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CUP: Saturday Daytona Notebook (UPDATE 12)
The Sprint Unlimited is won by Kevin Harvick...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted February 16, 2013   Daytona Beach, FL
Kevin Harvick celebrates with a burnout after winning the Sprint Unlimited at Daytona International Speedway. (Image: SPEED)
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Other Speedweeks 2013 Notebooks
FRIDAY, FEB. 15
THURSDAY, FEB. 14

PHOTOS FROM THE SPRINT UNLIMITED

Wreck Gallery

Race Gallery

Kevin Harvick Wins

VIDEO: Harvick Wins - Sprint Unlimited

















[SATURDAY 9:55 pm ET]

AND THE WINNER IS - In the final 20-lap shootout, Kevin Harvick dominates to win his third Sprint Unlimited in the No. 29 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. Greg Biffle gives it a valiant run, ending the night in the runner-up spot in the No. 16 Roush Fenway Racing Ford. Joey Logano, in his first race with Penske Racing is third, followed by Tony Stewart and Matt Kenseth.

The second five is Aric Almirola, Kasey Kahne, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Martin Truex Jr. and Juan Pablo Montoya.

[SATURDAY 9:27 pm ET]

SEGMENT 2 - Kevin Harvick captures the second segment over Greg Biffle, Joey Logano, Tony Stewart and Martin Truex Jr. Twenty laps left to go in the Sprint Unlimited.

No major upheaval in this segment, but Dale Earnhardt Jr. had minor contact with Tony Stewart that slightly damaged his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Earnhardt might be having an engine miss as well.

[SATURDAY 8:59 pm ET]

SEGMENT 1 - Tony Stewart wins the 30-lap first segment over Matt Kenseth, Kevin Harvick, Carl Edwards and Kasey Kahne.

Out after the early crash were Kurt Busch, Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin. It was the second crash in two nights for Martin and Kurt Busch. Parts are scarce.

VIDEO: Big Pileup - Sprint Unlimited
















[SATURDAY 8:41 pm ET]

BIG BANG THEORY — Tony Stewart tries to dive down from the top lane in Turn 1 and triggers a crash that takes out Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin. Busch hit Hamlin and it was on from there.

Oh, yeah — Fans have voted for a four-tire pit spot after segment one.

Terry Labonte was the first start and park of 2013, making just two laps in Frankie Stoddard’s Ford before pulling in.

[SATURDAY 7:41 pm ET]

PHOTOS: DAYTONA 500 PRACTICE GALLERY

[SATURDAY 6:23 pm ET]

JUST FOR STARTERS — NASCAR fans decided the starting lineup for tonight’s Sprint Unlimited NASCAR Sprint Cup race from Daytona International Speedway based on most recent pole position.
A big wreck in the Sprint Unlimited segment 1. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Thus, the starting lineup will be:

ROW 1 — Carl Edwards, Mark Martin
ROW 2 — Kasey Kahne, Greg Biffle
ROW 3 — Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr.
ROW 4 — Jeff Gordon, Aric Almirola
ROW 5 — Joey Logano, Marcos Ambrose
ROW 6 — Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth
ROW 7 — Kyle Busch, Juan Pablo Montoya
ROW 8 — Tony Stewart, Dale Earnhardt Jr.
ROW 9 — Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch
ROW 10 — Terry Labonte

[SATURDAY 5:43 pm ET]

ROLL FOR THE POLE - Danica Patrick's impressive pace in both NASCAR Sprint Cup practices today makes her No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet SS a legitimate threat for the Daytona 500 pole. If she starts up front, it would be a story that would make national headlines. It would also be huge personally for Patrick, who has just 10 career Sprint Cup starts.

“It would be really nice,” said Patrick after the second Cup practice at Daytona International Speedway. “It is a very big pole of all of them in the year for attention. Especially for GoDaddy who is on the car, people like that, that is who that helps the most. I mean there are other races throughout the year that as a driver you feel maybe more pleased or proud of yourself to get. This one is a whole team effort.”

Patrick gave a lot of the credit to her crew chief, Tony Gibson, who she has formed a strong relationship with.

“I think being fastest on the chart, just being fast in general shows everyone else how dead serious Tony Gibson is with his guys and how he wants poles, he wants to give me the fastest car possible,” said Patrick. “He is doing absolutely everything he can and is putting so much hard work into it. I think that just shows his confidence in everyone including myself about what we can do.”

Daytona 500 qualifying will be televised live on FOX and FOX Deportes Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.

