Rookie Austin Cindric wins 2022 Daytona 500

By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

 

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – On the 85th birthday of his car owner, Roger Penske, 23-year-old NASCAR Cup Series rookie Austin Cindric beat Bubba Wallace to the finish line by .036 seconds in overtime to win Sunday’s 64th running of the Daytona 500.

 

In a thrilling run to the finish in NASCAR’s new Next Gen race car at Daytona International Speedway, Cindric held off Wallace and Chase Briscoe (.091 seconds behind) to notch his first Cup victory in his eighth start in the series.

 

Cindric got the win in chamber-of-commerce weather with a sold-out crowd jamming the grandstands.

 

“Oh, my God—do you know what makes this even better? A packed house,” Cindric exulted after climbing from his car. “A packed house at the Daytona 500. “Oh, my God, I’ve got so many people to thank. First and foremost, Roger Penske. Happy Birthday!

 

“Everyone has worked so hard on this Next Gen car and through the whole process. I am so excited. This makes up for losing a championship in the last race I was in (2021 Xfinity Series season finale at Phoenix Raceway).

 

“I’m surrounded by great people, that’s all there is to it. I know there’s going to be highs and lows, being a rookie. I’m just grateful for the opportunity and excited to climb the mountain ahead of us on the No. 2 team. We’re in the Playoffs—that’s one box checked. My gosh, what an awesome group of fans; what an awesome race car. I’m just really thankful.”

 

A three-car wreck in Turn 4 on Lap 195 of a scheduled 200 wiped out the No. 47 Chevrolet of Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who was leading for a restart on that same lap but was turned by a push from Brad Keselowski. The incident forced the race to overtime, requiring one extra lap for Cindric to claim victory.

 

An earlier six-car accident on Lap 190 had eliminated reigning series champion Kyle Larson, Kevin Harvick, Todd Gilliland, Erik Jones and Noah Gragson, who was making his first start in NASCAR’s top division.

 

Cindric was the leader when the race restarted on Lap 200, and at the end of a wild two-lap scramble—after blocking a strong run from Team Penske teammate Ryan Blaney—he arrived at the finish line roughly three feet ahead of Wallace, who was runner-up in the Great American Race for the second time.

 

“I thought our Toyota teammates did good work until they got picked off 1, 2, 3 throughout the race, so we just had to survive,” said Wallace, who finished .260 seconds behind race winner Austin Dillon in the 2018 Daytona 500.

 

“Great Speedweeks, though. We’ll come home second. I’m going to be pissed off about this one for a while. I was happy on the first second place we got a couple years ago. This one sucks when you’re that close, but all-in-all, happy for our team, happy for our partners, and on to California.”

 

Blaney came home fourth, followed by Aric Almirola, who will leave full-time racing at the end of the season. Kyle Busch, Michael McDowell, David Ragan, Keselowski and Chase Elliott completed the top 10.

 

Less than three laps from the end of the first stage, a push from Keselowski turned the No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford of Harrison Burton sideways at the head of the outside lane. Burton’s Mustang nosed down the track into the No. 24 Chevrolet of William Byron, whose car slammed nose-first into the inside wall on the backstretch.

 

Kyle Busch spun sideways during the ensuing eight-car wreck. Denny Hamlin’s Toyota sustained terminal suspension damage, eliminating the field’s only multiple winner of the Daytona 500. The No. 1 Chevrolet of Ross Chastain was also knocked out of the race.

 

After the impact with Byron’s car and a jolt from the Toyota of Christopher Bell, Burton’s Ford turned upside down and landed on top of the Chevrolet of Alex Bowman, who had started the race on the outside of the front row. The impact righted Burton’s car, which a wrecker towed to the garage. Bowman lost four laps as his crew tried to return the No. 48 Camaro to raceable condition.

 

“I’m fine—I’ve hit a lot harder before, that’s for sure,” Burton said after a trip to the infield care center. “It’s just unfortunate. I hate it for the Wood Brothers group. They brought a really fast Ford Mustang down here and ended up on our lid, so that’s never good…

 

“I don’t know, I just got pushed and didn’t take it the right way—the car didn’t take it the right way or got pushed in the wrong spot. I’m not sure. I couldn’t really tell. I was looking out front to see what I had to do next to side draft the next guy that was on me, so just a bummer. I don’t really know what we could have done different, but we’ll move on and get better from it.”

 

From Hamlin’s standpoint, it was clear what happened.

 

“The 6 (Keselowski) was pushing the 21 (Burton) and you could see the 21 was kind of getting out of control there,” said Hamlin, who failed to finish a Daytona 500 for the first time in 17 starts and lost his chance for a fourth visit to Victory Lane. “So you know the mind-set was that you’ve got to back off, but I think the 6 was just insistent on pushing him at all costs and eventually turned the 21 around.

 

“Tough, you know, considering it was just for the stage. We were kind of boxed in there where I noticed that something was going to happen, but I was boxed in, I was behind a teammate (Kyle Busch), and I wanted to try to help. Again, just too aggressive pushing right there when they weren’t lined up and in control.”

 

Truex won the first stage under caution and then claimed victory in the second stage, which ran under green-flag conditions from the restart on Lap 72 to the conclusion on Lap 130. Truex came from third to first on the final lap to grab the stage win.

 

Keselowski, however, was first off pit road under caution for the stage break and led the field to green for a restart on Lap 138. Keselowski held the top spot until Tyler Reddick’s Chevrolet broke loose in Turn 4 on Lap 151 and started a wreck that damaged the contending cars of Truex, Joey Logano and Kurt Busch.

 

The NASCAR Cup Series returns to the track next week at Auto Club Speedway for the Wise Power 400 on February 27, 2022.

