Plenty of storylines ahead of 60th Daytona 500

Drivers start your engines; it’s that time of year again.

The NASCAR Monster Energy Cup series is set to kick off with the 60th annual Daytona 500. Last year, it was Kurt Busch taking home the hardware in the “Great American Race” after passing Kyle Larson on the final lap with Ryan Blaney and A.J. Allmendinger coming in second and third, respectively.

TSN.ca takes a look at some of the biggest storylines heading into one of racing’s biggest events.  

Starting lineup

Alex Bowman of Hendrick Motorsports put a familiar car in pole position for this year’s Daytona 500, driving the No. 88 Chevrolet Dale Earnhardt Jr. made a seven-time pole winner throughout his career at Daytona International Speedway. 

"I think it's still a little surreal," said Bowman.

"It's a dream come true just to drive for Hendrick Motorsports," Bowman said. "I never would have thought it would happen after the path my career took."

Bowman, set to race in his second career Daytona 500, turned in a winning qualifying lap at 195.644 mph last Sunday.

"We knew we were going for the pole, that's what we're here to do," Bowman said. "I was a little nervous for that second round, but we took off well on pit road and did everything I could do. This really come down to the crew, everybody works so hard."

Bowman filled in for Earnhardt Jr. for 10 races during the second half of the 2016 season after the icon sustained a concussion. When Earnhardt announced he would retire at the end of the 2017 season, Rick Hendrick gave Bowman the job.  

Bowman is yet to win a Cup Series race and has only ever claimed pole position once before.

Denny Hamlin, 2016’s winner, will occupy the No. 2 spot for Joe Gibbs Racing. Ryan Blaney and Chase Elliott will start third and fourth, respectively. 

Patrick’s last run

Sunday’s Daytona 500 will mark the final scheduled NASCAR race of Danica Patrick’s career.

Patrick announced her retirement in a tear-filled news conference at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November following sponsorship issues and her departure from Stewart-Haas Racing after the signing of Aric Almirola. Now racing under Premium Motorsports, Patrick said she was okay with her decision to walk away.

“I’m ready,” Patrick told For The Win. “The reality of it will probably be a little bit more sad than what I’m making it out to be right now, but I’m ready. And that’s where I arrived to last year. I’m totally good with it at this point.”  

Since crossing over to the Monster Energy Series from the Formula 1 circuit in 2012, Patrick has seven top 10 finishes and 65 top 20s. But much of her success hasn’t come recently. Since the end of the 2015 season, Patrick has just one top 10 finish in 72 starts.

“The routine just really wasn’t making me very happy anymore,” she said. “Life is very short, and it’s important to do things that make you happy. So having a lot of things that are out of my control is a frustrating thing, but I realized it was time to move on and do things in my life that made me smile every day.”

The last scheduled race of Patrick’s career will be the 102nd Indianapolis 500 in May. She will start 28th at Daytona. 

All eyes on Wallace

Darrell Wallace Jr. has some big shoes to fill.

This season, he will be behind the wheel for the iconic No. 43 Chevrolet famously driven by racing legend Richard Petty.

"To be here in front of you guys talking today about my first full-time rookie season, going for the Daytona 500 is all surreal. To look back where I was say six years ago in the truck series, just thinking 'maybe one day I'll get there,” Wallace said.

"Well, I'm here and it's fun to talk about and be a part of and let it all sink in. To enjoy the moment."

The 24-year-old’s rookie campaign projects to be met with much anticipation. As an 18-year old, Wallace had three top 10 finishes in four starts on the Xfinity series in 2012. Through five Xfinity seasons, he has 35 top 10s and six top fives. He also won in his only appearance on the Camping World Truck Series in 2017.

He will also become the first African-American driver to start the Daytona 500 since 1969. Wallace will start seventh on Sunday. 

Looking to break through

Martin Truex Jr. has had plenty of success at Daytona over the years, but is still looking to break through with a victory. He’s been in position to win the past two – losing to Hamlin by one-hundredth of a second in 2016 and leading with two laps to go last year before running out of gas and falling to 13th – but came up just short.

“We come here and go for the win and not worry about points, don’t worry about stage points and stage wins. We just come here to win. We have 35 races remaining after Daytona to figure it out and make up the points. This race is all about winning,” Truex told Mile High Sports. 

Winning is something the 38-year-old is used to. He won last season’s Monster Energy Series Cup with a total of 5,040 points to edge out Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick. He won a Series-leading eight races in 2017, but he says the added pressure isn’t getting to him going into the new season.

"I feel zero pressure about starting the new season," Truex said. "We're comfortable in what we are doing and having a lot of fun at the same time."

Canadian content

D.J. Kennington of St. Thomas, Ont., is the lone Canadian competing in this year’s Daytona 500. He finished 36th last year and became the first driver to start in Daytona’s 500-mile race since Trevor Boys in 1988.

Kennington says he feels the support from racing fans north of the border.

“It’s awesome, to know they support me. I was at my local store grocery shopping for my family and a guy I didn’t even know came up to me and said ‘Shouldn’t you be down South by now?’ and I told him I was heading down in a day or two,” Kennington told Motorsports.com.

“He told me that all of Canada was behind me and to go down there and get ‘em and that really means a lot to know all of Canada is behind me and supporting our efforts.”

Kennington’s best Cup Series finish in 2017 came in Phoenix when he placed 26th. The 41-year-old has 11 career Pinty’s Series victories. 

Changes in the pits

Daytona not only marks the official start of the season, but the start of some new rules on pit road as well. NASCAR announced in November that five crew members are permitted to go over the wall instead of six. They will also be required to use uniform pit guns.

The changes debuted last weekend at the Advanced Auto Parts Clash and some admitted the new rules were a bit of an adjustment.

"I didn't see any pit stops the other day that were very good," Truex said. "Ours were awful. I'm sitting there like, 'Oh my God. This is way worse than I anticipated.' I felt like was sitting there for a minute. And then I came out with the three guys I came in with, so I'm like, 'OK, so we all sucked.' "

“A 16.9 is, obviously it’s quite a bit slower than what we’re used to,” Brad Keselowski’s crew chief Paul Wolfe told NASCAR.com. “And that’s just it — we’re not sure what to expect yet. And speedways are different, as well, from the mile and a half tracks.

“It’s coming along,” Stewart-Haas Racing pit crew coach Joe Piett said on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. “It’s a process. Probably, the six-down-to-five-men over-the-wall change is the biggest change that I’ve seen in almost my 30 years of being part of pit road in some way, shape or form.”

The Daytona 500 gets underway at 2:30 p.m. ET Sunday, Feb. 18, with pre-race coverage beginning at 2:00 p.m across the TSN Network.