Daytona 500 Starting Lineup: Complete Order and Preview for NASCAR's Big Day

Finally, NASCAR is back on track.

The Daytona 500 is set to kick off the 2013 season as drivers, are locked into their starting lineup positions at Daytona International Speedway. The green flag is just about to wave to kick off this year’s Great American Race.

Thursday’s Budweiser Duels, as well as Sunday’s qualifier, provided plenty of drama and excitement as some of the top drivers in the world positioned themselves to make a run at winning the 55th edition of this storied and prestigious race.

Danica Patrick became the first woman to win the pole for a Sprint Cup Series race. Does that give her good odds of being the first woman to win the race? Only nine of the race's pole sitters have ended up winning the Daytona 500 in the previous 54 races.

Starting position has historically helped drivers to come away with a win at this race, as 39 of those 54 previous races were won by a driver who started in the top nine of the pack.

However, that trend seems to be on the decline, as several drivers in the past decade have overcome poor starting position to win the checkered flag at Daytona.

Trevor Bayne (2011, No. 32), Matt Kenseth (2009, No. 43), Kevin Harvick (2007, No. 34), Jeff Gordon (2005, No. 15), Ward Burton (2002, No. 19) and Michael Waltrip (2001, No. 19) all won the race after poor runs during the pre-race duels.

 

Where: Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Fla.

When: Sunday, Feb. 24 at 1 p.m. ET

Watch: Fox

Complete Starting Lineup (via NASCAR.com)

Pos.	No.	Driver	Pos.	No.	Driver
Row 1
1	10	Danica Patrick	2	24	Jeff Gordon
Row 2
3	29	Kevin Harvick	4	18	Kyle Busch
Row 3
5	16	Greg Biffle	6	5	Kasey Kahne
Row 4
7	42	Juan Pablo Montoya	8	33	Austin Dillon
Row 5
9	48	Jimmie Johnson	10	15	Clint Bowyer
Row 6
11	78	Kurt Busch	12	20	Matt Kenseth
Row 7
13	14	Tony Stewart	14	55	Mark Martin
Row 8
15	2	Brad Keselowski	16	27	Paul Menard
Row 9
17	13	Casey Mears	18	31	Jeff Burton
Row 10
19	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	20	1	Jamie McMurray
Row 11
21	22	Joey Logano	22	34	David Regan
Row 12
23	47	Bobby Labonte	24	9	Marcos Ambrose
Row 13
25	38	David Gilliland	26	43	Aric Almirola
Row 14
27	87	Joe Nemechek	28	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Row 15
29	26	Michael Waltrip	30	7	Dave Blaney
Row 16
31	95	Scott Speed	32	35	Josh Wise
Row 17
33	21	Trevor Bayne	34	39	Ryan Newman
Row 18
35	11	Denny Hamlin	36	99	Carl Edwards
Row 19
37	56	Martin Truex Jr.	38	98	Michael McDowell
Row 20
39	32	Terry Labonte	40	51	Regan Smith
Row 21
41	36	JJ Yeley	42	83	David Reutimann
Row 22
43	93	Travis Kvapil

Driver to Watch: Danica Patrick

CNN’s Don Lemon interviewed Danica Patrick about her history-making performance in becoming the first woman to win the pole for a Sprint Cup Series event.

Patrick has certainly drawn her share of media attention since transitioning to NASCAR in 2012. Her rookie season didn’t go too well. In 10 races, she failed to place in the top 10, recording an average finish of 28th place.

A win at Daytona would certainly propel Patrick to iconic status in the NASCAR world.

Prediction: Jeff Gordon

Jeff Gordon is the most successful active driver at this track, and he will definitely benefit from his second starting position. His three Daytona 500 wins makes him only the third driver in the history of the race to accomplish that feat.

Hendrick Motorsports, Gordon’s team, is stacked with talented drivers. It will field Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne and Dale Earnhardt Jr. this season, all of whom qualified in the top 20 for the race (three qualified in the top 10).