 

NASCAR Cup Series Race – 64th Annual DAYTONA 500

Daytona International Speedway

Daytona Beach, Florida

Sunday, February 20, 2022

 

1. (5)  Austin Cindric #, Ford, 201.
2. (16)  Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 201.
3. (9)  Chase Briscoe, Ford, 201.
4. (7)  Ryan Blaney, Ford, 201.
5. (38)  Aric Almirola, Ford, 201.
6. (10)  Kyle Busch, Toyota, 201.
7. (6)  Michael McDowell, Ford, 201.
8. (34)  David Ragan, Ford, 201.
9. (3)  Brad Keselowski, Ford, 201.
10. (11)  Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 201.
11. (26)  Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 201.
12. (33)  Daniel Hemric(i), Chevrolet, 201.
13. (14)  Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 201.
14. (24)  Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, 201.
15. (27)  Landon Cassill(i), Chevrolet, 201.
16. (4)  Chris Buescher, Ford, 200.
17. (32)  Cody Ware, Ford, 200.
18. (21)  Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 199.
19. (17)  Kurt Busch, Toyota, 199.
20. (31)  Cole Custer, Ford, 199.
21. (20)  Joey Logano, Ford, 198.
22. (40)  Jacques Villeneuve, Ford, 198.
23. (25)  Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 198.
24. (2)  Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 197.
25. (36)  Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 197.
26. (35)  Kaz Grala(i), Chevrolet, 196.
27. (37)  BJ McLeod, Ford, 196.
28. (18)  Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, Accident, 194.
29. (13)  Erik Jones, Chevrolet, Accident, 191.
30. (22)  Kevin Harvick, Ford, DVP, 191.
31. (39)  Noah Gragson(i), Chevrolet, Accident, 190.
32. (1)  Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, Accident, 190.
33. (29)  Todd Gilliland #, Ford, Accident, 190.
34. (12)  Christopher Bell, Toyota, Accident, 152.
35. (15)  Tyler Reddick, Chevrolet, Accident, 151.
36. (28)  Greg Biffle(i), Chevrolet, 136.
37. (30)  Denny Hamlin, Toyota, Accident, 63.
38. (23)  William Byron Jr., Chevrolet, Accident, 62.
39. (8)  Harrison Burton #, Ford, Accident, 62.
40. (19)  Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, Accident, 62.

 

Average Speed of Race Winner:  142.295 mph.

Time of Race:  3 Hrs, 31 Mins, 53 Secs. Margin of Victory:  .036 Seconds.

Caution Flags:  7 for 37 laps.

Lead Changes:  35 among 13 drivers.

Lap Leaders:   K. Larson 0;B. Keselowski 1-6;K. Busch 7;B. Keselowski 8-26;K. Busch 27-31;B. Keselowski 32;K. Busch 33-37;R. Stenhouse Jr. 38;H. Burton # 39;J. Logano 40;K. Busch 41-57;W. Byron Jr. 58;H. Burton # 59-60;M. Truex Jr. 61-67;A. Dillon 68;E. Jones 69-71;R. Blaney 72-107;M. Truex Jr. 108;B. Wallace 109;B. Keselowski 110-124;K. Larson 125;B. Keselowski 126-129;M. Truex Jr. 130-132;B. Wallace 133;B. Keselowski 134-155;B. Wallace 156;A. Cindric # 157-162;B. Wallace 163-166;A. Cindric # 167-168;B. Wallace 169-170;A. Cindric # 171-175;B. Wallace 176-177;R. Stenhouse Jr. 178;B. Wallace 179;R. Stenhouse Jr. 180-193;A. Cindric # 194-201.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  Brad Keselowski 6 times for 67 laps; Ryan Blaney 1 time for 36 laps; Kyle Busch 4 times for 28 laps; Austin Cindric # 4 times for 21 laps; Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 3 times for 16 laps; Bubba Wallace 7 times for 12 laps; Martin Truex Jr. 3 times for 11 laps; Harrison Burton # 2 times for 3 laps; Erik Jones 1 time for 3 laps; Joey Logano 1 time for 1 lap; William Byron Jr. 1 time for 1 lap; Austin Dillon 1 time for 1 lap; Kyle Larson 1 time for 1 lap.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 19,6,38,47,22,3,45,43,5,9

Stage #2 Top Ten: 19,22,23,6,47,2,17,4,5,38

 

NASCAR at Daytona: 2022 Bluegreen Vacations Duels Picks

Aric Almirola should fetch a nice price in Duel #2

NASCAR Cup Series Daytona 500 Qualifying Races

Thursday, February 17, 2022 

Bluegreen Vacation Duels

Duel #1 - 7:00 pm ET
Top-5 Finish Prediction:
1 #24 William Byron
2 #12 Ryan Blaney
3 #5 Kyle Larson
4 #99 Daniel Suarez
5 #9 Chase Elliott

Duel #2 - 8:45 pm ET

Top-5 Finish Prediction:
1 #10 Aric Almirola
2 #88 Alex Bowman
3 #21 Harrison Burton
4 #22 Joey Logano
5 #3 Austin Dillon

NASCAR: 2022 Daytona 500 Betting Preview

 

NASCAR DAYTONA 500 PICKS, PREDICTIONS, ODDS

Feb. 20, 2022

Micah Roberts
NASCAR Expert
VegasInsider.com

The 64th running of the Daytona 500 might be the freshest start to a season we’ve ever seen as NASCAR debuts the Next Gen car which adds more uncertainties than ever before to superspeedway races that already had the randomness of a craps shoot or a roulette wheel. The new car brings more equations to an already difficult process of handicapping the Daytona 500. My first question is how the new engine producing 670 horsepower runs in traffic. I saw a little bit of Tuesday’s practices and it looked like any other year with tandem racing being the quickest around the 2.5-mile high-banked layout.

DAYTONA 500 PICKS & PREDICTIONS

The new car also has one hub instead of lugnuts so I imagine some strategy of pit stops has been taken away. Cars will be waiting for a full tank of gas while the crew watches the gasman finish for a few seconds. Do we say goodbye to the two-tire pit stop now?

And we also have the car number moved off the door and scrunched up near the front wheel to give more key advertising space on the door. I guess I’ll get used to it, but it does give the new car an identity we’ll remember for much longer than the winged spoiler of the Car of Tomorrow.

One of the selling points of the Next Gen car is that everyone has the same equipment so we could deduce that a bunch of new guys will be running up front on Sunday, right?.

“Temper expectations on that,” three-time Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin said Wednesday. “The quote of level playing field is probably overused. Certainly, probably a tighter box from front to back but again it’s just teams find ways. If you look at single car runs yesterday, the same guys that have been on all of the poles (Hendrick Motorsports) have been the fastest.”

Denny Hamlin has won three of the last six Daytona 500 events. (AP)

So the driver is still going to mean as much as the old car, maybe more?

“While technically you’re able to put the same parts off of his car on my car and my car on his car, what really has changed?” Hamlin asked. “Well, nothing really except maybe the motor is different and the body is different but they’re significantly faster. You’re still going to have the team’s resources to find a way to make the car faster than the teams that just bolt it together.”

In other words, those that are good on superspeedways, like Hamlin, are still going to be good. And those elite teams with all the money are still going to be elite and spend the money to stay elite with the new car.

DAYTONA 500 BETTING ANALYSIS

But if the racing is expected to be the same as it has then we still have to consider up to 30 of the 40 drivers as contenders to win the race. Michael McDowell won his first career race last season in the Daytona 500 paying out at 65-to-1 odds.

