For the 67th time in the storied history of auto racing, NASCAR travels to Daytona Beach, FL for what is labeled as The Great American Race. Countless things have changed in the sport since the debut of the race in 1959, but the unpredictability and thrill of the event has remained the same, or if anything – ramped up.
A handful of veteran drivers and former champions go into this years event without a Daytona 500 victory on their resume. Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson, and Chase Elliott are just some of those names. So who gets the job done this year?
Well, it’s not typically a huge advantage, but Chase Briscoe was able to grab the prestigious pole award in qualifying on Wednesday night, marking the first Daytona 500 pole ever for Toyota in just his first race with the program. The driver of the No. 19 starts alongside 2022 Daytona 500 winner Austin Cindric, who also was able to prevail in his duel race on Thursday night (which is a rare, rare sight).
Cindric will certainly be a strong car to watch on Sunday, but don’t look over the drivers starting third and fourth either. Bubba Wallace will roll off third after his duel victory on Thursday night, with former Daytona winner Erik Jones starting in the fourth position after he came just inches from beating out Cindric for the final duel victory.
Who else can we expect to contend for a victory late after 500 miles? Denny Hamlin always has to be in consideration, as a three-time winner of this event. Ross Chastain went through the final lap heartbreak just a season ago, spinning across the grass after attempting a move for the lead coming to the white flag. Joey Logano starts 10th as the defending champion, as well as a former winner of this event.
Does one of the ‘open’ cars that qualified their way into the race prevail? Martin Truex Jr looks to do so with TRICON Garage with their speedy No. 56 Toyota. Jimmie Johnson also qualified into the show on speed, with his former Chevrolet teammate Justin Allgaier racing Dale Earnhardt Jr’s No. 40 into the event in the duels. Helio Castroneves was able to fall back on his provisional to guarantee his spot into the field as well.
And let’s not forget about drivers going for their first career wins such as Ty Dillon, Corey LaJoie, Todd Gilliland, John Hunter Nemechek, and many others.
The fun is just beginning here in Daytona, with Pitbull still set to perform a pre-race concert, in addition to an appearance by the President of the United States, Donald Trump.
The Daytona 500 begins Sunday at 2:30PM ET, live on FOX.
*UPDATE*
NASCAR has elected to move the start time of the Daytona 500 to 1:30PM ET due to the threat of rain, with a green flag of 2:00PM ET. All coverage remains on FOX.
