Daytona 500 2015 Starting Lineup: Full Breakdown, Analysis Before Sunday's Race

With the 2015 Daytona 500 less than 24 hours away, anticipation is reaching a fever pitch.

Everything is all set for Sunday's race, with qualifying and the Budweiser Duels out of the way. For any fans who may have missed the reveal of the full starting order, it's available on NASCAR.com.

Starting from the pole is supposed to give the driver who wins it an advantage over the rest of the field, but when it comes to the Daytona 500, the pole offers only a marginal edge.

According to NASCAR.com, nine drivers have gone from pole position to Victory Lane, with the last being Dale Jarrett in 2000. Jeff Gordon also accomplished the feat in 1999, and he'll hope to do it again this year.

Historically, Gordon has enjoyed a lot of success at Daytona International Speedway. His six wins are more than any active driver, and his average finish of 16.2 is a respectable fifth. More recently, though, the 43-year-old has struggled at the legendary track. Gordon's last win was 10 years ago, and since that victory, his average finish has dipped to a slightly less impressive level.

Couple that downturn with how sparingly pole winners have succeeded at Daytona and Gordon is facing an uphill battle on Sunday.

With that said, Gordon's team, Hendrick Motorsports, is unquestionably in a position of strength going into the Daytona 500. Hendrick Motorsports drivers occupy the first three starting spots, which is only the second time in the race's history that that has happened, per ESPN Stats & Info:

The NASCAR stats advance gave a small snapshot of how starting position impacts a driver's chances of winning. Nearly half (27) of the 56 Daytona 500 winners began the race in the top five.

While that's still not an overwhelming percentage, the combined powers of Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. mean that at least one of the three won't be far behind the leader, if not in the lead himself, for the majority of the race.

As with every year, plenty of discussion surrounding the 2015 Daytona 500 has been about whether one of the top stars will break his duck in the historic race. Tony Stewart, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards are among the best active drivers never to win the Daytona 500.

Keselowski will be starting the race at a bit of a disadvantage after qualifying for 39th. Matt Kenseth won the 2009 Daytona 500 after starting 39th, so that kind of jump up the field isn't unprecedented.

Still, few will be picking the No. 2 car to prevail.

Edwards, meanwhile, will start in sixth, so he'll be a driver to track throughout Sunday, even with his unspectacular record at the track.

For Stewart, the absence of a Daytona 500 triumph is particularly glaring. He's a three-time Sprint Cup champion and on the shortlist of best drivers of his generation. Yet, somehow, the stars have aligned to keep him out of Victory Lane in The Great American Race.

Holly Cain of NASCAR.com made the parallel to Dale Earnhardt, who had to wait until 1998 to win his first Daytona 500:

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Twenty years later, it's a similar scene with another beloved champion, Tony Stewart. As Earnhardt did, Stewart has taught school on the Daytona high banks, hoisting trophies from sports car races to IROC races; after Daytona 500 qualifiers and summer night 400-milers.

And like Earnhardt, it's obvious that the questions of whether he will ever win NASCAR's big one have understandably gotten stale and annoying to Stewart.

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Stewart knows that he doesn't have forever to cross off one of the few empty boxes on his NASCAR resume, but he's not starting to panic just yet.

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He said he won't give up "until the day that I don't run here anymore," per Jenna Fryer of The Associated Press, via ABCNews.com.

"Everybody has got a shot here," he added. "We've been in that position before. That at least gives you confidence that you've got a shot."

Stewart will start on the inside of the fourth row, so he's in a good position to make his Daytona woes a thing of the past.

At least Stewart will have the chance to race at all. The same can't be said of Busch, who was involved in a major wreck during Saturday's XFINITY Series race. Busch's car hit the inside wall head on.

NASCAR then announced Busch won't be racing in the Daytona 500:

Missing the race will obviously be a tough blow for Busch, but the more important thing is that he wasn't seriously injured.

The Daytona 500 will be a lesser event—even if incrementally—without Busch on the track. He's one of the best drivers on the circuit, and fans want to see the best competing with the best.

Still, there's no reason this race shouldn't be the biggest spectacle of the NASCAR season.

Note: Stats are courtesy of Racing-Reference.info unless otherwise noted.