monumental story of the No. 3’s triumphant return to Sprint Cup racing after a 13-year absence. After all, Truex wants to make sure he continues to get top-quality engines from RCR.

"Definitely glad I didn’t knock the 3 off the pole," Truex said with a smile. "That’s all I’m going to say. We’ll wait until July to get ours."

With strong qualifying efforts that represented substantial improvement over January’s Preseason Thunder testing, the Roush Fenway Racing Fords of Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards will start on the outside of the front rows of the first and second Duel races, respectively.

"We came down here (in testing) and just weren’t as fast as we wanted to be and went home, did our homework and worked really, really hard,” said Biffle, who qualified third.

Ryan Newman and Dale Earnhardt Jr. will start behind Dillon and Biffle in the first Duel event; Brad Keselowski and Jeff Gordon will line up on the second row for the second race.

Earnhardt was the first driver to make a qualifying run Sunday, and his lap speed of 195.211 mph stood up until Biffle, the 32nd driver to make a run, knocked him off the provisional pole.

"I scuffed the side skirt just a little bit on the apron in Turn 2, trying to run tight on the line there, and that’s never good when you’re dragging anything,” Earnhardt said. "So that cost us a little bit of time.”

With Dillon and Truex locked into the front row for the Daytona 500, the Duel races will determine positions 3-32 on the starting grid for the Great American Race. Starting spots 33-36 fall to the fastest four cars from time trials not otherwise qualified and the last seven positions go to provisional starters, based on 2013 owner points.

The seventh provisional spot, however, is reserved for the most recent past series champion, if needed.

All told, 49 drivers are competing for 43 positions on the grid. Morgan Shepherd, who at 72 is attempting to become the oldest driver to start the 500, must race his way into the field in Duel race No. 2.

Danica Patrick qualified 25th fastest but will start Duel race No. 1 from the rear of the field because of an unapproved engine change after Saturday’s practice. Tony Stewart (who qualified 35th) and Bobby Labonte (44th) also changed engines and will drop to the rear for the start of Duel races No. 1 and 2, respectively.

Those three drivers also must start from the rear in the Daytona 500, assuming they make the field.

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READ: How to qualify
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Posted on February 16, 2014 by

Dillon secures pole position in 500, Truex Jr. behind him in second

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — It’s back — and in a big way.

With Austin Dillon behind the wheel, the No. 3 Chevrolet made a triumphant return to NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racing during Sunday’s time trials for the 56th Daytona 500.

Shrugging off the pressure of driving a car he knew could be a Coors Light Pole winner, Dillon toured 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway in 45.914 seconds (196.019 mph), locking the No. 3 into the top starting spot in the number’s first appearance in the Cup series since Dale Earnhardt died after a last-lap crash in the 2001 Daytona 500.

The Coors Light Pole Award was Dillon’s first in 14 attempts and proved the ideal kickoff to his first full-time season in Sprint Cup racing.

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Dillon, 23, edged second-place qualifier Martin Truex Jr. (195.852 mph) for the top starting spot, but both drivers are locked into the front row for the Great American Race and will lead their respective fields to green in Thursday night’s Budweiser Duel at Daytona 150-lap qualifying races.

Both Dillon’s No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet and Truex’s No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Chevy featured Earnhardt Childress Racing power under the hood. The front-row sweep was the perfect present for chief engine builder Danny Lawrence, who celebrated a birthday Sunday.

"We got him a 1-2 start at Daytona, so this is pretty awesome," Dillon said after clinching the pole. "You just try and stay focused, because everyone wants to see this number perform well. That’s what my goals are — to stay focused.

"It’s hard to celebrate, because I know this is just qualifying, but it’s great for (the team). You never know the next time you’ll be standing in this position again. So it’s awesome; just want to thank our family back home at RCR. They’ve done such a good job — fab shop, engine shop, everybody, my guys.

"It’s all them. I hoped I didn’t mess it up. We knew we had a fast car, and we brought it back, so it’s good."

After Clint Bowyer completed his two-lap run as the 49th and final driver to make an attempt, team owner Richard Childress, Dillon’s grandfather, raised a clenched right fist in triumph. Both Childress and Dillon were in Victory Lane when Earnhardt won the Daytona 500 for the only time in 1998.

"We wanted to put on a good show with the 3, and I couldn’t be prouder of everybody," Childress said. "(The pressure) is always on when you’ve got grandsons racing."

Roush Fenway Racing teammates Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards qualified third and fourth, respectively, and will start on the outside of the front row in their respective Duels, which will determine the starting order of positions 3 through 32 in the Daytona 500.

Ryan Newman and Brad Keselowski were fifth and sixth fastest during the time trials.

