Sprint Cup 2013: Race 1: Daytona 500 -- Stock (looking) Cars Return

Handicapping the 2013 Daytona 500 is no easy task but so far based on the Twin 125’s and the Sprint Shoot Out, Kevin Harvick’s #29 Chevrolet is looking mighty tough having been dominant both in Saturday night’s race and his victory in the first 125. While they were two different cars, it certainly looks like both the Childress shop is doing good work setting up for the race, but just as importantly, Harvick is the one driver who has truly mastered the new Generation 6 car.

The second conclusion is Chevrolets look awfully strong; Fords don’t but Toyotas certainly have potential. The three top cars, Danica Patrick, Jeff Gordon, and Kevin Harvick, are in Chevrolets as are drivers in positions six through nine, Kasey Kahne, Juan Pablo Montoya, Austin Dillon, and Jimmie Johnson giving Chevy seven of the top ten spots.  Kyle Busch starts 4^th in the top Toyota and Greg Biffle 5^th in the top Ford, but Ford doesn’t make another appearance until defending champ, Brad Keselowski checks in at #15. Ford dominates the “twenties” with six drivers positing positions from 21^st through 28^th.

Looking at the starting line up, Danica Patrick and Jeff Gordon hold the front row based on their qualifying positions. The next thirty rides down to starting position #32 established their starting position racing in the Twin 125’s, odd numbered drivers racing in the first Twin race and even numbered starters coming from the second race. The next four drivers established their position based on qualifying time with Carl Edwards being the last driver whose performance put him in the race in a distant 36^th place. The last seven positions were established based on 2012 owners’ points with Martin Truex Jr., a Chase participant, being the first of the final grouping. No championship provisional was needed to put a driver in the race. Two cars did not qualify: Mike Bliss ad Brian Keselowski, failed to make the race.

Weather could be a factor with summer-like weather, hot and humid reaching 86 degrees on Saturday, cooler moist whether could impact racing on Sunday with temperatures in the 70’s but a chance of showers. The change in weather would certainly make car setup issues chancy given their last practice conditions would be quite different from anything they’ve seen so far but also different from what’s expected on Sunday. AccuWeather is currently indicated a chance of showers or possibly a thunderstorm but indicates no certainty at which time rain could hit. While certainly no one looks forward to rain being an issue for a second year in a row, NASCAR would get a chance to demonstrate its new moisture removal system. Massive air compressors will direct bursts of high pressure air upon the track where vacuums and get dryers will do the rest of the work. NASCAR boasts the new system could reduce drying time by 80%. With at least a ten percent chance of rain, they might get their chance to showcase the new gear.  

Starting Lineup:

Pos.	Car #	Driver	Mfg.	Sponsor	Speed
1	10	Danica Patrick #	Chevrolet	GoDaddy.com	196.434
2	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	Drive to End Hunger	196.292
3	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	Budweiser	194.742
4	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	M&M's	195.767
5	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	3M	194.729
6	5	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	Farmers Insurance	195.852
7	42	Juan Pablo Montoya	Chevrolet	Target	195.508
8	33	Austin Dillon*	Chevrolet	Honey Nut Cheerios	195.385
9	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	Lowe's	195.084
10	15	Clint Bowyer	Toyota	5-hour Energy	195.228
11	78	Kurt Busch	Chevrolet	Furniture Row	193.657
12	20	Matt Kenseth	Toyota	Dollar General	195.725
13	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1	195.925
14	55	Mark Martin	Toyota	Aaron's Dream Machine	194.683
15	2	Brad Keselowski	Ford	Miller Lite	194.961
16	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	Menards/Peak	195.503
17	13	Casey Mears	Ford	GEICO	195.495
18	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	Caterpillar	195.156
19	88	Dale Earnhardt, Jr.	Chevrolet	National Guard	195.584
20	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	McDonald's	195.042
21	22	Joey Logano	Ford	Shell Pennzoil	195.767
22	34	David Ragan	Ford	Detail Doctor	194.616
23	47	Bobby Labonte	Toyota	Kroger	192.563
24	9	Marcos Ambrose	Ford	Stanley	194.793
25	38	David Gilliland	Ford	Love's Travel Stops	194.654
26	43	Aric Almirola	Ford	Smithfield	194.742
27	87	Joe Nemechek*	Toyota	Maddie's Place Rocks	190.046
28	17	Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.#	Ford	Best Buy	195.537
29	26	Michael Waltrip	Toyota	Sandy Hook School Support Fund	194.313
30	7	Dave Blaney	Chevrolet	Florida Lottery	192.996
31	95	Scott Speed	Ford	Leavine Family Racing	193.54
32	35	Josh Wise	Ford	Blockbuster.com	194.254
33	21	Trevor Bayne*	Ford	Motorcraft/Quick Lane	195.976
34	39	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	Quicken Loans	195.946
35	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	FedEx Express	195.771
36	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	Fastenal	195.24
37	56	Martin Truex, Jr.	Toyota	NAPA Auto Parts	195.207
38	51	Regan Smith(i)	Chevrolet	Guy Roofing	193.096
39	93	Travis Kvapil	Toyota	Burger King/Dr.Pepper	190.142
40	83	David Reutimann	Toyota	Burger King/Dr.Pepper	190.339
41	32	Terry Labonte	Ford	C&J Energy Services	193.515
42	36	JJ Yeley	Chevrolet	Golden Corral	192.094
43	98	Michael McDowell	Ford	K-Love/Curb Records	193.544

#Rookie of the Year 2013 contender

*Not competing for 2013 Sprint Cup Championship

Manufacturer's representation: Chevrolet - 17 cars; Ford - cars; Toyota - 11 cars.

Past champions represented: (8)

Jimmie Johnson: 5 (2006-2010)

Jeff Gordon: 4 (1995, 1997, 1998, 2001)

Tony Stewart: 3 (2002, 2005, 2001)

Terry Labonte: 2 (1984, 1995)

Bobby Labonte: 1 (2000)

Matt Kenseth: 1 (2003)

Kurt Busch: 1 (2004)

Brad Keselowski: 1 (2012)

Previous Daytona 500 Winners 

Jeff Gordon: (3) (1997, 1999, 2005)

Matt Kenseth (2) (2009, 2012)

Michael Waltrip (2) (2001, 2003)

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (1) (2004)

Jimmie Johnson (1) (2006)

Kevin Harvick (1) (2007)

Ryan Newman (1) (2008)

Jamie McMurray (1) (2010)   

Trevor Bayne (1) (2011)

Wins by Manufacter

Chevrolet - 21 (GM -- 30 wins [Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Buick])

Ford - 13 (Ford Motor Company -- 16 wins [Mercury])

Toyota - 0

Dodge (no current entries) - 4 (Chrysler Corp. -- 8 wins, [Plymouth])