Thursday, February 21, 2013

2013 Daytona 500 Driver Chassis Selections

Brad Keselowski: and the #2 Miller Lite Ford Fusion team will race chassis 654 in the Daytona 500 a brand new chassis for 2013. The backup chassis is 652 a brand new chassis for 2013.

Kasey Kahne: Crew chief Kenny Francis and the #5 team will unload brand new Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 5-768 for the first time in the Feb. 24 Daytona 500.

Danica Patrick will pilot chassis No. 10-758, a brand new chassis for the #10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet Stewart-Haas Racing team.

Tony Stewart: Chassis No. 14-762 is a brand-new racecar that has never turned a wheel on the racetrack, but it has been wind-tunnel tested numerous times.

Greg Biffle: and the Matt Puccia led #16 3M Ford Fusion team will bring Primary Chassis RK-781 to Daytona which hit the track for the first time a year ago in the Daytona 500 and earned a third-place finish. Robbie Reiser has nicknamed RK-781 "Jake" after Puccia's pet cat.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr.: Chassis RK-830 is a brand new chassis for the Rookie of the Year contender. After the Daytona test in January, the #17 team went to work to build a brand new car.

Joey Logano: and the #22 Pennzoil/Shell Ford team will race chassis 653 in the Daytona 500, a brand new chassis for 2013. The backup chassis is 648 a brand new chassis for 2013.

Paul Menard will pilot chassis No. 409 for both the Budweiser Duel and Daytona 500. This #27 PEAK/Menards Chevrolet SS is a new addition to the Richard Childress Racing stable this season. Menard has 11 starts at Daytona International Speedway. His best start of first came in July 2008 and his best finish of sixth came in last year's Daytona 500. The Wisconsin native has completed 1,933 of 1,948 laps attempted at the 2.5-mile superspeedway, leading 37 of them.

Kevin Harvick: will pilot Chassis No.407 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable in both the Budweiser Duel and Daytona 500. New to the fleet, this Budweiser Chevrolet SS will run its first competitive laps at the 2.5-mile superspeedway during Budweiser Speedweeks.

Jeff Burton will race chassis No. 296 in the second Budweiser Duel and Daytona 500. This Caterpillar chassis was utilized last season in the Daytona 500 by Burton and saw action at multiple restrictor-plate events during the 2010 and 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series seasons with driver Clint Bowyer. Burton's has 38 starts at Daytona International Speedway with one win (July 2000), nine top-five and 11 top-10 finishes. Burton also scored the pole position for the 2006 Daytona 500 and has led 145 laps at the historic 2.5-mile superspeedway. Pon CAT, Ring Power CAT and Toromont CAT will be featured on the deck lid of the #31 Caterpillar Chevrolet this weekend in the Daytona 500.

Ryan Newman: Chassis No. 39-664, which has two previous starts in restrictor-plate races, both coming during the 2011 season. Its first start came at Daytona in July 2011. Newman had a strong racecar, evidenced by his leading four times for a race-high 25 laps. But, in the end, he was relegated to a 23rd-place finish thanks to being shuffled out of the lead on the race's final restart and being collected in a last-lap accident. After extensive body work, the chassis returned to action at Talladega in October. Once again, his racecar was strong, but he was the victim of the two-car draft just before the race's halfway point. Newman was spun, which caused major front-end damage. The severe spin in the grass tore off Newman's front-bumper assembly and left him with a heavily damaged racecar and a 38th-place finish. Last season, Chassis No. 39-664 served as a backup car at Daytona and Talladega. Since then, the car's body has been updated for 2013, and it was wind-tunnel tested in January in preparation for the Daytona 500.

Jimmie Johnson: Chassis No. 771 serves as the primary for Johnson in the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway, a brand new chassis. Chassis No. 618 serves as the backup and finished 14th in last years Sprint Unlimited event and 4th in the 2011 event..

Mark Martin: will drive MWR chassis 753 in the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: For the Feb. 24 Daytona 500, crew chief Steve Letarte has selected Chassis No. 88-773. This is a new chassis that has not been raced and will feature the blue National Guard scheme.

Carl Edwards the #99 Fastenal team will be using RK-835 for the Daytona 500. The car debuted this year as the primary for last weekend's Sprint Unlimited, when a wreck in practice forced the team to roll out a backup car and send 835 back to RFR for repairs. The #99 Fastenal Ford Fusion will continue its back to back sponsorship in Daytona where suppliers Milwaukee, GearWrench, Weiler and Rubbermaid will debut on the hood, TV panel, deck lid and B-post.

- compiled by Jayski.com

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