For the first three quarters of the session, Dale Earnhardt Jr. had the upper hand.

The first driver to make a qualifying attempt, Earnhardt ran 195.211 mph on his money lap — and waited. One by one, his rivals fired and fell back, until Biffle, the 32nd driver to post a time, cracked the 46-second mark and knocked Earnhardt off the provisional pole.

Earnhardt Jr., the 2004 Daytona 500 winner, wound up seventh.

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Posted on February 16, 2014 by Holly Cain

Danica Patrick, Tony Stewart plan for push to the front

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — For a brief period just after Danica Patrick‘s early Daytona 500 qualifying run Sunday, she held a front row starting position. By the time the remainder of the 49 cars had completed their two-lap runs on the famous Daytona International Speedway high banks, she was 25th on the scoring pylon.

But even if she or Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Tony Stewart — who was 35th fastest — had won the Coors Light Pole position, per NASCAR rules they would still start the Feb. 23 race from the rear of the field because they had to replace blown engines in their Chevrolets on Saturday.

For last year’s pole-winner Patrick, it is a discouraging reality and difficult way to spend the next few days preparing for her third Daytona 500.

Her team owner Stewart, who will make his 16th Daytona 500 start, was more philosophical, taking the attitude that being relegated to the rear of the field is merely an extra obstacle to overcome — a more dramatic way to perhaps score his first victory in NASCAR’s biggest race.

"There’s no silver lining in starting at the back of the 500," Stewart said when asked if there was any solace in at least having his teammate alongside to navigate through the field. "It’s not where you want to be, it’s not where our cars should be for sure. We’ve got better cars than that. (Saturday) was just an unfortunate deal. But I stand behind the Hendrick engine department one thousand percent. We’ve got the best engine department in the garage area and (Saturday) didn’t change that."

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Did Stewart appeal to NASCAR about the ruling, which essentially negates his or Patrick’s performance in Thursday’s Budweiser Duel qualifying races?

"Does it matter? Would it change anything?" Stewart said calmly. "Listen, if you can’t get to the front in 500 miles you’re not going to get there anyway so it doesn’t matter where you start."

Patrick agreed and was optimistic for race day, despite being unhappy with the circumstances.

"It’s defeating, it’s very unfortunate," Patrick said candidly, looking and sounding more resolved than her words would indicate. "It sucks to know that no matter what you do it doesn’t matter at all. I’m going to start from the back of the (Duel) and I’m going to start from the back of the 500, which I don’t understand.

"It’s a bummer, but what NASCAR says goes and I’m sure there will be times it is in my favor and other times, like this one, it’s not going to be. But it’s a speedway and if there’s ever a place to make it up, it’s on the speedway."

Patrick’s veteran crew chief Tony Gibson also tried to remain upbeat even if he conceded it makes for an uphill battle. He said he didn’t have the heart to tell Patrick that she had to start at the back, leaving that to SHR Vice President of Competition Greg Zipadelli.

"I’m still a little baffled on it and how that works," Gibson said. "But we’ll take our licking and go on. It is what it is and whatever their decision is we’ve got to roll with it. We’ll work hard and make our car good for the 500."

NASCAR Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton explained the rule Sunday that puts Patrick, Stewart and Bobby Labonte — whose car also needed a new engine — to the rear of the starting grid for both the Duel and the 500-miler. The NASCAR rulebook allows for one engine change during Daytona Speedweeks, and that is between the Duel races and the Daytona 500. Anything else is an unapproved engine change, and the penalty for an unapproved engine change is to start at the rear of the race.

"We haven’t run into this very often," Pemberton said. "But it’s not new. This has come up. Years ago it might have been a different way but when we look at this, it is an extension of pole day and qualifying day, it’s really all qualifying.

"It’s as simple as that. The Duels are not (viewed) as a race, only an extension of qualifying."

The ruling raises questions of strategy, how Stewart and Patrick will approach their 150-mile qualifying races, whose finishing order sets the starting lineup for the Daytona 500. For these two SHR competitors, a win Thursday would be a confidence-builder and time of celebration, but it wouldn’t help their position on the starting grid Sunday.

Will they race hard for the win and chance wrecking their car and having to go to a backup? Or will they play it safe and hang back?

"There’s not a lot to gain for us," Gibson said. "Your sponsors expect you to be there and the fans want you to run. But we don’t want to wreck what is our best car either. Just kind of disheartening to know … whatever happens Thursday, we’re starting in the back. But that’s the nature of this beast and we’ll go on and make our sponsors and fans proud and try to win the Daytona 500."