I’ve got all kinds of new stuff to consider, but in the back of my mind I know who I’m betting and it was the same seven drivers I was thinking before Tuesday’s practices when I got my first glimpse of the teams drafting with the new cars. The Fords had an edge just because their bumpers in front and back line-up better in the draft.

If you’ve been reading this space for the last 23 years, you know I’m a sucker for a great story. So I had to identify the best possible stories I could find and came up with a few to ponder. Such as Brad Keselowski in his first year as driver/part-owner of RFK Racing. He’ll drive the No. 6 Ford that Ryan Newman drove last season. Roush Fords were always a threat in plate races, but not many other tracks. First year, new team, former NASCAR Cup champion, and never won the Daytona 500.

“I’m excited to see this all come together and happy to get this journey going,” Keselowski said. “Daytona is obviously one of the most special places you will ever race, and for us it is a great opportunity to put our stake in the ground early and right out of the gate. For me, the 500 hasn’t always treated me with the best of luck despite bright moments along the way, so I have that fire now, more than ever, to add a Daytona 500 win to my career list of accomplishments, and can’t wait to get down to Florida soon to get the week started.”

Keselowski has a 2016 summer win at Daytona and six other wins at Talladega Superspeedway. Caesars offers him at 16-to-1 to win Sunday.

DAYTONA 500 BETTING RESOURCES

• Date: Sunday, February 14, 2021
• TV-Time: FOX, 2:30 p.m. ET
• Venue: Daytona International Speedway
• Location: Daytona Beach, Florida

I also like the old guys angle as Kurt Busch starts his 23rd Cup season and has a new ride as Bubba Wallace’s new teammate. It seems like yesterday I was watching him win races on the Las Vegas bullring and now he’s on the edge of his career. He has 33 Cup wins and at least one win in each of the last eight seasons. His odds have dropped at Caesars from 20-to-1 down to 17-to-1.

Kevin Harvick enters his 22nd Cup season and is one of the old guys in the series. When he started his first Daytona 500 in 2002, he started against the fathers of three of the starters Sunday – Chase Elliott, Harrison Burton, and Ryan Blaney. He won the 2007 Daytona 500 and wants another as father time is ticking away.

“The superspeedways, in general, are difficult to have everything line up to get a win out of the weekend,“ Harvick said. “For the Daytona 500, it’s our biggest race of the year, but it’s also the one race a year that you have months to prepare for. Every team in the garage has their most prepared car that shows up at the Daytona 500. On top of that, you have the most aggression and enthusiasm to try to take risks and do things that you normally wouldn’t do to win races because the Daytona 500 only comes once a year, and it can make a year and it can also make a career out of winning that race. I think as you look at the Daytona 500, it’s just different than any other race and it becomes difficult to win because of all the risk-taking that you don’t see on a weekly basis.”

Harvick has only two wins in 41 Daytona starts and is being offered at 18-to-1 odds to win by Caesars sportsbooks. He comes off a no-win season following a series-leading nine wins in 2020. My skepticism with him is that co-owner Tony Stewart stretched his time and money into other racing series and by coincidence, only Aric Almirola had a win among the four SHR Fords.

READ MORE HERE........TOP-5 FINISH PREDICTION ON VEGASINSIDER.COM

Denny Hamlin 2022 Daytona 500 Media Day Quotes

Toyota Racing – Denny Hamlin

NASCAR Cup Series Quotes

DAYTONA BEACH (February 16, 2022) – Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin was made available to media prior to the Daytona 500 this Wednesday:

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota Camry TRD, Joe Gibbs Racing

What is your secret to winning so many Daytona 500’s?

“I think ‘wild card’ is a bit gimmicky because it’s not really true, but it is to some extent. We’ve seen a lot of first-time winners here which has all been really legit. I wouldn’t say Michael McDowell was a wild card winner because if you look at previous races, he’d been in the top 10 or top five pretty consistently. It wasn’t really an out of the blue shot there. But, in general, I just think I have a good understanding of the air here and how it moves around the walls. Talladega is different. If you look at our results, we haven’t won as much at Talladega, but we’ve been pretty good. Here, there is just something about – whatever it is – the banking or the width of the track, height of the walls or something that I just kind of know where those little pockets of air are it seems like that are a little bit better. We have a new car now and it’s going to move around a little bit different and we will probably be learning just like everyone else will be this weekend. I don’t know that the advantage really will be as big as what it was in the past.”

Why will the new Driver Advisory Council be different than those in the past and why was now the right time to get it back together?

“I think it’s been a long time coming. Certainly, I think that it’s been worked on for a while. I think this just kind of gives us one uniform voice. I guess we’re going to be speaking through Jeff (Burton) and Kyle (Petty) a lot. What it allows us to do is internally talk about issues that we see or things that we think could help make the sport better, talk about that and then let them deliver that one voice. Where a lot of times what happens in the past is that – and sometimes you see this in the RTA meetings — where the kids get chasing around a soccer ball and the next thing you know we’re way off topic and things just don’t really get done. I think this, if you just have one person in the room kind of relaying messages that it certainly will let that group collaborate and make things better.”

As you look forward, what are the things that need to be done?

“I do think that we’ve definitely created a lot of excitement within our sport and there’s a lot of really good reason for the positive momentum that we’re seeing. Whether it be the Next Gen car and then just the hope that hey, this is something that could be better. That certainly brings hope and optimism. When you go to new markets, whether it be Road America or COTA, we saw fan enthusiasm that we didn’t see at the tracks we’d been to over and over and over. LA as well. I think that those are all very, very good things in our sport that we’re doing. As a driver, you love to see it. As an owner really, we just have one question and that’s what is the cost of it? Any time you do things that are out of the ordinary or adding things there is a cost associated with that. That’s really all I care about on that side, but as a driver you look at this in general and say all these moves are very good for our sport and certainly it looks like we’re gaining some very important traction for us this year.”

From the Clash, is it possible to have a points race on a track that small? From an owner’s perspective, is it better with the cost savings with no pit crew, etc.?

“I always have to think through my answer to make sure I’m not making anyone really mad. From a driver’s perspective, it very, very good. We absolutely could run a points race there. That was a very fun race. They did a fantastic job with that whole – whether it be track, entertainment – it all was absolutely fantastic. It was really good and would love to go back there at that particular track. And even thinking about other venues that would make for a track similar to that. On the ownership side, again all we think about is cost. When we look at where our teams net there it was bad. It was really, really bad because it was very expensive for us to go there with significant damage to the 45. When you look at what we win versus what we pay out it just didn’t add up.”

