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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Top 10 Daytona Threats
With the Daytona 500 looming, SPEED.com takes a look at a list of favorites…
Mike Hembree  |  Posted January 31, 2012   Charlotte, NC
Jimmie Johnson will enter the 2012 season as hungry as any driver in the Sprint Cup Series. (Photo: Getty Images)
Last season’s Daytona 500 was an aberration. With all due respect to the splendid job Trevor Bayne produced in winning the race, it was an upset of epic proportions, and it’s unlikely that a similar result will appear when the world of stock car racing reconvenes at Daytona International Speedway next month.

The stars – not to mention the cars – lined up perfectly for Bayne to return the iconic No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford to victory lane in the most important stock car race in the world. Is that sort of alignment likely to appear again? Not likely.

Instead, the odds are overwhelming that the 500 will be won by one of the representatives of the sport’s major teams, the ones who have invested thousands of hours and dollars in the off-season with the idea of ruling Daytona.

Here, then, are 10 favorites for the 500:

1. Jimmie Johnson – There will be no team more motivated than the No. 48 group entering Daytona. Johnson has read the description “former champion” enough times in the off-season to be sick of it. Look for fire in his eyes.

2. Carl Edwards – Second? Did you say second? Edwards was second – barely – in the 500 last year and second – barely – in the championship race. Anything worse than first will be a disappointment for Edwards at Daytona.

3. Brad Keselowski – The breakthrough driver of 2011 could be the breakout driver at Daytona.

4. Tony Stewart – Stewart has never won the Daytona 500 or the Indianapolis 500, the two most important races in the two most important series in which he owns championships. This could be the year he clicks off one of those.

5. Jeff Gordon – Gordon has three victories in the 500, and two of those were scored with entirely audacious late-race moves entering the first turn. The racing landscape at Daytona has changed since those days (1997 and 1999), but Gordon still knows the ins and outs of racing on the big stage.

6. Kyle Busch – Rowdy has no Daytona 500 wins. That’s bound to change. Sooner or later.

7. Kevin Harvick – Incentive? If case you missed it, Harvick is going to be a dad this year.

8. Juan Pablo Montoya – Almost without fail, there is at least one lurker in the top 10 in the closing laps of the 500. Last year, it was David Gilliland. This year, maybe JPM. He’s an excellent drafter.

9. Matt Kenseth – He’s smart. He stays out of trouble. He’s patient. He won in 2009. No one races points better, but he also can push the button.

10. Dale Earnhardt Jr. – Him? Yes, him. He once was a shaker and mover on the Daytona high banks, running the draft with the sort of expertise that reminded fans of his father. Figure he’ll be back in the mix.

Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 30 years. He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
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