Regan Smith finished seventh in the 2011 Daytona 500. (Photo: Getty Images)
Last year, the unthinkable occurred.
Trevor Bayne, just one day after his 20th birthday and with just one Sprint Cup start under his belt, won the Daytona 500 in thrilling fashion.
By prevailing in NASCAR's biggest race, Bayne took the legendary Wood Brothers team — running just a partial schedule due to lack of sponsorship — to victory lane for the first time since March 2001.
Making the outgoing youngster's achievement all the more incredible was the fashion in which he earned it, holding off charging veteran Carl Edwards in the race's closing laps.
In short: Bayne's march to Daytona glory was a Cinderella story that may not be topped in NASCAR for years to come, if ever.
But don't think for a minute that an underdog can't triumph, once again, in the 2012 Daytona 500.
It turns out that Bayne is hardly the only dark horse to taste victory in the 53-year history The Great American Race.
Just one year earlier, Jamie McMurray won the Daytona 500 in his debut with Earnhardt Ganassi Racing.
While it wasn't an upset on the scale of Bayne's, McMurray's win was an upset nonetheless.
Other notable underdog Daytona 500 winners over the years include Derrike Cope (1990), Michael Waltrip (2001) and Ward Burton (2002).
Will it happen again, in this year's 54th running of the 500?
It may not. But it certainly could.
Here's a look at five potential spoilers:
1. Regan Smith: Back for another tour with the always-underdog Furniture Row Racing organization, Smith will be a driver worth watching throughout Speedweeks. His No. 78 Chevrolet was consistently fast during Speedweeks 2011, and Smith rode the momentum to a seventh-place finish in the Daytona 500. The New York native has proven he's capable of beating long odds, winning last year's Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway and crossing the finish line first at Talladega in fall 2008. Tony Stewart was declared the winner of the latter race, however, after NASCAR penalized Smith for diving below the yellow line coming to the checkered flag.
2. Martin Truex Jr.: Coming off two straight disappointing seasons at Michael Waltrip Racing, Truex would benefit from a Daytona 500 win as much as any driver in the Sprint Cup garage. Despite never winning at Daytona or Talladega, the New Jersey native always tends to be near the front in the closing laps at restrictor-plate races. He just hasn't put it all together. This could be his time.
3. Kurt Busch: It seems odd to consider the 2004 Sprint Cup champion an underdog, but that's exactly what he is this season with the underfunded, understaffed Phoenix Racing outfit. Busch has never won the Daytona 500 despite being in contention for victory on more than one occasion. The Las Vegas native would like nothing more than to quiet his critics by winning the sport's biggest race in his first start with a new team that many observers expect to struggle. Busch posted the fastest lap of Daytona winter testing at 206.058 mph.
4. David Ragan: Ragan won last year's July race at Daytona and was in position to win the 2011 Daytona 500 before a late penalty. But both of those appearances were in the No. 6 Ford of Roush Fenway Racing. With UPS pulling the plug on its sponsorship of the car, Ragan has landed at Front Row Motorsports where he plans to run the entire season. The team is likely to struggle but Ragan can never be counted out at Daytona.
5. AJ Allmendinger: Another potential spoiler is the driver who has taken Busch's place in the No. 22 Dodge of Penske Racing. Allmendinger is winless in 152 Sprint Cup starts but now finds himself in easily his best ride ever. Busch won last year's Budweiser Shootout at Daytona in the No. 22, and the Penske team always seems to fare well at the plate tracks.
Jared Turneris an Associate Editor for SPEED.com, covering NASCAR and Formula One, and is an Editor for TruckSeries.com. His professional motorsports writing career began in 2005.
