Hendrick Motorsports didn’t fall asleep during NASCAR’s short break following the 2009 Sprint Cup season — the team members didn’t even take a catnap.
It appears they worked a little bit harder than the rest as evidenced by today’s starting lineup for the Daytona 500.
Mark Martin on the pole, Dale Earnhardt Jr. on his outside and that man Jimmie Johnson third on the grid shows Hendrick is still the team to beat as the Cup season officially kicks off on a cool, sunny afternoon at Daytona Beach, Fla.
While Jeff Gordon will start midfield, in 21st position, it shouldn’t take long for the Hendrick veteran and four-time Cup champion to carve through the field in the No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet.
But there is a pack of hungry racers at Daytona today who are tired of playing second fiddle to Jimmie and friends.
Begin with Kevin Harvick, who is leading a revival at Richard Childress Racing, or so it appears. Harvick, who finished 19th in series points in 2009, won the Bud Shootout last weekend and finished a fraction of a second behind winner Johnson in the first Gatorade Duel race Thursday — and did it suffering from flu.
Harvick starts fifth today in the No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil Chevy and will be extremely motivated to put RCR back on the map. And, remember, he knows his way around the giant 2 1/2-mile track — he won the 500 in 2007 and finished second last year.
Harvick’s RCR teammate, Clint Bowyer, will start from the ninth position in the No. 33 Cheerios/Hamburger Helper Chevy and won’t leave anything on the table. He’s aggressive, and given any type of a chance in the closing laps, will make his move and won’t take any nonsense doing it.
Kasey Kahne brought Richard Petty Motorsports back to Victory Lane in 2009 when he won at Infineon in June. He drove his No. 9 Budweiser Ford — that’s right, Petty is running the Blue Oval cars this season — to victory in the second Gatorade Duel and finished second to Harvick in the Shootout. He won six Cup races for Evernham Motorsports in 2006 and could begin with a splash at Daytona, where he starts fourth.
And then there’s owner-driver Tony Stewart (Stewart-Haas Racing), who is a two-time Cup champion, a two-time Brickyard 400 winner and still without a Daytona 500 victory.
Stewart wants a 500 win badly — perhaps almost as much as an Indianapolis 500 victory. But with little hope these days of him ever racing an Indy car again, or fitting into one, Daytona is the trophy he savors.
Stewart finished eighth in 2009 after qualifying fifth and starts sixth today in the No. 14 Old Spice/Office Depot Chevy. He has looked racy at Daytona this month, finishing ninth in the Shootout and second to Kahne in Gatorade Duel 2, so he must be a factor in the finish this afternoon.
The huge crowd will root on Earnhardt, who is coming off a nightmarish 2009 season, where he finished 25th in Cup points, the worst result in his NASCAR career in any series. Junior qualified second for the 500 on pole day, finished 11th in the Shootout and 21st in the second Gatorade Duel race. His No. 88 AMP Energy/National Guard Chevy has plenty of speed, though, and it’s not beyond reason that he could add today to his 2004 Daytona 500 victory.
Kyle Busch (Toyota), Kurt Busch (Dodge), Greg Biffle (Ford) and defending 500 champion Matt Kenseth (Ford) are among a group who could upset them all.
Daytona 500 lineup
Today, 11 a.m. KDVR-31
Pos. No. Driver Car Speed
1. (5) Mark Martin Chevrolet 191.188
2. (88) Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 190.913
3. (48) Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 190.359
4. (9) Kasey Kahne Ford 189.056
5. (29) Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 188.996
6. (14) Tony Stewart Chevrolet 189.374
7. (18) Kyle Busch Toyota 190.054
8. (42) Juan Pablo Montoya Chevrolet 190.408
9. (33) Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 190.118
10. (2) Kurt Busch Dodge 190.359
11. (78) Regan Smith Chevrolet 188.699
12. (19) Elliott Sadler Ford 188.533
13. (1) Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 189.593
14. (56) Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 188.727
15. (43) AJ Allmendinger Ford 189.255
16. (20) Joey Logano Toyota 189.693
17. (39) Ryan Newman Chevrolet 190.577
18. (47) Marcos Ambrose Toyota 189.757
19. (6) David Ragan Ford 189.282
20. (00) David Reutimann Toyota 189.314
21. (24) Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 190.05
22. (83) Brian Vickers Toyota 188.628
23. (16) Greg Biffle Ford 188.411
24. (17) Matt Kenseth Ford 190.05
25. (11) Denny Hamlin Toyota 189.072
26. (12) Brad Keselowski Dodge 189.737
27. (99) Carl Edwards Ford 189.195
28. (36) Mike Bliss Chevrolet 189.052
29. (55) Michael McDowell Toyota 185.924
30. (82) Scott Speed Toyota 189.958
31. (13) Max Papis Toyota 188.198
32. (98) Paul Menard Ford 189.294
33. (34) John Andretti Ford 187.512
34. (7) Robby Gordon Toyota 188.735
35. (37) Travis Kvapil Ford 187.285
36. (77) Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 190.05
37. (38) Robert Richardson Jr. Ford 187.289
38. (26) Boris Said Ford 186.908
39. (31) Jeff Burton Chevrolet 188.865
40. (21) Bill Elliott Ford 190.573
41. (87) Joe Nemechek Toyota 189.709
42. (71) Bobby Labonte Chevrolet 189.665
43. (51) Michael Waltrip Toyota 189.454
Failed to qualify
Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 188.3; Kirk Shelmerdine, Toyota, 184.407; David Gilliland, Toyota, 187.766; Terry Cook, Dodge, 187.056; Derrike Cope, Dodge, 185.041; Aric Almirola, Chevrolet, 187.278; Dave Blaney, Toyota, 186.254; Reed Sorenson, Toyota, 188.391; Mike Wallace, Dodge, 182.678; Norm Benning, Chevrolet, 180.607; Jeff Fuller, Toyota, 187.363.
