As the great U.S. Of A. celebrates her freedom, NASCAR commemorates the occasion by returning to the “birthplace of speed”- Daytona International Speedway. We’re light years away in seems from the July of 1959- when Fireball Roberts took the checkered flag for the Firecracker 400, but the spirit is still very much the same.
It’s fast, it’s wild, it’s intense and untamed- in so many ways resembling the spirit of America- the land of possibilities.
Track Facts
Daytona’s 2.5 miles makes it the second biggest track behind Talladega. It possesses wicked steep 31 degrees of banking in the turns, 6 degrees on the straights, 18 degrees on the tri-oval. The Front Stretch measures 3,800 ft., with a Back Stretch of 3,000 ft.
The grandstands will hold 168,000 people. In recalling his first visit- Richard Petty, 10-time winner at Daytona- said it was an awesome spectacle to behold. The racers of his early career has never seen anything like this behemoth tri-oval.
Top Performers
As previously mentioned, Richard Petty has won the most races in the two points races at the Cup level held annually with 10. If you just look at the “400″ (known as the Firecracker 400 until 1985), David Pearson registered the most with 5.
Among active drivers, Jeff Gordon has the most DIS wins with 6. Part-timer Bill Elliott (who won’t be here this time) has 4. Michael Waltrip has won 3 races at Daytona.
In the summer event- Jeff Gordon has won the “400″ 3 times, Elliott twice and points leader Tony Stewart has a pair of checkered flags.
The fastest race speed for the 400 miler was Bobby Allison back on July 4,
1980 at 173.473 miles per hour. In the “restrictor plate era”, Ernie Irvan ran a 170.457 miles per hour in the 1992 Pepsi 400.
Bill Elliott’s 210.364 qualifying speed from February 9, 1987 stands as the track record for pole speed. Since restrictor plates were added, Ken Schrader’s speed of 196.515 m.p.h. for the 1989 Daytona 500 is the record qualifying speed.
There were 60 lead changes in the Feb. 17, 1974 Daytona 500, only one in the February 2, 1963 Daytona 500.
12 cautions from the July, 1989 race is the record for the most at Daytona, there have been numerous occasions “back in the day” where there were none.
34 drivers finished on the lead lap in the summer of 2006, 41 racers finished the 2007 Pepsi 400.
As recent as the 1976 there has been occasion where only one driver finished on the lead lap. That day it was David Pearson. Only 7 drivers finished the 1965 Daytona 500 with Fred Lorenzen the winner.
Tuning In
Saturday’s race will air on TNT with pre-race starting at 6:30 p.m. Eastern, 3:30 Pacific. Green flag start is scheduled for 8:16 p.m. Eastern, 5:16 Pacific. Ralph Shaheen, Wally Dallenbach Jr. and Kyle Petty describe the action. Larry Mc Reynolds offers the technical insights.
The race will be covered on radio by MRN and Sirius.
Who’s Gonna Win?
Of course, you have to start with the guys who have won here. Kyle Busch took the checkered flag here last July and let’s face it, he’s just good on any kind of track. There’s no doubt he’s motivated after a string of ho-hum cup finishes.
Jeff Gordon hasn’t won at Daytona in a while, but he’s definitely on his game this year and coming off a good week at New Hampshire. Ditto that for Tony Stewart, who has also won 2 July races here. Believe it or not, Jimmie Johnson has only won once at Daytona (the 2006 “500″), but like Shrub, you’d be foolish to dismiss him.
If you want major dark horses- don’t forget Michael Waltrip and John Andretti have both won at the track. Remember Andretti’s win? He did that racing for Cale Yarborough in 1997 in a whisker over Texas Terry Labonte.
As I wrote yesterday, this could be a great race for Dale Earnhardt Jr. to get back on the map. He knows the draft and he’s happy with his progress under interim crew chief Lance Mc Grew.
Do you call guys like Mark Martin and Matt Kenseth dark horses? I really wouldn’t. At the same time, Kenseth’s win here in February has been dismissed by many due to the circumstances (rain-shortened race). Believe or not, as good as he is, Mark Martin has NEVER won at Daytona, though he sure came close in 2007 “500.”
Let’s not forget Kenseth’s teammates. David Ragan’s lone bright spot has been his top 10 here in February. Biffle won here in the 2003 “400.” Jamie Mc Murray took the July 7, 2007 event.
I haven’t forgotten Ryan Newman, who won the Daytona 500 in 2008, and when I do, I think of another driver who makes a very intriguing pick to win THIS race. It’s Newman’s former teammate Kurt Busch.
In his last 9 starts at Daytona, “Big Shrub” has 5 top 5s and 6 top 10s- he’s just never won it. Usually, when you think of the Blue Deuce, you think of the northeast tracks like New Hampshire and Pocono, OR Bristol. Kurt Busch has done quite well on the plate tracks with no glory to show for his good work.
Kevin Harvick’s been a past winner here and teammate Clint Bowyer has a solid finishing average of 11.1- tops among active drivers over the last 5 years.
You can see, there’s quite a selection to choose from in picking a winner. My heart is kind of with Kurt Busch. Wouldn’t it be cool to see him locks horns with Gordon again? They have good starting positions.
Plate racing is just crazy. Both of the previous races this year at plate tracks have taught us that. Winners have come as far back as 39th at Daytona (that was Matt Kenseth this year). Brad Keselowski had a relatively slow car, but he happen to be riding Carl Edwards’ coattails at Talladega at the right time.
At the end of the day- I’m really looking at five very strong possibilities: Stewart, the Busch Brothers, Gordon and yes, Dale Jr. Imagine a thrilling battle between the “88″ and the “18.”
While I feel a real pull towards Kurt Busch to win this race, I’m going to go with the points leader Tony Stewart. His team is on it’s game, he’ll have loads of good draft partners, a teammate to keep up with him if worse comes to worse and he’s got a penchant for winning heating up this time of year.
Now hopefully for Stewart fans, I won’t produce the same effect for Smoke that I do for rainy days by washing my car.
PHOTO CREDITS- Daytona Fireworks by sectionjake, Dale Jr. by junebug_008, Daytona racing by whinendine. To see more, click on the hyperlinks, or visit flickr.com.
