Kurt is out, Jimmie is back, and, wait, who has the best career Daytona top-10 percentage?
From the Super Bowl to the Super Bowl of stock-car racing, the country will shift its focus from Arizona to Daytona this week as NASCAR kicks off its 75th season with its biggest event.
Picking a winner for the Daytona 500 is about as easy trying to determine what constitutes a catch, or defensive holding, in the NFL. Maybe we should bring in Nick Sirianni for this one.
But isn’t that part of what makes NASCAR’s biggest race so fun? There has been two straight first-time winners — Michael McDowell in 2021, rookie Austin Cindric last year — while past champions Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson, Brad Keselowski, Martin Truex and Kyle Busch have yet to lift the Harley J. Earl trophy.
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Go figure.
While there’s plenty we don’t know, what we do know is that a capacity crowd will be on hand for the eighth straight time and currently (fingers crossed), the forecast looks perfect.
First gear
While the aforementioned five champions are a combined 0 for 64, there are now just two active former champs who have also won a Daytona 500 — Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick.
That number reduced by one after a concussion forced Kurt Busch into retirement.
But his departure did something else: It left NASCAR without a single active driver who competed against Dale Earnhardt Sr. That’s a first in the Cup Series since 1979.
Second gear
Speaking of Logano, the Daytona 500 will mark the start of his second title defense.
And while conventional wisdom may point to defending a championship being different than trying to win one, Logano disagreed.
“It’s the same,” Logano said via Zoom call on Monday. “We fired off last year, goal was to win the championship. This year we fire off, same thing. The goal doesn’t change because you’re defending a championship. The goal is to win either way. Don’t overcomplicate it.”
Third gear
Sunday will mark just the second Daytona 500 since 2001 without Kurt Busch in the field, but seven-time Cup Series champion and two-time 500 winner Jimmie Johnson is back for the first time since 2020.
Johnson will attempt to qualify in the Legacy Motor Club No. 84 car after buying into the company in the offseason. The Daytona 500 will be one of a handful of starts Johnson plans to make this year.
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And while NASCAR is familiar for Johnson, being an owner is certainly different. For starters, should Johnson crash, he will have to help foot the bill this time around.
“I haven’t thought about that, but I’m going to get a taste of my own medicine, for sure,” Johnson said.
Fourth gear
Again, trying to handicap the Daytona 500 is a dangerous proposition, but if you’re looking for trends and info, here are a few items:
Only four drivers in the field have a career average finish of 15th or higher at Daytona: Cindric (6.3), Bubba Wallace (12.4), Justin Haley (14.2) and Austin Dillon (14.7).
Of drivers with at least 10 starts at Daytona, Dillon has the highest top-10 average at 47.4% (9 for 19).
In the last six Daytona races, Denny Hamlin has led the most laps (206), Ryan Blaney has the most top fives (four) and of drivers who started every event, Wallace has the best average finish at 8.7.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: DAYTONA 500: Busch is out, Jimmie is back and Daytona stats, trends