[SATURDAY 4:10 pm ET]
Driver Carl Edwards during 2013 NASCAR media day at Daytona International Speedway on February 14, 2013 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo: Getty Images)

PATRICK POWERFUL – Danica Patrick created a wave of excitement in the Daytona garage Saturday afternoon by leading the day's second practice with a speed of 196.220 miles per hour.

The speed puts Patrick, starting her first full-time Sprint Cup schedule, in the group of pole favorites for Sunday's 1 p.m. qualifying round.

Following Patrick in the top 10 were Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr.., Jamie McMurray, Trevor Bayne, Paul Menard,Ryan Newman, Joey Logano and Jeff Burton.

[SATURDAY 2:40 pm ET]
Danica Patrick, driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet, during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 16, 2013 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo: Getty Images)

MORE FROM PRACTICE - Forty minutes into today’s second and final 2-hour Daytona 500 qualifying practice session, three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Tony Stewart has vaulted to the top of the speed charts. His best lap so far in the single-car runs is 195.363 miles per hour, tops of the 37 cars that have set times early on.

Behind Stewart’s No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet is Kyle Busch, 195.342 mph in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, and Dale Earnhardt Jr., 195.101 mph for the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Jamie McMurray and Paul Menard complete the top five.

The second five consists of Ryan Newman, Jeff Burton, Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne and Martin Truex Jr.

[SATURDAY 1:17 pm ET]

Driver Tony Stewart confers with crew chief Steve Addington during practice at Daytona International Speedway. (Photo: Getty Images)
LOGANO FASTEST – New Ford driver Joey Logano led the first Daytona 500 practice session Saturday with a speed of 195.410 miles per hour.

The top six drivers ran over 195.

Following Logano were Austin Dillon, Danica Patrick, Paul Menard and Jeff Burton. In the second five – Kasey Kahne, Trevor Bayne, Juan Pablo Montoya, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kyle Busch.

[SATURDAY Noon ET]

HALFWAY - At the midpoint of Daytona 500 qualifying practice, Danica Patrick is fastest at 195.359 miles per hour. Then it’s Paul Menard, Juan Pablo Montoya, Austin Dillon, Trevor Bayne, Tony Stewart, Jeff Burton, Kyle Busch, Joey Logano and Jimmie Johnson. Dale Earnhardt Jr. is 20th, with Patrick’s boyfriend, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 23rd.

Thursday at NASCAR Media Day, Patrick admitted she didn’t understand the Daytona qualifying procedure.

“I have absolutely no idea how qualifying works. Does anyone?” Patrick said. “I think I was actually sent like a long email with the way that qualifying works. I didn't read it. 'Cause you're just going to drive as hard as you can, right? What else am I going to do? I got to qualify in the top two or top six, whatever it is. You're going to go as fast as you can possible can and deal with it afterwards.”

For the record, only the front row for the Daytona 500 will be set during Sunday’s qualifying. The rest of the field will be set in Thursday’s Budweiser Duel qualifying races.

[SATURDAY 11:31 am ET]

Joey Logano paced the first Daytona 500 practice session with a speed of 195.410 miles per hour in his No. 22 Ford. (Photo: Getty Images)
CARS ON TRACK - Today, there are two rounds of NASCAR Sprint Cup practice at Daytona International Speedway, both of which are live on SPEED. The two sessions are 11 a.m.-1 p.m. ET and 2-4 p.m.

Although tonight’s race is the Sprint Unlimited, the practices today are in preparation of tomorrow’s Daytona 500 qualifying, which will be televised live on FOX and FOX Deportes at 1 p.m. ET.

Because this is Daytona 500 qualifying practice and not race practice, you will not see any cars drafting each other. The cars will all go out by themselves, because when two cars draft together, they are faster than a single car by itself. And since the cars qualify one at a time, the teams want to see how fast their cars are without a drafting partner. So look for lots of single-car runs in practice today.

[SATURDAY 10:20 am ET]

WEATHER UPDATE - Great news from Daytona Beach: Today will see a high of 68 degrees with a low of 32, which will make tonight’s Sprint Unlimited NASCAR Sprint Cup race race wicked fast. More importantly, according to weather.com, there is a zero percent chance of rain. Yep, zero percent chance of rain on race day. Hard to believe, but there it is.

SPRINT UNLIMITED NOTES — Here’s some crib sheet info for tonight’s Sprint Unlimited race.

