Driver Chassis Selections For Samsung Mobile 500 at Texas

Note: Not all teams list their chassis information in their press releases

Busch not bringing one of his better cars this week 

1. Kyle Busch: Equaled best finish (third) in 12 starts in this event last year; 12.2 average finish and 286 laps led in six starts with Joe Gibbs Racing; Will return in the same car (chassis No. 283) that he last finished 32nd with in its last two starts (Texas and Homestead).

2. Carl Edwards: Three-time winner; Leads all drivers in laps led (344) in the six races with the COT; Crashes in two of the last three events have raised his finishing average to 17.7 in 12 starts; Won the first race of the season on a 1.5-mile track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway; Will debut a new chassis (No. 748) in the Samsung Mobile 500.

3. Jimmie Johnson: Finished second in last three spring events; Winner of the fall race in 2007; Led 39 laps in this event last year; Only finishes outside the top 15 in 15 starts is a pair of 38th-place finishes; 11.3 average finish in the six races with the COT; Will return in the same car (chassis No. 650) that he finished second with last month at Auto Club Speedway.

4. Kurt Busch: Winner of the 2009 fall race; Finished fourth in this event last year; 24th-place finish last fall snapped a streak of three consecutive top-10s; Five top-10s in 10 starts with Penske Racing; 16.8 average finish and 92 laps led in the six races with the COT; Will return in the same car (chassis No. PRS-744) that he finished ninth with at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Harvick going for 3 wins in a row using 2010 Pocono car

5. Kevin Harvick: Coming off third consecutive, and eighth overall, top 10 with a sixth-place finish last fall; Has only led five laps in 16 starts; Fourth-best average finish (10.5) in the six races with the COT; Will return in the same car (chassis No. 309) that he posted fourth-places finishes with on both races at Pocono Raceway in 2010.

6. Ryan Newman: 14.5 average finish in four starts with Stewart-Haas; Posted one win and three top 10s in previous 11 starts with Penske Racing; Has yet to lead a lap in last six starts.

7. Juan Pablo Montoya: 25.1 average finish in eight starts; Last top 10 came in the 2009 spring race; Will return in the same car (chassis No. 1105) that he finished third with at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

8. Dale Earnhardt Jr: Has one pole and an average finish of 17.0 in six starts with Hendrick Motorsports; Finished eighth in this event last year; Posted one win and seven top-10s in previous 11 starts with Dale Earnhardt, Inc; Will return in the same car (chassis No. 617) that he finished eighth with at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

9. Matt Kenseth: Coming off 11th top 10 in 17 starts; 20th-place finish in this event last year snapped a streak of six consecutive top 10s; Third-best average finish (8.0) in the six races with the COT; Won the pole and finished 11th in the first race on 1.5-mile track (Las Vegas) this season; Will debut a new car (chassis No. 741) in the Samsung Mobile 500.

10. Mark Martin: 4.8 average finish in four starts with Hendrick Motorsports; Third-place finish last fall was 11th top 10 in 20 starts; Won the 1998 race with Roush Racing; Second-best average finish (6.5) in the six races with the COT.

Stewart was 2nd fastest in practice

11. Tony Stewart: Won the pole and led 74 laps in this event last year until a crash took him out of contention; 13.3 average finish in four starts with Stewart-Haas; Posted one win and eight top 10s in previous 14 starts with Joe Gibbs Racing; Led 163 laps and finished second in first race of the season on a 1.5-mile track (Las Vegas).

12. Jeff Gordon: Led a race-high 124 laps in this event last year before a crash relegated him to a 31st-place finish; Last of nine top 10s was a win in the 2009 spring race; 21.2 average finish in the six races with the COT.

13. Paul Menard: Coming off best finish in 10th; 23.6 average finish in nine starts; Will debut a new car (chassis No. 351) in the Samsung Mobile 500.

14. AJ Allmendinger: 22.7 average finish in six starts; Best finish came in the 2009 fall race in 10th; Will debut a new car (chassis No. 752) in the Samsung Mobile 500.

15. Kasey Kahne: Finished 13th last fall in first track start with Team Red Bull; Won the 2006 spring race with Evernham Motorsports; Last top 10 (fifth) came in this event last year with Richard Petty Motorsports.

16. Clint Bowyer: Coming off fifth top 10 in 10 starts; Finished 36th in this event last year after a crash took him out of contention; Will pilot a new car (chassis No. 350) in the Samsung Mobile 500.