How has Bubba’s activism helped grow the McDonald’s partnership?

“I think it was very important for our team in general to just be different. Our team is organized differently, we operate differently within our four walls. We probably look a little differently with our cars. There’s just a lot of things that we like to do that is just a bit different. If you look at the Jordan brand in general, you would say that their style is different than the norm. I think they’re more likely to reach out and test the barriers. I remember when we were talking about branding and things like that with our team with Michael (Jordan), he’s like ‘I would like to push the boundaries but let me know when I’m getting outside the spectrum.’ I think those are things that certainly when we saw our audience in LA, they don’t wear the norm, but it’s something that I guarantee that this drop of this special collection will get eaten up very, very quickly probably by the younger demographic and next thing you know you have people wearing NASCAR gear again.”

How much do you expect to see new guys run up at the front during the first part of the season with the new car?

“Temper expectations on that. The quote of level playing field is probably overused. Certainly, probably a tighter box from front to back but again it’s just teams find ways. If you look at single car runs yesterday, the same guys that have been on all of the poles have been the fastest. While technically you’re able to put the same parts off of his car on my car and my car on his car, what really has changed? Well, nothing really except maybe the motor is different and the body is different but they’re significantly faster. You’re still going to have the team’s resources to find a way to make the car faster than the teams that just bolt it together.”

What’s the difference in winning as an owner versus winning as a driver? How significant was Bubba’s victory in Talladega?

“It’s very significant. The timing of it was very significant for us certainly. If you can win in your first year as a team it’s a huge accomplishment, so it was very important just on so many fronts. It renewed enthusiasm. McDonalds hasn’t been in victory lane as a primary sponsor in decades before that. It’s just reinvigorating their excitement within our sport and certainly that goes a long way. When they come to us and now, they’re looking to sponsor Kurt Busch that’s a good thing right. These are all really good things for us. We’ve done a great job on the partner front. The team is really doing well. I think that we’ve been able to really keep the momentum with our team going from when we initially said we were going to start this 16 months ago to this point I think the enthusiasm for our team has kind of remained the same and it hasn’t just fell off a cliff and you’re now just one of the cars out there running. That has allowed us to gain some enthusiasm with our partners and them expanding to new and better levels, and certainly helps us to do the things like what we did this offseason, which is expand to a champion driver and a crew chief that have worked together that will have great results this year.”

How far do you think Bubba Wallace is away from being a Playoff contender? Do you think you can get both cars in the Playoffs this season?

“I do. I do think it’s possible. I think a goal for us to have both cars in the Playoffs. I think Bubba (Wallace) isn’t far off from that. It’s one DNF away – when you look at the standings of who is a contender to beat. I remember last year we were talking with two races to go from the Playoffs – two or three races to go – and it was like ‘We’re 30 points behind. That’s not that much.’ It’s not that much. You can gain a couple spots a week and on average change a drivers finish from 20th to 18th and you’re there. It’s not that much and you really won’t see that much but yet you’ll see a big change in the standings. That’s just the way our sport works. I think in general the average finish of the field is going to go up this year. Maybe not for the guys in the back who ran in the back pretty much every week, but really, you’re top 10 I would say in average finish probably will go up at least a few points than where we’ve been in the past just because of mechanical failures, wrecks, all those things will be up dramatically this year. It will be important to finish races and finish to the best of your ability and not stretching for one point and then making a mistake and losing 20.”

How can your prior success be brought to this weekend?

“That was our practice ultimately and I think that we all kind of knew that going into the test and I was pushing Kurt (Busch) pretty heavily and Joey (Logano) and I were blocking pretty heavily and pushing each other which that is what we’re going to be doing in the 500. I don’t know that you’ll see that really in practice here or even in the 150s. Simply because the way my team explained it to me is that if we crash here in the test, we have time to overcome it, but on the race week it will be very, very tough to overcome any damage. I think that was the moment where okay if we’re going to push the limits let’s do it here, do it now. So, that’s why we spent two days here being as aggressive as we were because my crew chief said to enjoy while you can because you’re not going to be doing it again until the 500.”

How do you figure out who to answer to with all your roles now?

“That’s a good question and it’s a tough balance honestly. It’s not a tough balance when you’re talking about how can we grow this sport together and make it better together. But it is different at times because you’re wanting your messaging to be positive, but you also have to be realistic. On the ownership side I’m probably more on the realistic side because we see all aspects of it. The driver side, I’m optimistic and then on the NASCAR front side and management and all of that I’m optimistic as well. It’s just each portion has a different level of concern and some of it is high, and some is low, but I always just try to be honest with my answers and try not to put on the rose-colored glasses and say everything is okay, everything is okay while a dumpster fire is going on right behind my back. It’s a tough balance because you want to do your job to help promote and make the sport a very positive place which in the general scheme of things it definitely is. But then there are concerns and little dumpster fires here and there that you’ve just got to make sure that you keep an eye out on and it doesn’t expand into something bigger.”
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2022 NASCAR Cup Series: New Drivers and New Teams

Cup Garage: New faces in new places

Much like the shuffling of a deck of cards, several drivers in the offseason made moves to different organizations in the NASCAR Cup Series making several new faces in new places in 2022.

The 2004 Cup Series champ and Las Vegas native, Kurt Busch, was one of the drivers to join a new team for the 2022 season as the 42-year-old will be bringing his expertise of over 750 NASCAR Cup Series starts to 23XI Racing’s newly formed No. 45 Toyota team with crew chief Billy Scott. 23XI Racing is Busch’s seventh different organization he has driven for in the NASCAR Cup Series; joining Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing, Team Penske, Phoenix Racing, Furniture Row Racing, Stewart-Haas Racing and Chip Ganassi Racing. Busch won the Daytona 500 in 2017 and is looking to become the 13th different driver in the series history to win multiple Daytona 500s.

Announced last season, Brad Keselowski has joined Roush Fenway Racing and in process purchased an ownership stake in the company and starting in 2022 the organization has been rebranded to Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing (RFK Racing). The 2012 NASCAR Cup Series champion, Keselowski, will pilot the No. 6 Ford with crew chief Matt McCall on the pit box. Keselowski is still looking for his first Daytona 500 victory, one of the last few jewels left to add to his crown of achievements in the sport. His best finish in the Great American Race is third back in 2014.

