Biggest NASCAR Storylines Ahead of the 2015 Daytona 500
Well, the qualification rounds and the Budweiser Duels are in the books. Now all that's left is the race itself.
On Sunday, the engines will be started, and the 2015 Sprint Cup season will officially get underway with the Daytona 500.
We'll finally get to see whether Dale Earnhardt Jr. can retain his crown, whether Jeff Gordon can win in his final opener and if Kevin Harvick can carry over his championship form from 2014.
In case you haven't been following the sport like a hawk during the brief offseason, here are the biggest storylines heading into the Great American Race.
Is Tony Stewart Ready to Win His First Daytona 500?
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Tony Stewart has done a lot of great things in his careerโincluding winning the championship three timesโbut he has never visited Victory Lane at the Great American Race.ย
It's an uphill battle for No. 14 to win this year, for sure. Last season was the first in his 16-year career where he didn't win a Sprint Cup race. He also missed three races last year after he struck and killed Kevin Ward Jr. in a dirt-track race in August.
He struggled after that, understandably, but is feeling better mentally after the offseason, as reported by Associate Press writer Jenna Fryer, via ABC News:ย
"The difference has been noted by everyone around him, and he was loose and eager to race again in last Saturday's exhibition race. He'd picked his way through the field to run as high as fourth โ even declaring to his crew over the radio that the other drivers should recognize "we came to play" โ before a crash ended his race.
But he's as close to the old Smoke as he's been in years, and few are counting him out on Sunday.
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The 43-year-old will try to get his career back on track in 2015, and it all starts in Daytona.
Can Dale Earnhardt Jr. Repeat?
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Last year, Earnhardt Jr. got one of the best seasons of his career out to a great start by winning the Daytona 500. This year, he'll try to do it again.
Junior is now 40 years old, and while he claims to not be thinking about retirement at all, he's certainly at a point in his career when he needs to make moves now, not later.
Repeating at the Daytona 500 is a nearly impossible featโit's been done onlyย three times in historyโbut Jared Turner of Fox Sports thinks that Junior has a chance to make it a fourth:
"Fresh off a season when he won four races, made the Chase for the Sprint Cup and bore all the appearances of a legitimate title contender before bad luck came calling in the Chase Contender Round, Earnhardt Jr. rides a wave of momentum into 2015 that he hasn't had in any of his seven previous seasons with Hendrick Motorsports, and has arguably never had in his entire Sprint Cup career.
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Earnhardt is certainly off to a good start to the year. With new crew chief Greg Ives by his side, he finished in first place in his Budweiser Duel. We'll have to wait and see whether that speed carries over to Sunday.
Will Danica Patrick Keep Improving on Restrictor-Plate Tracks?
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We're just starting the 2015 season, and already there is a lot of buzz around Danica Patrick. The Stewart-Haas driver survived a late wreck to qualify for the Daytona 500 in the Budweiser Duel on Thursday and then got into a post-race altercation with Denny Hamlin.ย
But the most important thing is that Patrick is in the race, and she'll have a chance to prove herself once again on a restrictor-plate track that she loves so much.
Patrick has two top-10 finishes at Daytona, and she won the pole here back in 2013, so we know she feels comfortable on the track. Now, as she starts out a contract year both for her sponsor, GoDaddy, and her Stewart-Haas team, she needs to continue to show improvements.
Getting back into the top 10โor even notching her first top-fiveโat the Daytona 500 would set a great tone for the season.
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What Will the Race Be Like Without the Busch Brothers?
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For the first time since the year 2000, brothers Kurt and Kyle Busch will both be absent from the Daytona 500.
Kurt was suspended indefinitely on Friday after a commissioner of the Delaware Family Court released a statement detailing why he thought Kurt had committed an act of domestic violence against his ex-girlfriend, Patricia Driscoll, last September.ย
As reported by Brant James of USA Today, this is what the commissioner stated:
"In his reasoning Kent County (Del.) commissioner David Jones, said he believed Busch 'more likely than not' abused Driscoll 'by manually strangling her by placing his left hand on her throat, while placing his right hand on her chin and face and smashing her head into the wall of his motor home, thereby recklessly placing (Driscoll) in reasonable fear of physical injury.'
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Meanwhile, Kurt's younger brother Kyle got into an awful crash during the XFinity Series race at Daytona on Saturday and suffered a broken right leg and left foot. He underwent successful surgery on his leg on Saturday night but is out indefinitely.ย
Regan Smith will take over the No. 41 car for Kurt and Stewart-Haas Racing on Sunday during the Daytona 500. Smith was the Sprint Cup Rookie of the Year in 2008 and has filled in for Sprint Cup drivers on occasion throughout the last few years.