It certainly makes Patrick’s Saturday night debut in The Sprint Unlimited more valuable, even if her night ended in a crash midway through the non-points race. Gibson was particularly pleased with what he saw.

"She was doing an awesome job," Gibson said. "She ran up front, got shuffled to the back, got back up front, ran in the middle, was racing two-wide and four-wide. That’s the kind of stuff she needed to be in to learn for this Sunday.

"So if you were to pull in early (in the Duel race), you don’t get that experience, you don’t know what your car is going to do. If you stay out, you take the chance of wrecking. We want the time on the race track to take that knowledge into Sunday."

Stewart, who is returning to competition in the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops Chevy after being sidelined the past seven months with a broken leg, sounded confident in his Daytona 500 chances — despite still healing physically and now having the starting position setback.

"I guess I don’t have any feelings about (the grid penalty) because I feel like I’ve got a car that can go up and win the 500 anyway no matter where we start," Stewart said, offering a smile. "To me, whatever it is, it is. I guess I’m more worried about getting my car ready for Sunday and really don’t care where I start.

"They could start me a lap down and I don’t care. We could get back on the lead lap and win the race. I’m not going to spend my time worrying about why it is.

"I always like my chances here. You can’t look at record books and say we have a great shot at it because we’ve never done it before. But you can’t win 19 races here and not win the big one at some point in the deal. I don’t have any reservations about where we start. It’s no drama to me, just focusing on what we have to do to go fast."

MORE:

READ: Austin Dillon wins
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READ: How to qualify
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WATCH: Massive wreck
in Sprint Unlimited

READ: Daytona Duel 150-mile
qualifying race lineups

Posted on February 16, 2014 by Zack Albert

Bristles at charge that comments were sexist

DAYTONA
BEACH, Fla. — They stood about 20 paces apart, thanks to a pre-race
arrangement that placed the 18 cars in numerical order on the grid
before a fan vote determined the starting lineup.

It meant that Richard Petty, owner of car No. 9 driven by Marcos Ambrose, stood in tantalizingly close proximity to the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 10 of Danica Patrick on Daytona International Speedway‘s pit road.

There was no mending of the fences,
but no pointed exchanges, either — an anticlimax before Saturday
night’s Sprint Unlimited for the two figures in the NASCAR garage who
had been so intertwined in the news over the last several days. Both
smiled for pictures with fans before the engines fired, but neither one
acknowledged the other despite the logistical circumstance.

Petty, NASCAR’s all-time wins leader and an inaugural Hall of Fame
inductee, drew scrutiny last weekend at an auto show in Toronto for his
frank assessment of Patrick’s chances of winning a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
race, saying it could happen "if everybody else stayed home." Saturday
at the track, Petty remained entrenched with his opinion and bristled at
the notion his remarks were sexist.

"What’s unfair is the
sexist part," Petty told reporters. "If her name had been Danny, OK,
nobody would have said anything about it. So y’all are bringing up the
sexist part of it, not me."

He added, "It was definitely not
sexist, OK? Hey look, I’ve been married 55 years to the same woman. So I
am not a sexist by any ways. I love women."

Patrick —
entering her second full season in the sport’s top series — took the
high road during Thursday’s NASCAR Media Day, allowing the comments from
stock-car racing’s King to roll off her back.

"You know,
people have said things in the past and they will say things in the
future," Patrick said Thursday. "I still say the same thing and that’s
that everybody is entitled to their own opinion. People are going to
judge what he said and I’m just not going to."

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Posted on February 16, 2014 by Nascar

Busch uses skillful moves to save himself from wrecking

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – It was, for the most part, a typical Kyle Busch performance. The only things missing were the celebratory bow, the trip to victory lane and the trophy.

Busch didn’t win. But not for a lack of trying.

In what has become somewhat commonplace, Busch ran strong, made another stunning save when his car broke loose near the front of the pack, and then rallied for a third-place finish in Saturday night’s Sprint Unlimited at Daytona International Speedway.

“I really don’t know how it all started,” Busch said of his save, which came during the third and final segment of the 75-lap non-points event. “I was up top following (Joey) Logano, or he was coming up in front of me. I kind of tried to go back low and get a run off the bottom of the track to pass him and I got clipped and instantly spun out.”

Once his car broke sideways, it was a “lot of brake, lot of gas, downshifting, everything in between,” he said.

"It always takes about two times to get it kind of squared back up. Once I got going on the apron, I didn’t even know where straight was on the steering wheel. I was floating my hands, kind of letting the thing find center by itself. Sometimes you’ve got to let the car do its own job, too."

Accidents had already trimmed the 18-car field considerably — half the starters were wiped out in a Lap 36 incident on the frontstretch that halted the race for nearly 11-and-a-half minutes. Getting to the front didn’t require passing a lot of cars.