A vacancy in the No. 2 Ford at Team Penske provides the perfect opportunity for NASCAR Xfinity Series champion (2020) Austin Cindric to take the next step in his career and into the NASCAR Cup Series fulltime. The son of Team Penske’s President Tim Cindric, Austin will drive the No. 2 Ford with the guidance of crew chief Jeremy Bullins. Cindric made his NASCAR Cup Series career debut in last season’s Daytona 500; he started 39th and raced his way up to a 15th-place finish.

With Trackhouse Racing’s acquisition of the Chip Ganassi Racing assets at the conclusion of the 2021 season, the organization expanded to a two-car team and signed Ross Chastain to be the driver for the newly formed No. 1 Chevrolet team. Chastain will be working with crew chief Phil Surgen this season and the pair will make their debut this weekend as both look for their first Daytona 500 victory. Chastain has made three Daytona 500 starts and posted his career-best finish of seventh in last season’s race.

Another graduate into the NASCAR Cup Series this season is Harrison Burton. The second generation racer spent the last two full seasons with Joe Gibbs Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series earning the Sunoco Rookie of the Year honors in 2020 and making the Playoffs both seasons (2020-2021). Now the 20-year-old will have his shot at driving the famous Wood Brothers Racing’s No. 21 Ford with crew chief Brian Wilson at his side. Burton made his NASCAR Cup Series career debut last season at Talladega Superspeedway where he started 39th and finished 20th. This weekend will be his first attempt at competing in the Daytona 500.

Following in his father David Gilliland’s footsteps, Todd Gilliland will take the reins of the No. 38 Ford for Front Row Motorsports in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2022. Gilliland has spent the last three full seasons competing in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. This season, Gilliland will be working with crew chief Seth Barbour. Gilliland will be making his series career debut this weekend at Daytona.

Kaulig Racing has made the fulltime jump to the NASCAR Cup Series in 2022 and will have Justin Haley piloting the newly formed No. 31 Chevrolet Team with a rotation of drivers (AJ Allmendinger, Daniel Hemric and Noah Gragson) sharing the seat time in the No. 16 Chevrolet. Kaulig Racing made big splash in the NASCAR Cup Series after winning the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course race in their first part-time season in the series.

One other group to keep your eye on this season is The Money Team Racing (TMT Racing) a newly formed race team by boxing legend Floyd Mayweather. TMT Racing will have Tony Eury Jr. as crew chief and Kaz Grala as the driver of the No. 50. The team will look to make their series debut this weekend at Daytona.

 

The unknown of Next Gen car on superspeedways with full field

THE SEASON OF ‘NEW’

A season full of new kicked off last weekend when NASCAR’s premier series took on the .25-mile track built within the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for the traditional Busch Light Clash. Not only was it a new venue for the series, but the event marked the on-track competition debut of the NASCAR Next Gen cars. All eyes are set on the 2.5-mile high-banked superspeedway as the Daytona 500 officially starts the points-paying action for the Next Gen Camaro ZL1.

“With the Clash race at the LA Coliseum behind us, it’s time to look forward to the points racing debut of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Camaro ZL1 Next Gen car,” said Pat Suhy, GM Manager, NASCAR Competition. “While there was an organizational test at the track in January, there wasn’t a full field of cars. Drivers practiced drafting together at that test at various times, but nowhere near as aggressively as we’ll see with 40 of them trying to win the biggest race of the season and lock themselves into the first round of the playoffs. The 2022 Daytona 500 is going to be an exciting learning experience for Chevrolet and our teams.”

Brad Keselowski is 16/1 to win his first Daytona 500

Team: No. 6 Kohler Generators Ford Mustang

Crew Chief: Matt McCall
Twitter: @RFK6Team, @RFKRacing and @keselowski

Race Format: 500 miles, 200 laps

Qualifying – Wednesday, Feb. 16 at 8 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM Channel 90
Duels – Thursday, Feb. 17 at 7 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM Channel 90
Daytona 500 – Sunday, Feb. 20 at 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX, MRN, SiriusXM Channel 90

ADVANCE NOTES

Speedweeks Format

· While the schedule for Daytona Speedweeks has changed over the years, the format remains the same for teams heading into the Daytona 500.

· Following a pair of practice sessions Tuesday evening, drivers will go for the pole in qualifying Wednesday night, which sets the lineup for the front row for Sunday’s Daytona 500.

· That qualifying session will feature two rounds, with the top-10 speeds in round one moving on to round two. The fastest two cars in round two will lock in as the front row.

· The single-car qualifying results otherwise will set the lineups for Thursday’s duels. Cars finishing first, third, fifth, seventh, etc. in single-car runs will comprise the field for Duel 1. The cars in even-numbered positions will comprise the field for Duel 2.

· Results from those Duels will set the starting lineup for ‘The Great American Race.’ The finishers from Duel 1 will line up on the inside row in order of their Duel finish, while the finishers from Duel 2 will line up outside in order of their finish.

Keselowski at Daytona International Speedway

· Keselowski makes his 26th overall Cup start Sunday in Daytona, and 13th start in the Daytona 500. In 12 Daytona 500 starts all-time, Keselowski has two top-10s and a best finish of third, which came back in 2014. A year prior, he crossed the line fourth.

· Most recently, Keselowski finished 13th in a chaotic 500 last February. He does have one win at ‘The World Center of Racing,’ which came in the 2016 summer event. Overall Keselowski has five top-10s in Cup racing at DIS.

· Keselowski has two top-10 qualifying efforts in the Daytona 500, including a top result of seventh in 2017. He also started ninth in the 2020 season kick-off event.

· Keselowski enters the week with four top-10s in the Duels all-time, including a P4 finish in 2020. Last season he ran 11th in duel No. 2. Thursday will mark his 14th start in the Duels.

· In Xfinity action, Keselowski made 15 starts at Daytona with seven top-10s and a best finish of second (twice – 2012, 2014). He also made three Truck Series starts with a seventh-place run in 2005.

Matt McCall at Daytona International Speedway

· McCall enters his eighth full-time season as a crew chief in the Cup Series. He will be atop the box for his eighth Daytona 500 on Sunday where he carries a best finish of 16th (2018).

· Despite no top-10s in the Daytona 500, McCall does have a P10 finish with Kurt Busch in the 2019 summer race. His best Daytona 500 qualifying effort came with Jamie McMurray in 2017 when the duo ran second in the Duel to qualify third for the 500.

QUOTE WORTHY

Keselowski on racing in the Daytona 500:
“I’m excited to see this all come together and happy to get this journey going. Daytona is obviously one of the most special places you will ever race, and for us it is a great opportunity to put our stake in the ground early and right out of the gate. For me, the 500 hasn’t always treated me with the best of luck despite bright moments along the way, so I have that fire now, more than ever, to add a Daytona 500 win to my career list of accomplishments, and can’t wait to get down to Florida soon to get the week started.”