Kyle's No. 18 car for Joe Gibbs Racing will be taken over by Matt Crafton,ย the two-time defending Camping World Truck Series champion.ย
Both Stewart-Haas Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing have yet to detail who will replace the Busch brothers in future races. However, it's clear that without 2004 champion Kurt and 29-time Sprint Cup race winner Kyle, the Daytona 500 will be without two of the sport's most talented drivers.
Will Kyle Larson Get His First Win?
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Besides Harvick, it's hard to find a guy who had a better Chase than Kyle Larson did last year. The only problem for Larson? He wasn't a Chase driver!
Larson won the Rookie of the Year title in 2014, but the 22-year-old still hasn't won a Sprint Cup race. However, he had six top-10s and two runner-up finishes in the final 10 races of the season, so he is heading into his sophomore season with a ton of confidence.ย
It's a long shot for Larson to get his maiden victory at Daytona, because in his two races there last season he finished 38th and 36th, but it's certainly worth keeping an eye on No. 42.ย
Can Kevin Harvick Deliver a Daytona 500 to Stewart-Haas?
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Harvick had a storybook first season with Stewart-Haas Racing, winning five races and his first championship.
Now, No. 4 has to start out 2015 as the one to beat and has to deal with the pressure of following up his maiden title. It's a great problem to have, though, and Harvick certainly has the motivation to keep his winning ways alive.
Currently, he's focusedย on winning the Daytona 500 for the second time in his career and the first time with his new Stewart-Haas team.
"I know what it's like to have won this race and the experience that comes with it," Harvick said, as reported by The Associated Press (via USA Today). "I would love to be a part of winning this race with this group of guys and the things that come with it."
Will Jeff Gordon Win His Final Daytona 500?
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Gordon has already won the pole for his final Daytona 500; now the No. 24 car just has to win the race.ย
History is on Gordon's sideโthe only other time he won the Daytona 500 pole, back in 1999, he won the race as well. He has two other Daytona 500 victories in his career, 1997 and 2005. And, as we all know, this isn't just a nostalgic farewell tour for Gordonโhe is still out there racing because he still thinks he can win events and compete for championships.
It would be fitting if 10 years after his last Daytona 500 win, and at the start of the final Sprint Cup season of his legendary career, he won the Great American Race once again.
Will Penske Teammates Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano Carry over 2014 Momentum?
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Despite the lack of a championship, last year was a good one for Team Penske. With just two full-time Sprint Cup drivers, the team walked away with 11 victoriesโsix for 2012 Sprint Cup champion Brad Keselowski and five for Joey Logano.
Now, the two teammates and friends need to prove 2014 was far from a fluke, and they could easily do that with a strong finish at the Daytona 500.ย
Of course, that's a tall mountain to climb. Neither driver has won the Daytona 500 beforeโLogano's best finish was ninth back in 2012 and Keselowski's was a third-place finish last year.ย Both drivers also made a lot of enemies along the way. Keselowski was the noted bad boy of racing last year, angering competitors with his unapologetically aggressive style, and Logano has already gotten into a dust-up with Harvick this year.
If they need help out there on the track, they'll only have each other to look for.
But because of their successful 2014 campaigns, the Penske drivers are both favorites heading into the Daytona 500. We'll have to see if Keselowski and Logano can continue their NASCAR takeover at the biggest regular-season race of the year.
Is Jimmie Johnson the One to Beat Again?
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Most NASCAR drivers would absolutely give anything to have Jimmie Johnson's 2014 season on their resume. After all, No. 48 won four races and finished 11th in the standings in that campaign. But for a six-time champion like Johnson, that was a down year.
But already, things in 2015 are looking up for the Hendrick Motorsports driver. He qualified second for the Daytona 500, guaranteeing himself a spot on the front row, and then Thursday, he won his Budweiser Duel.
So it's already clear Johnson has the speed this year, and it would be a shock to everyone if it took him until the 12th race of the season to get to Victory Lane like it did last year.
The way he's looking, he might even get to Victory Lane on Sunday and capture the third Daytona 500 of his career.
Who Will Surprise Us?
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We can talk about theย Harvicks,ย Johnsons andย Keselowskis all we want, but there are a few surprises in every NASCAR race, and it's worth speculating over who or what they'll be in this year's Daytona 500.
Could Ricky Stenhouse Jr. make a trip to the top five? Could the Dillon Brothers (Austin and Ty) have a breakthrough race? Could one of the extremely dangerous but still under-the-radar drivers such as Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth or Ryan Newman get the win? Or maybe a guy like Martin Truex Jr. or Sam Hornish Jr. will shock the world?
The favorites are the favorites for a great reason, but all of the drivers out there are pros.ย The truth is, anything could happen Sundayโparticularly if there is a big-time wreck or two. And hey, isn't that why we watch in the first place?
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