Long, dark winter gives way to promise with Daytona on tap

Daytona 500: Driver capsules | Lineup

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- NASCAR experienced one of its darkest winters in history.

But the sun is about to shine on the stock-car world Sunday with the 51st running of the Daytona 500.

The economic crisis and financial worries of the world took their toll on the sport, with several teams either shutting down or merging just to keep their doors open.

But after all the shuffling and changing that shook up team and driver rosters, the end result is a leaner and meaner garage area. In some people's minds, it's a more competitive NASCAR that is ready to start its 61st season of operation with the biggest race of the year.

A near-sellout crowd of 180,000 is expected to jam the 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway for Sunday's race, which carries a myriad of interesting storylines as well as potential winners.

Last year's race winner, Ryan Newman, comes back with a new team having left Roger Penske's operation for Stewart-Haas Racing, an organization started by two-time series champion Tony Stewart.

The two open-wheel graduates and Indiana natives joined forces in the offseason. Although they started off "Speedweeks" impressively, including a runner-up finish for Stewart in Thursday's qualifying race, the team now has a major hurdle to climb.

The new teammates crashed in Saturday's final practice session and will be forced to start from the rear of the field.

"Tony and I have been friends for a long time and [joining forces] was an opportunity too good to pass up," said Newman, who hopes to become the first driver in history to win back-to-back Daytona 500s with two different teams. "We'll have our work cut out for us now but this is such a long race and drafting partners are so important I feel like we can get to the front."

There is another intriguing story on the front row as ageless Mark Martin makes his full-time return to the sport looking for his first Daytona 500 victory. After stepping down for two seasons to run a limited schedule, the 50-year-old joins powerhouse Hendrick Motorsports for one final shot at an elusive Sprint Cup Series championship.

Mark Martin gives it one more shot for his first Daytona 500 win and his first Cup title. (Getty Images)

"It's an honor to get the consideration to do this -- to join this team," said Martin, who joins Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and three-peat series champion Jimmie Johnson in the Hendrick stable. "Any driver with a pulse would want to drive the Hendrick 5 car. I did not see this coming and wasn't interested in talking about it, really, with any other teams. I don't know for sure if you guys [the media] comprehend what this really means to me -- the opportunity to work with these guys at this stage of [my] career.

Next to Martin, in the pole position, sits unheralded Martin Truex Jr., a two-time NASCAR Nationwide Series champion who started off the season for his new team in the best possible way.

After spending his entire NASCAR career at Dale Earnhardt Inc., the team created by the legendary seven-time series champion who lost his life in a Daytona accident back in 2001, Truex Jr. finds himself in a newly-merged operation between DEI and Ganassi Racing.

The newborn Earnhardt Ganassi Racing team features former Indy 500 winner Juan Pablo Montoya and Truex Jr., who feels confident about his chances to win the biggest race of his career.

"A lot of people thought we had lost our way through this merger," Truex Jr. said. "But this pole shows how focused we are and is a testament to a lot of hard work during the winter that I hope will pay off in a win come Sunday."

While Truex Jr. and Martin do have the advantage of starting up front in Sunday's race, taking the checkered flag will be a difficult task in a 43-car field boasting 11 former Daytona winners and five series champions, including of course Martin's teammate, Johnson, the 2006 Daytona 500 winner.

Sunday's race starts Johnson's season-long quest to become the first driver in NASCAR history to capture four consecutive titles.

"I'm in a place right now where I feel I'm finally good at what I'm doing," Johnson said. "I enjoy that. I want to stay good at it. Now I'm in a spot where I've done it and I'm very proud of all of those good things, but we're doing something special."

Obviously not lacking confidence, the entire No. 48 Hendrick team is poised to find its place in the record books, with a Daytona win its first step.

"Yeah, we want four. Why not?" said crew chief Chad Knaus, the first to guide a driver to three straight championships. "That's why we're here. We think with the team that we've got, the resources that we've got with Hendrick Motorsports and Team Chevrolet behind us, we can definitely go and bid for four championships in a row."

"Why wouldn't we? Give me a reason why not to. I think that's the mentality we've got to have."

The first step in achieving that goal is Sunday at "The World Center of Racing."

Who's hot

Jeff Gordon won his qualifying race Thursday -- the first trip to Victory Lane for the four-time series champion since October 2007 -- and oozes confidence coming into Sunday. "This is the best I've felt anywhere in a long time, especially here at Daytona with the car that I have for Sunday."

Kyle Busch won Thursday's second qualifying race and after coming up short in last year's 500, scored a victory in July's follow-up Independence Day weekend trip to Daytona. "These cars are all over the place down here but we seem to be able to handle that and we have a fast car for sure."

Scott Riggs is one of the several underdog stories in the race, making the 500 for the upstart Tommy Baldwin Racing team. "We came here with a lot of hope and hard work and so far it's paid off," said Riggs. "If we can get this car up front who knows what might happen on Sunday."

Who's not

Kevin Harvick won last Saturday's Budweiser Shootout but the 2007 Daytona 500 winner crashed in Friday's practice session and will be forced to a backup car Sunday. "It's obviously a curveball this late in the week that you don't usually like to deal with. But they'll do a good job in dealing with it and do the right things with the cars. ... Luckily we have a car we know is decent."

Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman will also be at the rear of the field after their Happy Hour crash Saturday. For Newman it will be his third car this week after crashing in Thursday's qualifying race. "No, not the way we wanted to start obviously," said Newman. "But we'll just have to work on the car the best we can and see if we can get it to handle around here in the draft."

Make a note

• The Daytona 500 has not been won by the pole-starter since Dale Jarrett's victory in 2000.
• Chevrolet had won seven straight events at the Florida track from 2004 to 2007, but hasn't won in the past three Daytona events.
• Jeff Gordon has the most Daytona victories among active drivers with six, including three wins in the 500.
• Richard Petty tops the all-time win list at Daytona with 10, including a record seven in the 500.
• Johnson (2006) was the last driver to win the Daytona 500 and Cup championship in the same season.