by Jeff Wackerlin
MotorSportsNetwork.com
1. Jimmie Johnson: Winner of the 2006 Daytona 500; Coming off sixth top five with a second-place finish last July; Leads all drivers with an average running position of 10.4 in the last 10 races; 52 of his 59 career track laps led have come in the 500; Has the fourth best driver rating at 94.3. He will be using the samne chassis that ran at the Bud Shootout and at Daytona in July last season.
2. Mark Martin: Will make 50th points-paying Sprint Cup start at Daytona; Daytona is his worst track on the schedule based on his 18.1 average finish; Finished 16th in his 500 debut with Hendrick Motorsports in 2009; Nearly won the 500 when he crossed the finish line by .020 seconds behind race winner Kevin Harvick in 2007; Has finished in the top 10 nine times in 25 Daytona 500 attempts; Will debut a new chassis (No. 560) on Sunday.
3. Jeff Gordon: Six-time winner with three wins coming in the Daytona 500; Has posted an average finish of 27.5 in his last four starts; Last top 10 in the 500 came in 2007 when he finished 10th; Sixth-best driver rating in the past 10 races; Overall has led 572 laps and has posted an average finish of 15.5.
4. Kurt Busch: Has the best average finish in the last five races at 4.8; Has finished second three times in the 500; Fifth best driver rating at 92.5; Led 95 laps in the 2007 Daytona 500 up until contact with Tony Stewart; Will debut a new car (chassis No. 632) in Sunday's 500.
5. Denny Hamlin: Winner of the 2006 Budweiser Shootout; Led 32 laps in the 2008 Daytona 500 and 63 in last year's Coke Zero 400; Third-place finish last July is only top 10 in eight starts; Posted a fifth-place finish in last weekend's Shootout; Has been one of the fastest drivers in the closing 25% of laps over the past 10 races; 11th-best driver rating in the past 10 races.
6. Tony Stewart: Has a 4.5 average finish in last two races; His last of three wins in the July race came last year; His 108.2 driver rating ranks No. 1 among all drivers in the past 10 races; Leads all drivers with 516 laps led in the past 10 races.
7. Greg Biffle: Winner of the 2003 July race; Best Daytona 500 finish came in 2008 in 10th; Will debut a new car (chassis No. 673); The Daytona 500 car is similar to the car that ran well in the Shootout up until an accident at the end of the race; 23rd-best driver rating in the past 10 races.
8. Juan Pablo Montoya: Coming off first top 10 with a ninth-place finish last July; Has run up front in previous restrictor-plate races, most notably Talladega; Will debut a new car (chassis No. 902) in the Daytona 500.
9. Ryan Newman: Winner of the 2008 Daytona 500; Posted a 28.0 average finish at Daytona with Stewart-Haas Racing; Overall has three top 10s and an average finish of 20.9 in 16 starts; Eighth-best driver rating in the past 10 races.
10. Kasey Kahne: Will make first Sprint Cup points start in a Ford; Won his Gatorade Duel and finished second in last weekend's Budweiser Shootout; Best finish is seventh, which he accomplished three times in 12 starts; Has only led five laps.
11. Carl Edwards: Led a race high 42 laps in last weekend's Budweiser Shootout; His three top 10s in 10 starts have all come in the July race; Best Daytona 500 finish is 12th (2005); Will debut a new car (chassis No. 677) on Sunday; 12th-best driver rating in the past 10 races.
12. Brian Vickers: Will make sixth Daytona 500 start; Equaled his best Daytona finish (seventh) last July; Has posted a 19.6 average finish in five starts with Team Red Bull.
13. Kyle Busch: Winner of the 2008 July race; Has posted an average finish of 15.0 in four starts with Joe Gibbs Racing; Best Daytona 500 finish (fourth) with JGR came in 2008; Has combined to lead 230 laps in his last six starts; Second-best driver rating in the past 10 races.
