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Filed under: Daytona Int'l Speedway, Sprint Cup

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- With new rules increasing horsepower, loosening oversight and adding up to three overtime periods, NASCAR drivers are more hesitant than usual to make any predictions about Sunday's 52nd running of the Daytona 500.

"I'll be honest, I really don't know what to expect,'' driver-owner Tony Stewart said Saturday after his win in the Nationwide Series race.

"I mean, I assume it's going to be something similar to the qualifying races. But, you know, with having the full field, obviously you're gonna have a lot more good quality cars that are right."

Stewart's win Saturday gives him 15 at NASCAR's most famous track, Daytona International Speedway -- only Dale Earnhardt (34) and Bobby Allison (16) have more victories.

"There's one I haven't won, and that's the Sunday show,'' said Stewart, who will start sixth in his No. 14 Office Depot Chevrolet.

"So, you know, I would trade a couple of races, I'd let anybody pick which ones they want to trade out, I'd trade any one of 'em for a Sunday race for sure.''

 

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Filed under: Daytona Int'l Speedway, Nationwide Series, Danica Patrick

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- All Danica Patrick wanted this blustery Saturday afternoon at NASCAR's most hallowed track was experience without expectation. So to that end, she may consider her NASCAR debut successful, even if her No. 7 GoDaddy.com Chevy finished the day a twisted wreck and her first NASCAR finish was officially 35th place.

After driving a careful and conservative early race, Patrick was collected in a 12-car accident that sent a fourth of the field to the garage on lap 68 of the 120-lap NASCAR Nationwide Series season-opener at Daytona International Speedway.

The "story" of Speedweeks, Patrick chose to compete in the Nationwide Series race despite having only a few hours of practice in the car -- energized and encouraged instead by a sixth-place finish in a lower-level ARCA Series race last weekend.

She started 15th on Saturday, but opted for a more cautious strategy, falling back to the rear of the field to watch and learn. Unfortunately for her, the view was too good. Josh Wise and rookie Colin Braun collided several cars in front of Patrick and she was unable to dodge a track full of spinning cars.

 

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Filed under: Kevin Harvick, Daytona Int'l Speedway, Richard Childress Racing

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- With cars spinning out behind him, Kevin Harvick survived a green-white-checkered overtime to win Saturday night's Budweiser Shootout non-points race for the second consecutive year and become NASCAR's first winner of the season.

Harvick's No. 29 Shell-sponsored Chevrolet led Kasey Kahne and Jamie McMurray across the finish line under the yellow flag at Daytona International Speedway in a race that featured plenty of lead changes and bump-drafting at its best and worst. Four drivers swapped the lead in the final 12 laps of the 76-lap event.

Greg Biffle and Kahne opted to keep their Fords on track during the second-to-last caution period while the rest of the field pitted for fresh tires. Harvick immediately drove low inside Biffle on the restart and took the point moments before Biffle was hit from behind by Jeff Gordon, collecting a half-dozen cars in the melee.

Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top-five.

 

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Filed under: Daytona Int'l Speedway, Danica Patrick

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Danica Patrick's sixth-place finish in her stock car debut Saturday night didn't earn her a trophy, but something much more useful: respect and credit.

She was running 24th with 19 laps to go and charged through the field like a veteran NASCAR racer, not an IndyCar driver turning her first competitive laps in a stock car.

By all accounts, her effort equaled the hype. And there has been plenty of hype.

"I think she showed us she's able to drive... I expected her to do well,'' said Kelley Earnhardt, co-owner of JR Motorsports, which fielded Patrick's car Saturday and will do so again in at least 12 NASCAR Nationwide races. "I am ecstatic. I couldn't be happier.''

 

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Filed under: Daytona Int'l Speedway, Danica Patrick

IndyCar driver Danica Patrick will run a dozen stock car races in 2010 - beginning with the Feb. 6 ARCA season-opener at Daytona International Speedway - and may add a 13th event depending on how comfortable she feels in the car, her team, JR Motorsports, announced Thursday.

As expected Patrick's stock car calendar will primarily book-end her IZOD IndyCar Series schedule, which runs March through October. The only question that remains is whether she will compete in the Feb. 13 NASCAR Nationwide opener at Daytona or put off her NASCAR debut until the Feb. 20 Nationwide race at California's Auto Club Speedway, located just outside Los Angeles.

"We want to give Danica the best opportunity to compete at Daytona and that includes making sure she is 100 percent comfortable in that driver's seat,'' JR Motorsports co-owner Kelley Earnhardt said. "The Nationwide race there is perhaps the most competitive race of the year.

"Once the ARCA race is complete, we will get with Danica and make a decision based on the best interests of her, the team and our sponsor, Go Daddy.''

 

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