As many as seven full-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers will stack the already stout lineup this weekend, including two-time series champion Kevin Harvick (2001, ’06), and series champions Brad Keselowski (2010), Kyle Busch (2009), Carl Edwards (2007) and also six-time series Daytona International Speedway winner Tony Stewart.
It will be a true test for the series championship contenders to prove themselves amongst some of the best of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Seven points currently separate the top three drivers. Reed Sorenson, who won last Saturday at Road America, leads Elliott Sadler by five points and third-place Ricky Stenhouse Jr. by seven.
Standings leader Reed Sorenson has made eight series starts at Daytona posting one top five and four top 10s. Second-place, Sadler has made four series starts at Daytona posting his first career pole at the 2.5-mile speedway. Third-place, Stenhouse Jr. has made three starts at Daytona posting one top five and two top 10s. Stenhouse has the highest rank in pre-race Driver Rating among the championship contenders with an 89.1.
This event also marks the first anniversary of the inaugural race for the series’ new car, which was fully integrated this season following four points events at tracks of varying lengths in 2010. Dale Earnhardt Jr. electrified the Daytona crowd last July as he won the first new car race in the No. 3 Wrangler Chevrolet, the number and scheme made famous by his father.
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