SPEEDtv.com’s analysis of prior performance at Daytona suggests that 12 drivers have a legitimate shot at winning the Daytona 500 on Sunday. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
There are 43 drivers entered in Sunday’s Daytona 500, the first and biggest race on the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup schedule. But of those 43, only 12 are considered legitimate threats to win, according to SPEEDtv.com’s analysis of prior performance and what’s happened this Daytona Speedweeks. Here’s how the field breaks down:
1. JEFF GORDON, No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Impala SS. Best Daytona finish: 1st (6 times). Gordon has won the Daytona 500 three times, and the July Daytona race three times. After a frustrating 2008 season in which he went winless for the first time since his rookie year, Gordon and his team are supremely motivated. He has looked strong all through Speedweeks, winning his Gatorade Duel 150 on Thursday. He is hungry to find victory lane again.
2. KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry. Best Daytona finish: 1st. The always blazing fast Busch nearly won this race last season and won the second Gatorade Duel 150 on Thursday. He continues to demonstrate amazing car control and seems to work well with teammate Denny Hamlin, who could push him to victory on Sunday. If anyone other than a Hendrick Motorsports driver is to win the Daytona 500, Busch is the most likely guy to do it.
3. KEVIN HARVICK, No. 29 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. Best Daytona finish: 1st. Harvick won the Daytona 500 in 2007 and won the Budweiser Shootout on Sunday, both times with daring last-lap passes that seemed to come out of nowhere. He will race his Shootout car in the Daytona 500, but he had no trouble racing from 27th spot in the 28-car Shootout field to victory with it on Saturday.
4. DALE EARNHARDT JR., No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Best Daytona finish: 1st (2 times). Earnhardt loves restrictor-plate late racing and managed a seventh-place this time out in his Duel. But he’s better at Talladega than he is here and doesn’t have the advantage he once had. Still, an Earnhardt victory would shock no one.
5. JAMIE McMURRAY, No. 26 Roush Fenway Racing Ford Fusion. Best Daytona finish: 1st. McMurray, who won the July Daytona race two years ago, has been one of the surprises of Speedweeks. He finished second in the Budweiser Shootout and has been the clear class of the field among the five Roush Fenway Fords and by a wide margin.
6. MARK MARTIN, No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Best Daytona finish: 2nd. Martin is in the fastest car he’s ever been in, and finished a close second behind Kyle Busch in his Duel race on Thursday. He also finished second here to Harvick in the 2007 Daytona 500. Martin needs to seal the deal on Sunday after coming close several times before.
