Race Facts: 

The inaugural race of the Sprint Cup series finally get underway this weekend as the series visits the Daytona International Speedway for the 1st race of the 2008 season, the 50th annual Daytona 500. This will be the 1st race of the Sprint Cup season and the 1st race of the 2008 season that will be held at Daytona, the second being the Coke Zero 400. In the Daytona 500 last year, the race was won by Kevin Harvick in a controversial ending over Mark Martin. On the last lap, Kyle Busch touched off the " Big One " catching many of the race leaders up in a mass carnage of race cars and before the caution flag could drop, Harvick inched ahead of Martin and was declared the winner. The Daytona 500 this year could bring us the same type of excitement on Sunday afternoon as the series will be using the COT cars for the first time at this track. At two and half miles long, Daytona is one of the longest tracks on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Circuit. It is also one of the biggest when it comes to action. Speeds can be expected to reach the 190-195 mile per hour range throughout the course. Teams that qualify in the Top 15 here have a pretty good shot at winning this race as historically 92% of the race winners have started with in the Top 15; in the 121 races held at Daytona, 111 of them have been won by a driver who qualified in the Top 15. Jimmie Johnson has won the pole for this race on Sunday, while Michael Waltrip, has the outside pole. The Gatorade Duels were run on Thursday and determined the rest of the field ( Daytona 500 Starting Lineup ). Ten drivers failed to qualify for the race including Daytona 500 icons, Bill Elliott, Ken Schrader and Sterling Marlin. This race will go for 200 laps around the track and that is 500 miles. The race purse for this weekend's event is huge at over $18,689,238, which is the highest of all the races that are held on the circuit. Grandstand seating at the Daytona International Speedway is just over 168,000.

   The Ones to watch: 

Jeff Gordon - A solid plate track guy with many past wins here; Hendrick cars are tough here

Tony Stewart - Solid favorite, won the 2 of the last 3 summers races, Toyota could win here

Denny Hamlin - Won his Gatorade duel on Thursday, giving Toyota a win finally

Matt Kenseth - Can the Roush cars compete? If there is one it will probably be Kenseth

Michael Waltrip - Won the outside pole and has put the 2007 bad start behind him

Jimmie Johnson - Has become one of the best on plate tracks, has won the 500 in the past

Dale Earnhardt Jr. - Has made a big splash already, winning the Shootout and the Duel

Kyle Busch - Looked pretty sharp in the Bud Shootout but hasn't the best history at this track

Reed Sorenson - Has looked really sharp so far this year; pushing Dale Jr for win in the Duels

Kevin Harvick - Won the Daytona 500 last year and is usually tough on plate tracks

Track Characteristics:

Superspeedway
2.5-mile trioval
40 feet wide with 12- to 30-foot apron
Turns
Banking: 31 degrees - Length: 3,000 feet , Radius: 1,000 feet
Trioval
Banking: 18 degrees (at start/finish line)
Frontstretch
Chute length: 1,900 feet (from turn to middle of trioval)
Total length: 3,800 feet
Banking: Minimal for drainage only
Backstretch
Length: 3,000 feet
Banking: Minimal for drainage only
Pit Road
Length: 1,600 feet
Width: 50 feet
Pit Road Speed: 55mph

Daytona International Speedway WEBSITE

Just For Thought

Does qualifying really matter at Daytona ?

You wouldn't think that qualifying in the Top 15 would make any difference at a track like Daytona, but statistics for the last 30 races there will make you think differently. A Top 15 qualifying effort seems to be the place to start if your going to win at Daytona. In looking back at the last 30 races at Daytona, there has never been a provisional winner.  The race has been won just once from further back then 30th and only seven (7) races has the winner qualified outside the Top 10. The strange thing is two of those races took place last year when McMurray won from the 15th spot and Harvick pulled off a win after starting 34th. In 15 of the 30 races we are looking at, they were won from within the Top 5 or 50%. Four (4) of those were from the pole and seven (7) from the front row. About 83% of the winners have started in the Top 10. So it seems that a good  qualifying run is necessary to win at this track and a Top 15 effort seems critical. In the history of this track, nearly 92% of the winners have started some where in the Top 15. The average starting position of the race winner in the last ten (10) races is 10.00 despite the fact that Kevin Harvick won the Daytona 500 last year from the 34th starting spot while Jamie McMurray won the Pepsi 400 from the 15th spot. Taking the pole has had nearly all good times too as seven (7) times the pole winner has finished in the Top 15 but those numbers have been getting better as the pole winners average finishing position is 15.60 this year as compared to 20.80 last year. The space between the winners and the pole setters is narrowing. Jimmie Johnson has won the pole for the Daytona 500 this year and he has an outstanding record at Daytona recently. Normally at Daytona, if you qualify in the Top 15, know how to draft, race hard to the finish line and you might just have a good day at Daytona.