Last Time Out

Keselowski failed to advance to the main event at the Clash at the Coliseum two weeks ago in Los Angeles.

On the Car

Kohler Generators begins its second season with RFK Racing in 2022, and kicks it off as the primary partner aboard Keselowski’s machine for the Daytona 500. Kohler Generators will serve as the anchor partner for the No. 6 team, and serve as the primary partner for 14 races this season. Kohler initially joined the RFK family in 2021 as a partner in eight events with the No. 6 team.

About Kohler Co.
Founded in 1873 and headquartered in Kohler, Wisconsin, Kohler Co. is one of America’s oldest and largest privately held companies comprised of more than 40,000 associates. Kohler is a global leader in the manufacture of kitchen and bath products; engines and power systems; premier cabinetry, tile and lighting; and owner/operator of two of the world’s finest five-star hospitality and golf resort destinations in Kohler, Wisconsin, and St. Andrews, Scotland.

A global force in power solutions since 1920, Kohler manufactures engine

Kevin Harvick is 18/1 to win 2022 Daytona 500

 

KEVIN HARVICK Daytona Speedweek Pole Qualifying | Duel | Daytona 500 No. 4 Busch Light Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing

Event Overview

●  Wednesday, Feb. 16:  Daytona 500 qualifying (single-lap qualifying to determine pole for the Daytona 500)      ●  Time/TV/Radio: 8 p.m. ET on FS1/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio   ●  Thursday, Feb. 17:  Bluegreen Vacations Duel (twin 150-mile qualifying races that set the field for the Daytona 500)      ●  Time/TV/Radio: 7 p.m. ET on FS1/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio    ●  Sunday, Feb. 20:  64th annual Daytona 500 (first of 36 points-paying NASCAR Cup Series races in 2022)      ●  Time/TV/Radio: 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Notes of Interest

●  The 64th running of the Daytona 500 on Feb. 20 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway will be Kevin Harvick’s21st career start in The Great American Race. His first Daytona 500 came 20 years ago on Feb. 17, 2002. He started second in that race and finished 36th after getting collected in a multicar accident on lap 150.   ●  Of the 43 drivers who competed in the 2002 Daytona 500, only two are entered in this year’s race – Harvick and Kurt Busch. The 64th Daytona 500 will be Harvick’s 755th career NASCAR Cup Series start and Busch’s 756th career Cup Series start. The next closest driver to either Harvick or Busch who is entered in this year’s Daytona 500 is Kyle Busch, Kurt’s younger brother. He will make his 607th career Cup Series start in the Daytona 500.   ●  In the 2002 Daytona 500, three of the drivers Harvick and Busch competed against were Bill Elliott, Jeff Burton and Dave Blaney. In the 2022 Daytona 500, Harvick and Busch will compete against their sons, as Chase Elliott, Harrison Burton and Ryan Blaney follow in the footsteps of their fathers.   ●  Trivia Time! How many NASCAR Hall of Famers competed in the 2002 Daytona 500? Answer: Nine. They are Mark Martin (finished sixth), Jeff Gordon (finished ninth), Elliott (finished 11th), Dale Jarrett (finished 14th), Rusty Wallace (finished 18th), Terry Labonte (finished 20th), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (finished 29th), Bobby Labonte (finished 34th) and Tony Stewart (finished 43rd). Who won the race? Answer: Ward Burton by .193 of a second over Elliott Sadler. It was the fourth of his five career NASCAR Cup Series victories. (FYI: Ward Burton is Jeff Burton’s brother and Harrison Burton’s uncle.)   ●  Five years and one day after Harvick’s Daytona 500 debut, he won the 2007 Daytona 500. He edged the aforementioned Martin for the victory by .02 of a second in a frantic green-white-checkered finish. It is the second closest finish in Daytona 500 history, trailing only Denny Hamlin’s .01-of-a-second advantage over Martin Truex Jr., in 2016.   ●  To earn a spot in this year’s Daytona 500, drivers must first compete in the Bluegreen Vacations Duel – twin 150-mile qualifying races that set the 40-car field for the Daytona 500. Harvick has won his Duel race twice (2013 and 2019). The driver of the No. 4 Busch Light Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing is currently on a run of six straight top-five finishes in the Duel, and he has finished among the top-10 in 12 of his last 14 Duel races, including the past seven (2015 to present).   ●  Before drivers compete in the Duel, they race the clock in single-lap qualifying. The two fastest cars are locked into the field while the rest of the drivers are split into the Duel. Odd-numbered drivers are in the first Duel and even-numbered drivers are in the second Duel. Harvick has never started on the pole for the Daytona 500, but he did take the outside pole once – 2002 in his first Daytona 500. Harvick lapped the 2.5-mile oval in 48.447 seconds at 185.770 mph, just .016 of a second off the pole-winning time of Jimmie Johnson.    ●  The 2022 season marks Harvick’s 22nd year in the NASCAR Cup Series. Of his 754 career, points-paying starts, 41 of them have come on Daytona’s 2.5-mile oval. In addition to his 2017 Daytona 500 victory, Harvick won the 2010 Coke Zero 400. He has 11 top-fives and 16 top-10s on the Daytona oval. The 64th Daytona 500 will be his 42nd points-paying start on the Daytona oval.   ●  Outside of the NASCAR Cup Series, Harvick has made 19 career NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Daytona and three IROC starts. Of Harvick’s 47 Xfinity Series wins, only one is at Daytona – the 2007 season opener. And Harvick’s best IROC finish at Daytona is seventh, earned twice (2003 and 2004). Harvick is a two-time Xfinity Series champion (2001 and 2006) and the 2002 IROC champion.   ●  Pristine Auction, an online auction site specializing in autographed memorabilia, sports cards, coins, art and collectibles, has joined Stewart-Haas Racing as an associate sponsor of Harvick’s No. 4 Busch Light Ford Mustang and that of teammate Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang. Since the inception of the family-owned company in 2010, Pristine Auctions has grown from a spare bedroom to two facilities in Phoenix that totals more than 60,000 square feet and a staff of over 150 team members. Pristine Auction works with top authentication companies to ensure that all items offered are 100 percent authentic, making them a top destination for collectors and sellers globally.

