2012 Daytona 500

The most important and prestigious race of NASCAR is here, the Daytona 500. It will run this Sunday and is one of four restrictor plate races of the year. The restrictor plate along with new rules will ensure even closer racing (pack racing, sometimes three wide) and the dreaded wrecks.

The race has its roots on the Daytona Beach where the race was run partially on the sand and also on the highway (US-1) near the beach. These events featured 200-mile races with stock cars. Eventually, the race moved to the Daytona International Speedway in 1959 and ran for 500 miles.

The speedway itself is 2.5 miles long and the race can be considered official when the halfway point has been reached. The speedway is a tri-oval with banking in turns 1 and 2 and after the "back stretch" turns 3 and 4 are banked as well. The "front stretch" has a bend that is not banked and is considered the most difficult part of the track, since one is taking this turn flat-out with cars beside one, and with any banking.

Qualifying for this race is unique in that some teams must race their way into the Daytona 500 field. The most important features are listed below:
- the first row is set by a times round of qualifying, held on the Sunday before the race,
- the remainder of the field is set by 2 qualifying races
- some teams qualify automatically due to their owner points earned last season.
This year many well-known drivers tried to race their way into the field but fell short. Names like 2-time winner Micheal Waltrip (but the fans will surely appreciate his "live" commentary).



Past event winners:
7 victories: "The King" Richard Petty,
4 victories: Cale Yarborough,
3 victories: Bobby Allison, Dale Jarrett, Jeff Gordon
2 victories: Bill Elliott, Sterling Marlin, Micheal Waltrip

This Sunday, 1:00 PM EST, the following drivers will compete in "The Great American Race":
1. Carl Edwards, 2. Greg Biffle, 3. Tont Stewart, 4. Matt Kenseth, 5. Dale Earnhardt Jr., 6. Regan Smith, 7. Marcos Ambrose, 8. Jimmie Johnson, 9. Jeff Burton, 10. Elliott Sadler, 11. Micheal McDowell, 12. Joey Logano, 13. Kevin Harvick, 14. Kyle Busch, 15. AJ Allmendiger, 16. Jeff Gordon, 17. Robby Gordon, 18. Ryan Newman, 19. Jamie McMurray, 20. Kasey Kahne, 21. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., 22. Mark Martin, 23. Brad Keselowski, 24. Dave Blaney, 25. David Ragan, 26. Martic Truex Jr., 27. Aric Amirola, 28. Kurt Busch, 29. Danica Patrick, 30. Clint Boyer, 31. Denny Hamlin, 32. Bobby Labonte, 33. David Gilliland, 34. Joe Nemechek, 35. Juan Pablo Montoya, 36. Casey Mears, 37. Paul Menard, 38. David Reutimann, 39. Landon Cassill, 40. Trevor bayne, 41. David Stremme, 42. Tony Raines, 43. Terry Labonte.

For more info about Daytona, follow this link to a previous blog: Daytona 24 hrs