Motor Racing Network – “The Voice of NASCAR” – will have live coverage of the 58th running of the Daytona 500 Sprint Cup Series race on Sunday, beginning at 12 p.m. (ET) – with live streaming at MRN.com and on the MRN App. Earnhardt Jr. will be the featured one-on-one interview in the pre-race show.
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Twenty five of the 40 cars qualified for the 500 took to the track in final practice, with Denny Hamlin, Casey Mears, 2015 Cup champion Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson and Martin Truex Jr. among those sitting out the session.
Last year Earnhardt Jr. ended up in third place at the Daytona 500, with Joey Logano finishing first and Kevin Harvick ending up second at that race. Standing in his way now is a lineup as formidable as Howie Long, Marcus Allen and the 1983 Raiders. Elliott, a Sprint Cup rookie of the year candidate, along with Brian Scott and others, starts on the pole for the Daytona 500 on Sunday.
“A typical patient says oh it hurts when I do that, but won’t necessarily be able to explain where it hurts, or the pressure is in this area, where these drivers they give such great feedback”, Breath said.
Earnhardt has his not-so-secret weapon in “Amelia”, the name he has given his favorite restrictor-plate stock auto. The system has been tweaked several times and starts the third year of an elimination format that sends four drivers to Homestead to race for the title. He’s also the son of NASCAR legend Bill Elliott, who also won the pole for a Daytona 500.
DiBenedetto needed to race his way into the line-up either through a qualifying speed or in Thursday night’s Can-Am Duel. It’s just fractions. It’s the hardest thing I have ever done I’ll be honest with you.
There are five former Daytona 500 winners launching from a top-10 starting position. The most recent driver to do so was Dale Jarrett, who won the 2000 Daytona 500 after winning the title in 1999. “You can’t be like buddying up, ‘Oh, man, let me help this guy a little bit get by this guy for a couple laps”.
“You always have some different challenges and you don’t know what they’ll be until they happen so you’ve got to be prepared for anything, and ready to be adapt”, he said. “I think most of you have heard the reason that we came into the sport was to connect with the American fans, to talk about how we build every Camry in America”.
The best plate racers have separated themselves from the field, and those usual suspects are typically the ones in contention. “I feel more experienced and more calm knowing that I’m locked in and have a full-time deal this year”.
“That’s why you see the same guys up there, because they understand the mentality”. The victory was the 75th of Waltrip’s career, and he would win only nine races after. The victory came on the 15th anniversary of his fathers death.
Kyle will slide in the No. 18 Toyota on Sunday, a year after he crashed into a concrete wall the day before the Daytona 500 and broke his right leg and left foot.
For Johnson, though, Thursday’s crash was just another part of racing at Daytona – something unexpected happens that pushes you to the side. “I think it’s his to lose, really”. It’s something that you have to build. It takes time to do it. You have to build the infrastructure of the team and you have to get all your pieces and relationships put together.
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He doesn’t race much these days, but Waltrip can still make some noise when he does get behind the wheel.