17. Martin Truex Jr: Finished ninth in this event last year in first track start with Michael Waltrip Racing; Four previous top 10s came with Dale Earnhardt, Inc.

Ragan topped the charts in Thursday's practice

18. David Ragan: Coming off first top 10 in eight starts; 22.1 average finish; Will pilot a new car (chassis No. 750) in the Samsung Mobile 500.

19. Denny Hamlin: Won both races last season; 8.8 average finish in 11 starts; Best average finish (6.3) in the six races with the COT.

20. Greg Biffle: Coming off fifth consecutive top 10; Winner of the 2005 spring race; 612 laps led in 14 starts; Sixth-best average finish (11.7) in the six races with the COT; Will pilot a new car (chassis No. 749) in the Samsung Mobile 500.

Notable Drivers Outside the Top 20

Bobby Labonte: Last of five top-10s came in this event in 2006 with Petty Enterprises; 25.3 average finish in last 10 races; Will make track debut with JTG-Daugherty Racing.

Jamie McMurray: Last of six top 10s (third) came in the 2008 fall race with Roush Racing; 23.0 average finish in first two track starts behind the wheel of an Earnhardt-Ganassi Chevrolet in 2010; 20.2 average finish in the six races with the COT: Will return in the same car (chassis No. 1102) that he finished 27th with at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Brian Vickers: Has yet to post a top 10 in 12 starts; 21.6 average finish in seven starts with Team Red Bull.

Brad Keselowski: Has yet to post a top 10 in five starts; Best finish came in this event last year in 14th; Will return in the same car (chassis No. 745) that he finished 26th with at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

David Reutimann: Won the pole for the 2009 spring race; Engine problems in three races have raised his finishing average to 24.7 in seven starts; Best finish came in the 2008 fall race in 10th.

Joey Logano: Coming off first top 10 (fourth) in five starts after leading 30 laps; 24.2 average finish; Will return in the same car (chassis No. 297) that he finished 23rd with at Las Vegas Motor Speedway after a late-race tire violation.

Jeff Burton: Winner of the inaugural and 2007 spring race; Has posted six top-10s with Richard Childress Racing; 14.2 average finish in the six races with the COT; Will return in the same car (chassis No. 344) that he finished 21st with at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Daytona 500 Facts and Notes From the 51 Previous Great American Races

Compiled by Mike Forde

NASCAR Media Services

Daytona 500 Tidbits

* The 2010 edition will be the 52nd running of the Daytona 500.
* Although the first Daytona 500 was held in 1959, it has been the season-opener only since 1982.
* 510 drivers have competed in at least one Daytona 500; 300 in more than one.
* 33 drivers have won a Daytona 500.
* Eight drivers have won more than one Daytona 500, led by Richard Petty with seven victories.
* Fred Lorenzen posted a top-10 finish in eight of his nine Daytona 500s, the best percentage of drivers who have competed in more than two Daytona 500s.
* Dale Earnhardt finished in the top 10 in 16 of his 23 Daytona 500s.
* Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty each had 16 top 10s in the Daytona 500, more than any other driver.
* Dale Earnhardt had 12 top fives in the Daytona 500, more than any other driver.
* Only 13 drivers have an average finish of 10th or better in the Daytona 500, six of those competed in the Daytona 500 only once.
* Kevin Harvick has a 12.9 average finish in eight appearances, the best of the active drivers who have competed in more than one Daytona 500.
* Other than Lee Petty, who won the inaugural Daytona 500, no driver has ever won in his first appearance.
* 27 of the 33 drivers who have won, participated in at least two Daytona 500s before visiting Victory Lane.
* Dale Earnhardt competed 19 times before winning his only Daytona 500 (1998), the longest span of any of the 33 race winners.
* Six drivers made 10 or more attempts before their first Daytona 500 victory: Dale Earnhardt (19), Buddy Baker (18), Darrell Waltrip (16), Bobby Allison (14), Michael Waltrip (14) and Sterling Marlin 12). Last year’s winner, Matt Kenseth, won it in his 10th try.
* The most Daytona 500s all-time without a victory was Dave Marcis (33 races).
* Mark Martin (25) leads active drivers without a victory. He will start on the pole for this year’s race.
* Six drivers posted their career-first victory with a win in the Daytona 500: Tiny Lund (1963), Mario Andretti (1967), Pete Hamilton (1970), Derrike Cope (1990), Sterling Marlin (1994) and Michael Waltrip (2001).
* Three other drivers posted their career-first victory in (point-paying) qualifying races: Johnny Rutherford (1963), Bobby Isaac (1964) and Earl Balmer (1966).
* Only eight drivers have won the Daytona 500 more than once: Richard Petty (seven), Cale Yarborough (four), Bobby Allison (three), Dale Jarrett (three), Jeff Gordon (three), Bill Elliott (two), Sterling Marlin (two) and Michael Waltrip (two).
* A driver has won back-to-back Daytona 500s three times. Richard Petty (1973-74), Cale Yarborough (1983-84) and Sterling Marlin (1994-95)
* Kevin Harvick’s 0.020-second margin of victory over Mark Martin in the 2007 Daytona 500 is the ninth-closest overall since the advent of electronic timing in 1993, and the closest in a Daytona 500.
* 26 of the 51 Daytona 500s have been won from a top-five starting position.
* Matt Kenseth won the Daytona 500 from the 39th starting position last year, the deepest a race winner has started.
* Nine have been won from the pole. The last to do so was Dale Jarrett in 2000.
* 15 Daytona 500s have been won from the front row.