Kevin Harvick, Driver of the No. 4 Busch Light Ford Mustang

You’re often asked about your strategy in a superspeedway race. But what strategy is there for the entire week of Daytona, where you want to show speed, but also keep a clean car through practice, qualifying, the Duel and then, finally, the Daytona 500? “As you go through the week, it’s that evolution of the enthusiasm ramping up as you get closer to the Daytona 500. You have to maintain a pretty even-keeled approach to things just because of the fact that you don’t want to be so jacked up and make a stupid move and tear up your car before you even get to the Daytona 500. But you also want to get everything that you can because you want to get the best starting position you can and the best pit selection that you can for the 500. It’s a different mentality than any other week because you practice and race and practice and race again. But it’s not just a race. It’s the Daytona 500. So, it’s a different type of enthusiasm headed for the green flag.”   You ran your first Daytona 500 20 years ago. What was that experience like? “For me and my career, a lot of things happened backward, probably the opposite of the way they should have. My first season in Cup (2001), I ran every race but the Daytona 500 because of Dale Earnhardt’s death and replacing him in the car. Coming back to the Daytona 500 in 2002 was probably one of the bigger moments in my career just because of all the hype and anticipation from 2001 that led into the Daytona 500. I think I wound up at the front of a 23-car pileup, so it was definitely one of those moments where you wish you could’ve done it a little bit differently and had the outcome be a little bit better. But the Daytona 500 can get your emotions and twist them upside down and make you just crazy and want to do things that you know you shouldn’t do and take risks that you know you shouldn’t take and aren’t going to work, but you’ll do them anyway just because of it being the Daytona 500. Controlling those emotions and controlling those expectations – controlling the week, really – is important. It used to be 12, 14 days of the buildup to the event – we still have the buildup, it’s a much shorter amount of time – but the plot goes everywhere. You have a good qualifying race, bad qualifying race. You used to have the Clash at Daytona – good Clash, bad Clash. PR day, PR stories, whatever, there’s just a lot of hype and buildup that goes into the race and you can’t get caught up in it.”   You and Kurt Busch are the only two drivers in this year’s Daytona 500 who competed in the 2002 Daytona 500, and now you’ll be racing against three sons of drivers you competed with that day – Chase Elliott (son of Bill), Harrison Burton (son of Jeff) and Ryan Blaney (son of Dave). What’s your reaction to that? “I look at it as being fortunate to be a part of the sport for that long. I’m hoping that it’s just because Bill Elliott, Jeff Burton and Dave Blaney were older as they came into the event and I was just really young, but that isn’t necessarily the case. I guess I’m in their dads’ position now – being in their shoes at the twilight of my career. It’s fun to see the generations of racers come through. Obviously, I’ve been around all those guys for a while now and have seen them all grow up, so it’s been interesting to watch.”   You won the Daytona 500 in 2007. What does it mean to be a Daytona 500 champion? “After you experience what everybody talks about with the Daytona 500 – that it’s not like any other race, and it’s not – you understand the difference between winning any other race and the Daytona 500. It starts with the week. It starts with the anticipation and the buildup to the green flag. When you look at the winner’s list of the Daytona 500, it’s the who’s who of our sport. You celebrate it differently and you have to do different things than you would for any other race. The Daytona 500 is the pinnacle of winning a race in our sport, and forever you get to hear that Daytona 500 champion in front of your name. It was definitely a great day and obviously a pretty close finish. It definitely makes you want to go back for more.”   What does it take to win the Daytona 500? “The superspeedways, in general, are difficult to have everything line up to get a win out of the weekend. For the Daytona 500, it’s our biggest race of the year, but it’s also the one race a year that you have months to prepare for. Every team in the garage has their most prepared car that shows up at the Daytona 500. On top of that, you have the most aggression and enthusiasm to try to take risks and do things that you normally wouldn’t do to win races because the Daytona 500 only comes once a year, and it can make a year and it can also make a career out of winning that race. I think as you look at the Daytona 500, it’s just different than any other race and it becomes difficult to win because of all the risk-taking that you don’t see on a weekly basis.”   What’s a Daytona 500 memory that stands out the most for you? “Obviously, winning the 500 in ’07 is the one that sticks out. I think last year, having a chance to win there and everybody crashing and everything that happened toward the end of the race, you’d hoped the outcome was a little bit different. Having driven into victory lane at the Daytona 500 makes you want to drive back into it just because of the fact that you understand how much comes with winning the Daytona 500 and what it means to a season. It makes your whole year all in one moment. But I think winning the 500 was the proudest moment.”   Describe what happened in last year’s Daytona 500. “Last year’s race was one where if things go right, you wind up having a chance to win there at the end. Everything kind of got shook up at the end of the race and we came up just a little bit short and wound up finishing fourth. It was a good week for us, as a company and as a team. That’s definitely the way you want to get the season started.”   What are your expectations for this season? “I feel good, and I think there are really no expectations. As you look at the season, you just have to be ready for a change in direction at the drop of a hat because of where we are with the new car and all the unknowns of what you’re looking for. So, my expectation going into the year is to be ready to adapt. Whether it’s a practice session, qualifying session, the race, it’s all going to be drastically different. You just have to be open-minded to be able to adapt to your surroundings and your situation and not get too wound up about anything because of the fact that next week, it might be different. You just never know, but it’s been the oddest year I’ve ever gone into just because of all the unknowns and all the differences with the car. I think you just have to be somewhat relaxed about it and just know that’s the expectation.”   Do you have a specific goal this year? “Our goals never change. It’s to try and put yourself in position to win races and be competitive all year and, hopefully by the end of the year, you’re somewhere in a position to race for a championship.”   There is a new car this year – the NextGen car. What feedback did you get from when teams tested at Daytona in mid-January? “The feedback was that the cars were very comfortable to drive, very stable. It sounds like there may be some tandem racing that comes back into play. And, reading the reports, it sounds like the cars are still very affected by the side draft and that they push well, so it sounds like the speedway racing will be affected the least amount by the new car. It’s everything else that’s going to be drastically different.”

