NASCAR at Daytona 2015: Vital Viewing Info for 500-Mile Season Opener
NASCAR fans have missed the sport during the offseason, but the excitement surrounding Daytona International Speedway and the 500-mile season opener has already engulfed the motorsports world.
Saturday featured the Sprint Unlimited, and fans will be treated to the Budweiser Duels on Thursday, but the main event is the Daytona 500. With the top drivers in the sport, like Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon, going to battle on the legendary track, this is the perfect way to start another year of entertaining racing.
Here is all the vital viewing information for the 2015 edition of the Daytona 500.
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Where: Daytona International Speedway, Daytona, Florida
When: Sunday, February 22
Start Time: 1 p.m. ET
Watch: Fox
Live Stream: Fox Sports Go
Predicted Winner: Dale Earnhardt Jr.
There are many drivers with the right mixture of talent and equipment needed to pull off the win in the Daytona 500, but the experience and confidence edge goes to Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.
As the defending race champion, Earnhardt and his team know what it takes to get a car to the front of the pack at the end of a typically grueling 500-mile race. The 2014 Daytona 500 win was the second of Junior’s career.
While he may have only two Daytona 500 victories, he also has another victory in the second race at the track each year and has the best average finish of any active driver in the sport at 13.4, according to DriverAverages.com.
When asked about his confidence at a track like Daytona, where he typically thrives, Earnhardt told Bob Pockrass of ESPN.com:
"I feel confident about what we did last year and that we can come in and be competitive, and we should be competitive with the equipment we've got, so that shouldn't be any issue. I'll just get out there and make all the good decisions that I can in the draft and put myself up toward the front and try to work hard to stay there and really be mentally disciplined to fend off the challenges and all that stuff that we did in the race last year.
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Consistency is the name of the game for Earnhardt at Daytona. In 30 career races at the track, he has finished in the top 10 on 17 different occasions. Add in his 11 top-five finishes, and he has been unstoppable at this restrictor-plate track.
All signs point to Earnhardt contending for the win in the 500-mile main event, but not everything has gone his way. This offseason saw him lose former crew chief Steve Letarte and add Nationwide Series crew chief Greg Ives, according to Jared Turner of FoxSports.com.
At 40 years old, Junior understands the business better than ever. He knows that contending for victories won’t be something he can accomplish for the rest of his life, so he will begin fighting harder than ever to collect as many as possible.
With a great team behind him, Earnhardt Jr. should have a great race as long as he can avoid getting involved in one of the many potential accidents.
*Stats via NASCAR.com.
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