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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Drivers Look To Rebound At ACS
Many of the top NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers struggled at Daytona...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted February 17, 2010   Charlotte, NC
Elliott Sadler drives by as Jeff Gordon and Robby Gordon lose control of their cars during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. (Photo: Getty Images)

Ask any NASCAR Sprint Cup driver or crew chief about the Daytona 500, and they will tell you pretty much the same thing: It's not an accurate predictor of what's to come in the year. Daytona is its own unique animal being a restrictor-plate race, and tracks like Auto Club Speedway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway are a lot better barometers of performance — who's fast, who isn't and who is capable of winning.

Be that as it may, no driver, especially those with championship aspirations, wants to start the year with a streak of bad races. Last year, for example, Mark Martin suffered through two engine failures and a catastrophic tire explosion in the first four races and spent the next 22 races furiously digging out from 34th in points to get back in the top 12 in points.

Several of the top drivers in the Cup series had disappointing to downright disastrous Daytona 500s, so they'll be looking to rebound in a big way Sunday at Auto Club Speedway in Southern California, with the running of the Auto Club 500.

Six of the 12 drivers who qualified for the Chase for the Sprint Cup in 2009 finished outside the top 20 in the Daytona 500: Tony Stewart (22nd), Kurt Busch (23rd), Jeff Gordon (26th), Kasey Kahne (30th), Ryan Newman (34th) and Jimmie Johnson (35th). Certainly, it isn't panic time for any of them by a long shot. That said, none of these drivers want to dig a big hole for themselves getting started.

“It sucks,” Johnson said of his Daytona 500, which ended with a broken rear axle. “But it's a long season and we came out of here last year with a crashed race car and still came back. We have a little work ahead of us."

“Daytona was very disappointing – more so than I think a lot of people realize,” said Newman, Stewart's teammate at Stewart-Haas Racing. “We were just biding our time in the back of the field and, with 10 laps or so to go, we decided it was time to make our move. I don’t really know what happened, but I was the recipient of it. We were seven laps from the end of the race, well before the green-white-checker, and we ended up with a destroyed race car. It was just very disappointing. We wanted to come out of the box strong at Daytona, but we walked away with a 34th-place finish. We had good cars but we didn’t get the finish we wanted.”

Gordon, who finished second at both ACS races last year, is ready for better days, too.

“I'm hoping we can run better and get better as the season goes on,” said Gordon, “I certainly feel that we have that capability. Last year, I think we were the best team during the first 10 races, but we flattened out. We're looking at the championship differently this year. We want to start the season off right, but we want to build and get better as the season goes along. "And show our strengths at the right time — not only for winning races, but battling for the championship.”

And it wasn't just the veterans who are starting off with an uphill challenge. Brad Keselowski, who is in his first full-time season with Penkse Racing, lost a tire in Lap 8 of the Daytona 500. Although his team was able to make repairs, he still finished 36th, which is certainly not how he hoped to start the year.

To that end Keselowski knows that Sunday's race is important to establish momentum.

“We need a good, solid finish this weekend in the No. 12 AAA Insurance Dodge Charger,” said Keselowski. “Unfortunately we lost some points at Daytona when we had our tire issues, but we can get those back. It’s easier to make up ground at the beginning of the season than it is later in the year. Auto Club Speedway is a good track to start working our way back. It’s a driver’s track, one with a lot of grooves that you can explore to find where your car is the most comfortable.”

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief for SPEEDtv.com, the former Executive Editor of NASCAR Scene and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. He is the author of "Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of SPEED," and has appeared on television and radio shows to discuss NASCAR racing. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association. Jensen is the 1997 National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year and has won numerous national and state awards for news reporting, columns and feature writing. The Answer Man is back at SPEEDtv.com. Tom Jensen answers your questions during every race week and looks forward to hearing from you - please e-mail it to

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