14. Matt Kenseth: Defending Daytona 500 winner; Has finished eighth or better in five of his last seven starts; Overall has led 69 laps and has posted an average finish of 17.9 in 20 starts; Third-best driver rating in the past 10 races
15. Clint Bowyer: Has the best average finish (13.4) among drivers with three or more starts; Best finish (fourth) came in last year's Daytona 500; Finish was one of five top 10s in eight starts; Ninth-best driver rating in the past 10 races; Will debut a new car (chassis No. 294) on Sunday.
16. David Reutimann: Best finish in six starts came in the 2009 Daytona 500 in 12th; Overall has a 25.5 average finish; Has yet to lead a lap; Will be making 100th start in a Sprint Cup points race.
17. Jeff Burton: Only top 10 in 10 starts with Richard Childress Racing came in the 2007 Daytona 500 in third; Won the 2000 July race with Roush Racing; Win was one of seven top 10s with Roush; 10th-best driver rating in the past 10 races; Will drive the same car (chassis No. 240) that served as the back-up car for all four restrictor plate races last season.
18. Marcos Ambrose: Leads all drivers with an 11.5 average finish; Best finish came in last year's July race in sixth; Has a 15.2 average finish in four career restrictor-plate starts.
19. Kevin Harvick: Winner of the 2007 Daytona 500 and last two Budweiser Shootouts; Finished second in last year's Daytona 500 for sixth top 10 in 17 starts; 14th-best driver rating in the past 10 races; Will debut a new car (chassis No. 295) that spent the off-season being tested in the wind tunnel.
20. Joey Logano: Finished 43rd in last year's Daytona 500 after a crash took him out of contention; Lowered finishing average to 31.0 with a 19th-place finish last July; Will race his Budweiser Shootout car (chassis No. 245) after crashing the Daytona 500 primary in Wednesday's practice session.
22. Jamie McMurray: Finished third in return with Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing in last weekend's Budweiser Shootout; Two of his three career wins have come on restrictor-plate tracks (Daytona, July 2007; Talladega, 2009); Will debut a new car (chassis No. 1001) in the Daytona 500.
23. Martin Truex Jr: Will make debut with Michael Waltrip Racing; Best finish came in last year's Daytona 500 when he came home 11th after starting from the pole; Has only led one lap in the past five starts.
24. AJ Allmendinger: Finished third in only start in Daytona 500 in 2009; Two other starts in the July race (42nd and 17th); Will race a new car (chassis No. 682) on Sunday.
25. Dale Earnhardt Jr: Winner of the 2004 Daytona 500; Has three top-five and five top-10s in 10 Daytona 500 appearances; Has led 141 laps in the Daytona 500; 2001 July race win is one of seven points-paying wins at Daytona (2 Cup, 5 Nationwide); Seventh-best driver rating in last 10 races; Will start second on Sunday in a brand new car (chassis No. 563).
26. Elliott Sadler: Daytona is his best oval on the schedule based on his 17.0 average finish; 7.5 average finish in his last two starts; 19th-best driver rating in last 10 races; Will debut a new car (chassis No. 283) on Sunday.
27. David Ragan: Has posted an 8.0 average finish in last three starts; Finished fifth in first Daytona start (Daytona 500) in 2007; 17th-best driver rating in the past 10 races; Will race the same car (chassis No. 649) that finished 17th at Talladega last fall.
28. Sam Hornish Jr: Best finish (15th) came in the 2008 Daytona 500; Has a 31.0 average finish in last three starts.
30. Bobby Labonte: Making first track start with TRG; Finished 10th in first restrictor-plate start with the team at Talladega last October; Best finish is a pair of runner-ups in 1998 with Joe Gibbs Racing.
Brad Keselowski: Finished 18th in first start last July; 11.0 average finish in three restrictor-plate starts; First career Cup win came at Talladega Superspeedway; Ran well in his Gatorade Duel before a pit road commitment line violation; Will be driving a new car (chassis No. 633) in the Daytona 500.
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