Is horsepower the key to victory?

The answer to this question this week is YES !  Of course, horsepower is important at every racetrack, it will be the one of the main key's to winning Saturday. The first key to winning Sunday is as we already know, is a good qualifying effort because that seems critical to a good finish at Daytona. The 2nd key is that you must have a car that is sound aerodynamically and have a great engine package.  The 3rd and perhaps the most important key is that the driver must have and know good drafting practices. He must have a 6th sense on who to follow and who to avoid in attempting to draft to the front. Of course a good handling car is important also and the use of the COT cars should not change that fact. Racing here seems to be two to three wide and after a few laps of racing, several cars will begin to break away from the pack in a single file. Cars behind the break away must draft back to the lead pack in order to gain distance and time. Lose the draft at any point or lose a lap and you may as well hang it up for the day. Pit strategy especially late in the race could come into play, such as variables like taking 2 tires or no tires to improve track position and even fuel mileage could figure into this race. This race will be won by the driver who has great engine package, knows how to draft, has qualified in the Top 15 and a pit crew that is consistently good on pit stops with no errors. Of course the biggest factor....avoid the "BIG ONE."

Will there be a familiar or unexpected face in Victory Lane?

There has been two repeat winners here in the past 10 races at Daytona: Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon have won two races apiece in the last 10 races. Stewart and Gordon both have to be rock solid favorites Sunday, while Michael Waltrip, Dale Earnhardt Jr and Jimmie Johnson also have to figure prominently in the mix. Other race winners here have included Jamie McMurray, Greg Biffle and Kevin Harvick. Chances of a first time winner this year at Daytona I believe will come down to Kyle Busch, Casey Mears, Denny Hamlin or Clint Bowyer. Throw Mark Martin, Martin Truex Jr and Matt Kenseth into that bunch as having outside shots. The winner will more then likely come from this group of drivers and I don't believe that we will see any surprise winners in this race. 

Below is the Top 10 averages of all active drivers that have raced in the last 10 races at Daytona

Pre-Race Show: FOX 2:00pm (Eastern) 

Television Coverage of Race: FOX - 3:00pm (Eastern) 

Speed's Pre-Race Show: John Roberts, Jimmy Spencer, Kenny Wallace 11:00am

Announcers:  Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip, Larry McReynolds

Pit Reporters: Dick Berggren, Steve Byrnes, Matt Yocum, Krista Voda

Other Reporters: Chris Myers and Jeff Hammond

Posted Awards - $18,689,238   First Place - $1,445,250

2007 Pole Winner:  David Gilliland, finished 8th

2007 Race Winner:  Kevin Harvick, started 34th

Race Length: 200 laps, 500 miles

SPRINT SERIES CUP RACE RECORDS

---

WANT HELP IN FINDING OUT MORE ABOUT NASCAR, TRY SEARCHING GOOGLE 

	Web THE Racing DAILY

---

  Tell your friends about The Racing Daily

E-Mail Notification

 

A MUST HAVE FOR FANTASY LEAGUE PLAYERS

 

 THE FAMOUS RACING SWAMI

 

subscribe for the 2008 season

 Get his Weekly Race Reports and His Weekly Picks for each Race  - 

Come out on Top of Your Fantasy League by Subscribing Today 

SUBSCRIBE TODAY TO THE 2008 SWAMI FANTASY RACE REPORTS