Daytona 500 Preview

The time has finally come, NASCAR makes its return for it's 75th season at Daytona for the Great American Race, the Daytona 500. Very few races are as important as this one, winning the 500 can make a drivers career as there have been many surprises over the race's 64 year history. This track is one of the three superspeedway's on the schedule so the draft is the most important factor in finding success here, we can expect all of the manufactures to work together to make sure one of their cars go to victory lane. Of course there is the inevitable big wreck that usually takes out a good portion of the field that everyone dreads but over the last year, we have seen multiple incidents involving 5 or more cars. It will be essential to steer clear of the big wrecks come Sunday

Duels and Qualifying Recap: There were plenty of intriguing storylines going into this week including the return of 7-time Champion Jimmie Johnson as he had to race his way in on qualifying speed for the first time since his rookie year in 2002. He would have to contend with famous stuntman Travis Pastrana but in the end he was able to lock in on time. The other drivers of Chandler Smith, Austin Hill and Connor Daily would all have to race into the 500 via the qualifying races.

Overall, qualifying went about the same as it has since 2018 as Hendrick Motorsports took up the front-row with Alex Bowman winning the pole and Kyle Larson starting second. Because Bowman and his team had assured their starting position, the #48 team kind of stayed out of the way in the qualifying races While a lot of it seemed liked they were laying back, the difference between the car in qualifying and in race-trim was night and day. It will be interesting to see if Bowman and his new crew-chief Blake Harris can figure out the set-up come Sunday.

The rest of the field all fell into place after the Thursdays Duel Qualifying races as Joey Logano and Aric Almirola took the checkered flag. The first race went off without a hitch as there were no cautions for any kind throughout the 60 laps. When it came down to the final laps, Logano and Christopher Bell crossed the finish line side-by-side with the defending champ coming out on top.

Race two was a much different story as the first big wreck of 2023 would strike. In the closing stages, Kyle Busch would crash out from the lead after contact from Daniel Suarez. Drivers Austin Hill, Travis Pastrana and Justin Haley would also be involved. Because of the wreck, Austin Hill would miss the Daytona 500 bumping Connor Daily into the race.

When the dust settled, Aric Almirola would hold off Austin Cindric and Chase Elliott to take the victory. It's clear in both races that the Fords will be the cars to beat come Sunday.

The Favorite: The last 3 months have been good to Logano. He capped off the year with a championship at Phoenix in November, gained a full-head of hair in December and then rolled into Daytona with a fast race car and a victory in February . While the betting lines may say his teammate Ryan Blaney is the favorite, personally Logano is the car to beat. In the past, he has proven himself to be one of the elite superspeedway racers. While the results weren't there in 2022, Joey has four wins on these superspeedways. I look for him to lead his Penske teammates come Sunday.

Other Drivers To Watch: After the duels, it seemed that the Toyotas were lacking a little bit in pace compared to the Chevy's in the Fords but that doesn't really mean anything when it comes to the big race, look no further than Denny Hamlin. Of each active drivers no one has more wins here at Daytona than he does with three and six top-5 finishes. He will start Sunday's race as the co-betting favorite at +1000. After a mediocre result at the duels, he will have to start 18th but I don't look for him to stay there long.

His driver Bubba Wallace is another name to watch. Over the past week, Bubba has carried the banner for Toyota as he was their sole reprehensive in the top-10 in qualifying. Over the last couple of year's he has also established himself as an elite superspeedway racer as well as he has the highest average finish among all drivers since 2020 with a top ten in 3 of the last four races here. . He is becoming quite the hard charger and will be right up there in the thick of it come Sunday.

The Longshots: It's hard to consider McDowell a longshot after his 2021 victory and how well he's ran here but it's important to note that he will be without his crew-chief Blake Harris as he has left for Hendrick Motorsports. He will be working with Travis Peterson this year who has plenty of experience at Roush-Fenway-Keselowki Racing. I look for McDowell to be there at the end like he has over the past five years.

Look for his teammate Todd Gilliand to be another viable candidate to contend after his incredible result in the Duels. Daytona will be an important race for him considering he will not be in the #38 car the full-season.