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Wednesday, February 18, 2015

2015 Week 1 Preview: Daytona

Daytona International Speedway

Daytona 500


By Richard Tix

It is finally here! The NFL season is in the dust, MLB players are reporting to Spring Training, March Madness is around the corner, but one thing is ready to go. Finally, this week NASCAR starts it's 2015 season off with the crown jewel of the sport, the Daytona 500.

It seems like a while ago that fans were complaining about a win-less Ryan Newman in the Finale, the shock of a Joey Logano pit stop keeping him from a title, and obviously Kevin Harvick winning his first Cup Championship. Even though it was a pretty short time ago, it feels like it was six month's of down time. 

NASCAR heads into 2015 on a fresh slate. This season they left the Chase and points system as is and we will get to see if year two is as fun as year one. The big change is the testing ban and the new car package that reduces HP. We wont get to really judge those changes this week at Daytona, but it will be interesting to watch as the season progresses.

The other big news is that 2015 will be Jeff Gordon's last full-time season at the Cup level. One thing we do know (as long as he sticks to his word) is that the 2015 Daytona 500 will be Gordons last Daytona 500 of his career. Even if he runs a short schedule in the next few years he said he will not run the 500. So, fans of racing soak this last Daytona 500 in as he is one of the greatest drivers in NASCAR history. 

So, lets move on. Just like last season we will look at some of the Good, Middle, and Bad drivers of each track each week in track previews. This is not a full run down, but rather a focus on some of the drivers in each category. NASCAR Behind the Wall takes a look at recent results to determine each category and not full career statistics. 

If you need a reminder of how it works, take a look back at some past Week Previews. 




The Good

  • Dale Earnhardt Jr- Last years Daytona 500 winner makes his first appearance in the "Good" category in just his first opportunity. A lot of that is due to the fact that in the last 5 Daytona International Speedway races he has a Cup best 8.0 average finish. In that time he has 3 top 10's and no worse than a 15th place finish.
  • Jamie McMurray- His overall statistics don't show it, but that's because bad luck and wrecks ruin a day so much at superspeedways, but JMac has a knack for finding the front at restricter plate tracks. I would not count him out this Sunday even though he only has one top 10 in his last nine at Daytona.
  • Austin Dillon- He has a short Cup track record at Daytona (3 races) but he has a pole and two straight top 10's coming into the 2015 500 (9th in 2013 and 5th in 2014). He and his brother, Ty, might be underdogs to keep your eye on.
The Middle
  • Joey Logano- In 12 starts at Daytona he has finished in the top 20 8 times. In his last 7 races here he has kept it fairly clean (other than his 40th place finish in 2013). In that time he has 3 top 10's, 4 top 15's, and 6 top 20's. JoLo seems to be a guy who can stay on the track here and that is half the battle at restricter plate tracks.
The Bad
  • AJ Allmendinger- Over his career he has seemed to find trouble at Daytona more often than not. He only has two top 10's in 11 career starts and has crashed in 2 of his last 3. Is never that a driver can't get a good finish here, but rather about playing the odds.
  • Aric Almirola- Before his rain out win at the Firecracker in July, Aric had only 2 finishes better than 30th in six career starts. Three out of those six were crashes. So, the question is of bad luck or just putting yourself in a bad spot? 
  • Trevor Bayne- Yes, the driver that won his first and only race at Daytona, for the 2011 Daytona 500, at the age of 19 is on the "bad" list. True, he has new life and for the first time a full Cup ride with Roush Fenway this season, but in his last 7 starts he has one top 20 (20th) which is also his only top 25 finish as well. But, he has a chance to turn it around now with RFR and a new shot.
Track Stats
  • Jimmie Johnson was the first driver since Bobby Allison in 1982 to win both stops at DIS in a single season
  • The last Pole win in the Daytona 500 was in 2000 by Dale Jarrett. There have been 4 Pole winners since then in the other stop at DIS (Firecracker)
  • Tony Stewart won from 42nd starting position 7/7/12, which is the farthest back anyone has won from (Firecracker)
  • However, Matt Kenseth won from 39th in the 2009 500, which is the farthest back anyone has won the Daytona 500
  • Of current drivers, Jeff Gordon has the most wins at Daytona with 6 (3 of them the 500). Stewart is second with 4 (None the 500)
  • A Toyota only has one win at DIS (Kyle Busch 2008)
  • Chevy won four straight at Daytona before Aric Almirola (Ford) won the 2014 Firecracker 400. 
  • Chevy has also won 7 of the last 11. For has won the other 4 of 11.
  • Trevor Bayne is still the youngest Daytona 500 win (19 years old. 2011 Daytona 500). It is still his only Cup win.
  • Dale Earnhardt Jr has the best career average finish of current drivers at 13.4 (30 races)
  • Jimmie Johnson has the best career average start of current drivers at 10.2

More Daytona Articles

Also new to NASCAR Behind the Wall is Driver Profile pages! They can be found under the "Driver" tab above. The stats will show through the 2014 season, but it will be a great link to check out their specific driver spotlights and also almost all the career cars they have ever driven. Come back and keep checking them out as more will continually be released.

Thanks for checking out NBTW and lets get this season going!

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