A sellout crowd will be in Florida on Sunday to watch 40 drivers compete for the crown of NASCAR’s Cup Series, the Daytona 500.
A warm, partly cloudy day is expected at Daytona Beach as fans in the stands get to watch intense racing, including slingshot passing and multicar wipeouts all at speeds in excess of 190 mph.
Here’s what you need to know ahead of this year’s edition of “The Great American Race,” which begins at 2:30 p.m. ET. ET on Fox.
Will another first time winner create history?
The nature of racing along the elevated sides of Daytona International Speedway, with the field often bunched up in a pack and making their way to the front, practically every car has an opportunity to win the 200-lap event – the prestigious, titled -Winning Teams for budding organizations trying to make their way into the game.
And in the past two years, the winners of the Daytona 500 were drivers who had never visited Victory Lane.
Michael McDowell, who spent much of his career driving for less-funded teams, was in the right place at the right time in 2021, surviving a last-lap crash to take his first win.
Last year, Austin Cindric, who was starting his first full season in NASCAR’s top division, successfully held off a bunch of opponents on the final lap to hang on for the win.
While many in this year’s field are looking to score their first Daytona win – or even their first career win – some competitors are completely new to NASCAR. X-Games star and stunt driver Travis Pastrana will make his Daytona 500 debut, and IndyCar driver Connor Daly will drive a Chevrolet owned by boxing champion Floyd Mayweather Jr.
New name in new ride
The biggest story of the season was the departure of Kyle Busch from the Toyota team owned by legendary NFL coach Joe Gibbs, with whom Busch had won two Cup Series championships. Busch, whose outspoken personality has polarized much of the fan base over the years, will line up in the No. 8 Chevrolet.
Busch takes the seat vacated by California native Tyler Reddick, who will now pilot the No. 45 Toyota co-owned by competitor Denny Hamlin and NBA icon Michael Jordan.
Reddick will team up with Bubba Wallace, a two-time runner-up in the 500, including last year.
Busch was replaced at Joe Gibbs Racing by newcomer Ty Gibbs, Joe’s grandson. Last November, Ty won the championship of the Xfinity Series, NASCAR’s second division, but any celebrations were tempered because the family was killed by Coy Gibbs — Ty’s father and Joe’s son — who died hours after the season finale. Had to bear the sad loss of Gone. Will start the Ty 500 in the No. 54 Toyota.
Sunday also sees the return of one of NASCAR’s most successful drivers, Jimmie Johnson, who will race a partial schedule this season after stepping down in 2020.
Last year’s front row does it again
Hendrick Motorsports teammates Kyle Larson and Alex Bowman were the fastest qualifiers in last year’s edition, with Larson turning the fastest lap to claim the pole.
And a new season brings more of the same — on Wednesday, it was Bowman who qualified with an average lap speed of 181.686 mph, good enough for his third career 500 pole, second most among Larson competitors. Turned into a good lap.
However, starting at the front does not guarantee a top finish, as no pole-winning driver has taken the checkered flag in first place since 2000. Larson and Bowman were both involved in accidents the previous year and finished near the back.
Qualifying heat races were held on Thursday night to determine the rest of the grid’s starting order. Defending Cup champion Joey Logano and native Floridian Aric Almirola won their respective races and will start on the second row.
A chapter closes
Sunday’s race will mark 25 years since one of the most famous victories in auto racing history, when seven-time champion Dale Earnhardt claimed his first and only Daytona 500 in 1998 – his 20th career attempt.
Three years later, Earnhardt died in a last-lap crash at the 2001 Daytona 500.
As the sport mourned the loss of one of its greatest drivers, Earnhardt’s team changed its famous black No. 3 Chevrolet to a white No. 29 and added Kevin Harvick as its new driver, who became NASCAR’s first driver. There was an up-and-comer in the lower divisions. ,
Harvick, who had never raced in the Cup series before, would earn an emotional victory three weeks later in Atlanta in a photo finish. And a miniature ‘3’ in tribute to Earnhardt would remain on the car’s paint scheme for years.
Now a former Daytona 500 winner and series champion, Harvick will retire at the end of 2023, leaving only one active driver on the circuit who has raced since the 2001 season – fellow former champion and 500 winner Kurt Busch, who has competed since July. after suffering injuries in a qualifying crash at Pocono Raceway in Pennsylvania.
Harvick starts 13th on Sunday in the No. 4 Ford, a ride co-owned by Formula One team boss Gene Haas and Cup champion Tony Stewart. The familiar No. 3 Chevrolet could be seen driven by Austin Dillon, the grandson of Richard Childress – Earnhardt’s car owner.