That his car had been damaged in the spin-and-save, however, increased the difficulty, if not the possibility, of Busch doing so. Subsequent pit stops allowed his Joe Gibbs Racing crew to make repairs. Surgery might have been necessary, but Band-Aids were the only items available.

“The nose is pushed way up,” Busch said of the damage. “I was walking by it when it was on its way to the (height) sticks; the nose was up about an inch and a half. The rear tailpiece was half drug, which actually may be an advantage to get rid of that piece; (it) slows it down.

“Other than that, just the nose being up, man, kills it so bad. It just slows it down so much. We pulled some packer on one of those pit stops we came in late, tried to get it back down some. I don’t know whether it helped or not. I never felt the splitter touch again."

He was eighth on the restart after his incident, then a bit higher up in the running order after two more drivers, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Marcos Ambrose, decided to call it a night.

The final restart began with five laps remaining — Busch sixth and teammate Denny Hamlin just ahead. Hamlin, strong all night, made it all the way to the front with two laps remaining. Busch got to third but no further.

“With only six or seven cars … there at the end, you can dive bomb each other, you can switch around and all that all you want,” Busch said, “just because there’s not a big pack of cars where you’re going to get swallowed up and back to 30^th if you do something wrong.

“It was interesting there at the end … I don’t know that we’ve ever had so few cars at the end.”

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Daytona Duel No. 1

Pos	Car	Driver	Team
1	3	Austin Dillon #	DOW Chevrolet
2	16	Greg Biffle	3M Ford
3	31	Ryan Newman	Caterpillar Chevrolet
4	88	Dale Earnhardt. Jr.	National Guard Chevrolet
5	17	Ricky Stenhouse. Jr.	Nationwide Insurance Ford
6	9	Marcos Ambrose	Stanley Ford
7	43	Aric Almirola	Smithfield Ford
8	22	Joey Logano	Shell Pennzoil Ford
9	20	Matt Kenseth	Dollar General Toyota
10	5	Kasey Kahne	Farmers Insurance Chevrolet
11	18	Kyle Busch	M&M’s Toyota
12	4	Kevin Harvick	Budweiser Chevrolet
13	10	Danica Patrick	GoDaddy Chevrolet
14	47	AJ Allmendinger	Kroger/USO Chevrolet
15	36	Reed Sorenson	Golden Corral Chevrolet
16	38	David Gilliland	Love’s Travel Stops Ford
17	30	Parker Kligerman #	Swan Energy Toyota
18	14	Tony Stewart	Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet
19	55	Brian Vickers	Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota
20	26	Cole Whitt #	Speed Stick Gear Toyota
21	95	Michael McDowell	K-Love Ford
22	98	Josh Wise	Curb Records Ford
23	87	Joe Nemechek(i)	300 Rise of an Empire Toyota
24	23	Alex Bowman #	Dr.Pepper Toyota
25	77	Dave Blaney	Plinker Arms Ford

Daytona Duel No. 2

Pos	Car	Driver	Team
1	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Furniture Row Chevrolet
2	99	Carl Edwards	Fastenal Ford
3	2	Brad Keselowski	Miller Lite Ford
4	24	Jeff Gordon	Drive to End Hunger Chevrolet
5	27	Paul Menard	Peak/Menards Chevrolet
6	33	Brian Scott(i)	Whitetail Chevrolet
7	48	Jimmie Johnson	Lowe’s Chevrolet
8	13	Casey Mears	GEICO Chevrolet
9	7	Michael Annett #	Pilot/Flying J Travel Centers Chevrolet
10	15	Clint Bowyer	5-hour Energy Toyota
11	11	Denny Hamlin	FedEx Express
12	42	Kyle Larson #	Target Chevrolet
13	21	Trevor Bayne(i)	Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford
14	41	Kurt Busch	Haas Automation Chevrolet
15	51	Justin Allgaier #	Brandt Professional Agriculture Chevrolet
16	40	Landon Cassill(i)	Hillman Racing Chevrolet
17	66	Michael Waltrip	BlueDEF/AAA Toyota
18	35	Eric McClure(i)	Hefty Ultimate/Reynolds Wrap Ford
19	1	Jamie McMurray	McDonald’s Chevrolet
20	34	David Ragan	CSX – Play It Safe Ford
21	32	Terry Labonte	C&J Energy Services Ford
22	52	Bobby Labonte	Phoenix Construction Chevrolet
23	83	Ryan Truex #	Borla Exhaust Toyota
24	93	Morgan Shepherd(i)	SupportMilitary.org Toyota

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