Kyle Busch is 15/1 to win his first Daytona 500

 

KYLE BUSCH Bringing Home the Hardware   HUNTERSVILLE, North Carolina (Feb. 10, 2022) – As the points-paying portion of the 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season is set to begin with Speedweek activities starting Tuesday at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, Kyle Busch has once again turned his attention to filling the space set aside in his trophy case for the one big race he’s yet to win.   Busch, driver of the No. 18 M&M’S Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR), is hoping to check the box of Daytona 500 champion by finally securing the Harley J. Earl Trophy that goes annually to the winner of The Great American Race. Sunday will mark his 17th career Daytona 500 start.   A win in the traditional points-paying season-opener would be one of the most noteworthy accomplishments on Busch’s already impressive resume. The hardware celebrating the important race wins and accomplishments already checked off his list are housed in a large trophy case at his Kyle Busch Motorsports race shop. The list starts with his two Cup Series championships in 2015 and 2019, along with his wins in crown jewel races, starting with the Southern 500 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway in 2008 and back-to-back Brickyard 400s at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2015 and 2016, along with his first points-paying Cup Series win at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway in the Coca-Cola 600 on Memorial Day weekend in 2018, preceded by his first All-Star Race victory at Charlotte in 2017. While Busch will also have his sights set on adding wins at the new venues that have been added to the schedule, the Daytona 500 trophy still remains at the top of his list.   The Las Vegas native begins the pursuit of his first Daytona 500 win and third championship sporting the familiar yellow M&M’S scheme on his No. 18 Toyota. The M&M’S brand will be returning to Busch’s car for its 15th and final season in 2022, along with other Mars Wrigley products highlighted on the car throughout the year, which include a mix of new and familiar products from the SNICKERS, SKITTLES and PEDIGREE brands.   While the Daytona 500 will serve as the points-paying debut of the NASCAR NextGen racecar, the season kicked off early and unlike ever before with the first-ever Cup Series race Feb. 6 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. For his part, Busch made a strong showing in the first on-track activities with the new car as he was fast qualifier, won his heat race, then led a race-high 64 laps but came up just short of a win with a runner-up finish in the Busch Light Clash. The M&M’S driver will look to finish one spot higher in the official debut for the car at Daytona.   The M&M’S Toyota will be on track for Daytona Speedweek starting with practice on Tuesday. It will continue with single-lap qualifying Wednesday night, then Thursday night’s Bluegreen Vacations Duel qualifying races. Busch won his Duel qualifying race in 2009, 2013 and 2016. And the official NASCAR Cup Series season begins in earnest with the Sunday’s Daytona 500 for Busch, who in addition to his three non-points race wins at Daytona, captured his first and only points-paying Cup Series win at the 2.5-mile superspeedway in July 2008.   So, as Busch and his No. 18 M&M’S Camry head back to Daytona for the latest edition of Daytona Speedweek, his sights will be set on winning The Great American Race and hoping to become the 41st driver to grace the Harley J. Earl Trophy as Daytona 500 champion.

KYLE BUSCH, Driver of the No. 18 M&M'S Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing:

You are still going after that first Daytona 500 trophy. Is this the year you are able to get to Daytona 500 victory lane?   “I don’t know if this this is the year or not, but we’ll all have to find out together. It’s been a long time, obviously. I’ve been doing it for quite a while. It’s the last trophy to check off the box. I’ve certainly been close a few times and have been way far away at other times. I feel like the superspeedway thing has not been my knack over the last few years for whatever reason. I’ve been trying to learn on it and watch film and getting better at it in those situations. We had a fast car last year and we had a fast car for all the speedway races. We were up front and leading last year’s race with 15 or so laps to go and had an engine let go. It’s a mix of a lot of luck and some skill, as well. You can be leading going down the backstretch and have someone drill you from behind and crash you, so it’s never over till it’s over and you can get to the finish line and finally put our M&M’S Camry in victory lane there. Our friends at M&M’S have also been trying for years and I’m also hoping we can get it done for them, as well as for myself.”     What do you anticipate it being like to get your feet under you with the new car?   “I think the biggest thing with getting familiar with the new car is just understanding it’s little things that it likes and it doesn’t like, whether it’s setup-wise or even driving-wise. Just how far can you push the limit of the new car? Where are the breaks going to let you go into a corner, or how much grip is the bigger, wider tire going to have? How long does that grip hang on for and when does it fall off? You have to see if it was more or less than before. So, all of those things, there are so many more things to learn. The car being heavier and the driving dynamics of the car and the differential is all way different than anything we’ve ever seen.”   What were your first impressions of the new car when you tested at Charlotte for the first time in December?   “My first test was at Charlotte and it was OK. There was some learning to get through. We heard some of the challenges they had before and we were able to see those and fine tune on them while we were at the test, and go through and fix some of those issues that some of the other guys were having in the earlier tests. So that was nice, that we were able to contribute and find some fixes for some of the things some of the other guys had been battling.”   What are your expectations with the new car at the season’s biggest race, the Daytona 500?   “I think you just have to go out there and race with this new car being at Daytona for the first time. You get a chance to practice and a chance to run it in the Duel races, so you get to get your feet wet a bit to understand how it does in the draft. Until you get in a pack of 40, cars you really aren’t going to have a whole understanding of what it takes and what its limitations are. I think you are going to be learning that as you go and it’s going to be never-ending.”   What are your expectations for Daytona and the first portion of the season?   “I think it’s really important to get a solid foundation. I’ve always kind of focused on that. Ideally you would like to have a good Daytona and a good West Coast swing and kind of see where you’re at and what kind of season you are having and where your team is. That’s always been my goal, but it hasn’t always worked out that way. I’ve blown up or crashed or had other issues at Daytona that set you back, and then you are continually trying to climb yourself back up the ladder. It would be nice to have a solid and painless Speedweek, then going into the West Coast swing and swing for the fences and have a great start to the season.”   What would winning the Daytona 500 mean to you?   “Winning the Daytona 500 would be huge. It’s essentially the last trophy on my checklist that I really need. I also want to win COTA (Circuit of the Americas), Nashville, and all the new tracks, as well, but the Daytona 500 is one that has eluded me, and many others for that matter. I would certainly like to think I could get that race checked off my list before it’s all said and done, and to also be known as a Daytona 500 champion in addition to my championships and other race wins.”   Why is the Daytona 500 so difficult to win?   “Because everybody else wants to win it and it’s on all their bucket lists and, of course, it’s a race that 40 people have a chance to go out there and win. I wouldn’t say the same for a race like Vegas. You go to Vegas and obviously that’s a race where probably 10, 12 guys are going to have a chance to win but, when you show up to Daytona, all 40 people will believe they have a chance to win.”

Event Overview:

Wednesday, Feb. 16:  Daytona 500 qualifying (single-lap, two-round qualifying to determine the pole for the Daytona 500) ·        Time/TV/Radio: 8 p.m. ET on FS1/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio   Thursday, Feb. 17:  Duel at Daytona (twin 150-mile qualifying races that set the field for the Daytona 500) ·        Time/TV/Radio: 7 p.m. ET on FS1/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio    Sunday, Feb. 20:  64th annual Daytona 500 (first of 36 points-paying NASCAR Cup Series races in 2022) ·        Time/TV/Radio: 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX/MRN/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio