Daytona 500 Qualifying Schedule 2015: Date, Start Time, TV Info and More

Speedweeks in Daytona is like no other event in the sport. The entire week leading up to the Daytona 500 is filled with competition on the track and fun off of it.

One of the biggest events early on is the qualifying session for the kickoff to the season. Though it's not the sole decider for the starting grid, it is one of the most important days of the year. Getting on the top line is that crucial for the Daytona 500.

In anticipation of the first qualifying round of the season, here's a look at the full viewing information and popular storylines for Sunday.

Daytona 500 Qualifying Information

Where: Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Florida

When: Sunday, Feb. 15, at 1 p.m. ET

TV: Fox

Live Stream: Fox Sports Go

Storylines to Watch

Easily the most pressing question of the qualifying session will be the new rules. Rather than single-car runs like in the past at Daytona, NASCAR will keep the same group sessions it ran at Talladega in 2014.

Those didn't quite work out for everyone, most notably Ricky Stenhouse Jr. The Roush Fenway Racing driver missed out on the race in Alabama after a rough day on the track. Luckily, he'll just need a decent run to get into the Budweiser Duels and decide his place in the race.

Stenhouse's girlfriend Danica Patrick is none too happy with the format.

"Yeah, I'm worried about qualifying," Patrick said, via Tom Jensen of Fox Sports. "It didn't go well at Talladega, and I don't see how it's going to go any different here at Daytona."

As a rookie in 2013, Patrick captured the pole position for the 500. Last year, Austin Dillon took the pole during his first time in the No. 3 car. Not only were both huge stories heading into the race, but these were also the first two times rookies had taken the pole at the track since Jimmie Johnson did so in 2002.

Will another first-year driver take the top spot? Seeing as how the only two rookies are Jeb Burton and Trevor Bayne, the odds don't look that great. However, Bayne did win the 2011 Daytona 500, so he knows a little about the track.

If NASCAR really wants a storyline fans can get behind, Jeff Gordon sitting at the top of the pack would be one to remember. This season will be a swan song for the 43-year-old driver, and winning the big race would be an emotional moment for him, as Mike Hembree of USA Today notes:

"

Gordon has had difficulty controlling his emotions at important moments in his 23-year career. He wept in victory lane after his first Cup win – at Charlotte Motor Speedway in the 1994 Coca-Cola 600 – and he has cried on stage at the Sprint Cup banquet while accepting the Cup trophy. He cried while telling his team and other Hendrick Motorsports colleagues about his decision to leave the driver's seat of the No. 24 Chevrolet at Hendrick Motorsports.

"

Some may see it as a sign of weakness, but it's simply raw emotion from one of the best drivers the sport has ever seen. After he narrowly missed out on the pole two years ago, when Patrick took it, this might be Gordon's year to take it.

The Drive for Five has just one full season remaining. Putting himself on the pole on Sunday, however, would seemingly put a fourth Daytona 500 victory within reach for Gordon.

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