The Most Important Race for NASCAR's Top Stars in 2015

The 2015 NASCAR season is almost underway, and there is certainly a lot to look forward to.

In the brief offseason, a lot has changed: Dale Earnhardt Jr. has a new crew chief, Carl Edwards has a new team and everyone has new rules they must abide by. 

But, as the saying goes, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Just like every year prior, this Sprint Cup season will feature the most talented and competitive race car drivers in the world putting it all on the line week in and week out for a chance to make it into Victory Lane.

Of course, while every race is important, some races are more important than others for certain drivers. Here's a look at the pre-Chase races that NASCAR's biggest stars have circled this season.

Kevin Harvick: Daytona 500

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The 2014 Chase winner will start off the 2015 season with his most important race of the year, the Daytona 500.

Kevin Harvick needs to win the inaugural race of the season to shake off any defending champion butterflies he might be having, and also to deliver the prestigious title to his owners at Stewart-Haas racing.

Few would argue that while Homestead might be the most significant race on the calendar, the Daytona 500 is the most esteemed. While Harvick won this race in 2007, that was with his old team—now he wants to win it with his new team.

“I know what it’s like to win this race and the experience that comes with it, and I would love to be a part of winning this race with this group of guys,” he said, as reported by Jim Utter of The Charlotte Observer. 

Harvick wants to be sure to carry all of his 2014 momentum over into this season, and really, the only way to truly do that is to win at Daytona.

Jimmie Johnson: CampingWorld.com 500

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While we all know that championships aren't won in February or March, Jimmie Johnson needs to get off to a quick start in 2015 to erase the memories of his 11th-place finish overall in 2014.

What better way to do that then by getting a win at one of his least favorite tracks, the Phoenix International Raceway, in the first month of the year?

Johnson has won at Phoenix before—in fact, he won four of five races at the track between 2007 and 2009. However, he hasn't won there in five years, and he has recently admitted, as reported by Mark Anderson of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, that Phoenix isn't one of his favorite tracks.

Last season, Johnson didn't win until late May at Charlotte, and besides the stretch in the summer when he won three of four races, he looked average for most of the year. 

An early-season victory at a track he doesn't even like is just the thing the six-time champion needs to get his mojo back. For that reason, he should focus in on the CampingWorld.com 500 in March.

Danica Patrick: Geico 500

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Danica Patrick's best chance to win a Sprint Cup race will be at a restrictor-plate track, which narrows things down to Daytona and Talladega. Between the two, she's had better finishes at Daytona, but led more laps at Talladega.

For that reason, I'm pinpointing the first race of the year that Talladega is hosting, the Geico 500 in May, as Patrick's most crucial race of 2015.

Last season, Patrick made history as the first female driver to set the pace at Talladega when she led six of the first 12 laps at the race (then named Aaron's 499), but she finished 22nd. In the fall race at Talladega, she also led a few laps late, but finished 19th.

Patrick has proven that she can race well at Talladega; she just needs to finish. The Geico 500—which is far enough into the season that she should be in sync with her new crew chief Daniel Knost, but still far removed from the madness of the Chase—will be her best chance at putting it altogether, and therefore the most important race of her year.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Coca-Cola 600

John Raoux/Associated Press

Dale Earnhardt Jr. has done a lot of great things in his racing career, but he hasn't won the Chase and he also hasn't won the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

In fact, Junior hasn't won any points race at CMS—his lone victory on the track came in an all-star race back in 2000.

This is frustrating for Earnhardt, not only because it's a prestigious race and one that his father won multiple times, but because he grew up so close to the track, in nearby Concord, North Carolina. 

"[The Coca-Cola 600] is definitely a race I'd love to win," Earnhardt said, as reported by Jared Turner of Fox Sports. "I want to win a points race here so bad because we live just right down the road. I've been coming here since I've been a kid."

He's had close calls at the track before, but has never been able to walk away the winner on his home track. So as the 2015 season gets underway, Junior will certainly have Sunday, May 24 circled. 

Jeff Gordon: Quaker State 400

James Crisp/Associated Press

Jeff Gordon's accomplished just about everything there is to accomplish in NASCAR, but there's one thing he hasn't done: won a race at the Kentucky Speedway.

In fact, Gordon has won at every other track on the Sprint Cup calendar except for Kentucky. Of course, he has a pretty good excuse—the Quaker State 400 has only been around since 2011.

Gordon has finished in the top 10 each of the last four years, and came very close to a victory with a third-place finish last year. But as he finishes his final year of racing, this remains a blank spot on his decorated resume, and he'd like to change that in 2015, hence the importance.

"I mean I have thought about it a little bit, it would be very cool," Gordon said before the race last year, as reported by Jordan Bianchi of SBNation. "It would be quite an accomplishment and it's something that I would love to say I have done."

Brad Keselowski: Brickyard 400

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All races are important to Brad Keselowski, of course, but the Brickyard 400 is a step above the rest because of what it means to his owner, Roger Penske.

Team Penske has a storied history in Indianapolis, except when it comes to NASCAR. Keselowski wrote about this for ESPN back in 2013:

"

You just need to walk through the front doors of Penske Racing to see how successful our open-wheel teammates have been at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. All 15 of our "Baby Borg" trophies are displayed in a wide case in the lobby. I walk past them every time I go into the building. I want to add a Brickyard 400 trophy to the lot.

"

Keselowski hasn't had great success at the famed track; in five appearances, his best finish has been ninth in 2011 and 2012. But the 31-year-old is a contender every time he steps on the race track, and there's no reason why he can't get to Victory Lane at the Brickyard 400 in 2015.

One thing is certain: Beyond the Chase, no win is as important to Keselowski as this one.