Daytona History
* Groundbreaking for Daytona International Speedway was Nov. 25, 1957. The soil underneath the banked corners was dug from the infield of the track and the hole filled with water. It is now known as Lake Lloyd.
* The first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Daytona was a 100-mile qualifying race for the Daytona 500 on Feb. 20, 1959.
* Richard Petty won his 200th career race on July 4, 1984 at Daytona.
* Lights were installed in the spring of 1998. However, the race was delayed until October that year due to thick smoke from wildfires. The second Daytona race has been held under lights ever since.

Daytona Notebook
There have been 125 NASCAR Sprint Cup races since the track hosted its first race in 1959: 51 have been 500 miles, 47 were 400 miles and four 250 miles. There were also 23 qualifier races that were point races.
* Fireball Roberts won the inaugural pole at Daytona.
* Bob Welborn won the first race at Daytona, the 100-mile qualifying race for the Daytona 500.
* Lee Petty won the inaugural Daytona 500 on Feb. 22, 1959.
* Fireball Roberts won the first 400-mile race at Daytona, the 1963 Firecracker 400.
* 52 drivers have posted poles at Daytona; 19 have more than one.
* Cale Yarborough leads all drivers with 12 poles at Daytona.
* Bill Elliott leads all active drivers with five poles at Daytona.
* 52 drivers have won at Daytona; 24 have won more than once.
* Richard Petty leads all drivers in victories at Daytona with 10.
* Jeff Gordon has six victories at Daytona, more than any other active driver.
* The Wood Brothers have won 14 races at Daytona, more than any other car owner.
* 16 full-length races at Daytona have been won from the pole, including last July’s Coke Zero 400, won by polesitter Tony Stewart.
* A driver has swept both races at Daytona only four times, most recently by Bobby Allison in 1982.

NASCAR in Florida
* There have been 162 NASCAR Sprint Cup races in Florida.
* 156 drivers in NASCAR’s three national series have their home state recorded as Florida.
* There have been nine race winners whose hometown is Florida in NASCAR’s three national series.

Daytona International Speedway Data
Race #: 1 of 36 (2-14-10)
Track Size: 2.5 miles
Race Length: 500 miles (200 laps)
Banking/Corners: 31 degrees
Banking/Straights: 3 degrees
Banking/Tri-Oval: 18 degrees

Driver Loop Rating at Daytona
Tony Stewart 108.2
Kyle Busch 101.0
Matt Kenseth 96.1
Jimmie Johnson 94.3
Kurt Busch 92.5
Jeff Gordon 91.9
Dale Earnhardt Jr. 87.3
Ryan Newman 85.9
Clint Bowyer 84.6
Jeff Burton 83.5
Note: Driver Rating compiled from 2005-2009 races (10 total) at Daytona.

Qualifying/Race Data
2009 pole winner: Martin Truex Jr. (188.001 mph, 47.872 seconds)
2009 race winner: Matt Kenseth (132.816 mph, 2-17-08)
Qualifying record: Bill Elliott (210.364 mph, 42.783 secs., 2-9-87)
Race record: Buddy Baker (177.602 mph, 2-17-80)

Estimated Pit Window: 36-38 laps depending on fuel mileage