The 75-lap race will be run in three segments of 30, 25 and 20 laps. Fans will vote to determine how the starting lineup is set and the pit-stop requirements. Votes can be cast on NASCAR’s new official mobile app — NASCAR Mobile ’13 — or at NASCAR.com/SprintUnlimited. All votes made through the NASCAR Mobile ’13 app will count twice.

In 12 career Sprint Unlimited starts, the late, great Dale Earnhardt posted six victories, 11 top-10 finishes and an average finish of 2.75.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is the all-time lap leader in the Sprint Unlimited, with 129 laps led.

The crew of Danica Patrick pushes her car down pit road at Daytona International Speedway. (Photo: Getty Images)
Tonight will be the 35th running of the Sprint Unlimited. Seven times previously, the winner led only the final lap.

The Busch brothers have won the two most recent Sprint Unlimiteds, with Kyle winning in 2012 and Kurt in 2011. They are the only brothers to win the race.

Both Busch brothers set records for closest Sprint Unlimited finishes: Kurt beat Jamie McMurray by 0.058 seconds in 2011, while Kyle beat Tony Stewart by 0.013 seconds last year.

In six of the last seven Sprint Unlimiteds, the final lead change came either on the final lap or the penultimate lap.

Mark Martin will make his 25th Sprint Unlimited start tonight; Aric Almirola will make his first.

Only five of the last 15 Sprint Unlimiteds have been won from a top-10 starting spot.

In the last nine Sprint Unlimiteds, Kevin Harvick is the only repeat winner.

The most money ever won in this race is $215,000. Stewart claimed that much in 2007, as did Earnhardt Jr. in 2008.

Stewart has won a total of $1,201,908 in the Sprint Unlimited, most of any driver in history.

[SATURDAY 8:47 am ET]

Kyle Busch has yet to conquer Martinsville Speedway. (Photo: Getty Images)
RACE TIME HAS ARRIVED - It’s here, people, the day we’ve all been waiting for: The first NASCAR Sprint Cup race of 2013. And it will be a very busy day, indeed, with two rounds of Sprint Cup practice, the ARCA race and, last but certainly not least, tonight's Sprint Unlimited.

WATCH! a recap of Friday's practices in preparation for tonight's big race.

Following is today’s FOX Sports and SPEED TV schedule of live coverage from Daytona International Speedway

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice (SPEED, 11 AM – 1 PM ET)

NASCAR Live! (SPEED, 1-2 PM)

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice (SPEED, 2-4 PM)

NASCAR Live! (SPEED, 4-4:30 PM LIVE)

ARCA Racing Series - Lucas Oil 200 (SPEED, 4:30-6:30 PM)

NASCAR RaceDay – Sprint Unlimited (SPEED, 6:30–8 PM)

Sprint Unlimited (FOX & FOX Deportes, 8-10 PM)

And here are the 19 drivers in tonight’s 75-lap, non-points race. They are all drivers who either won a pole last year or are past event winners.

The field:

Kasey Kahne, No. 5, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Marcos Ambrose, No. 9, Richard Petty Motorsports Ford
Denny Hamlin, No. 11, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Tony Stewart, No. 14, Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet
Greg Biffle, No. 16, Roush Fenway Racing Ford
Kyle Busch, No. 18, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Matt Kenseth, No. 20, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Joey Logano, No. 22, Penske Racing Ford
Jeff Gordon, No. 24, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Kevin Harvick, No. 29, Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
Terry Labonte, No. 32, FAS Lane Racing Ford
Juan Pablo Montoya, No. 42, Earnhardt Ganassi Racing With Felix Sabates, Chevrolet
Aric Almirola, No. 43, Richard Petty Motorsports Ford
Jimmie Johnson, No. 48, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Mark Martin, No. 55, Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota
Martin Truex Jr., No. 56, Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota
Kurt Busch, No. 78, Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet
Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 88, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Carl Edwards, No. 99, Roush Fenway Racing Ford

There are two rounds of NASCAR Sprint Cup practice today at Daytona International Speedway. (Photo: Getty Images)
A quick note: The Cup practice is in preparation for the Daytona 500 pole day, which takes place tomorrow. Don’t expect to see much drafting, as drivers will be looking for straight-line speed.

FIRST LOOK: CHEVY SS - As SPEED.com reported yesterday, the production version of the 2014 Chevrolet SS will be unveiled for the first time today at 1:05 p.m. ET in the Daytona Fan Zone.

Our man Bob Golfen has all the details of this new high-performance sedan.

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief of SPEED.com, Senior NASCAR Editor at RACER and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. You can follow him online at twitter.com/tomjensen100.
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