Daytona 500 start of the 2016 Season

The Daytona 500 is here to mark the start of the 2016 NASCAR season.   A lot of people want to call this the Super Bowl of NASCAR.  I never really understood that because it is not the championship race.  It is a huge kick off party for the NASCAR season.  So while it is the biggest event of the year for NASCAR the comparison stops there.

The week long build up to the race is always pretty exciting and the suspense and story lines grow over the week.  NASCAR does a great job with this race.  Of course having the whole off season to build up to the Daytona 500 helps.  They should be able to do a good job with it with all the time they have to get ready for it.

Chase Elliott is on the pole for the Daytona 500.   He is the youngest driver to ever be on the pole for the Daytona 500.  He also has a chance to do something that has never been done.  Win the Xfinity race and be the winner of the Daytona 500 in his first try.  Could he do it?  Of course he could.  The question is will he.

Part of the excitement of this race is the way they do the qualifying.  I know they cannot do it this way ever week but having the time trials and then the Can Am Duels to set the field is just an exciting way to do it.    The only thing that allows them to do the qualifying this way is because it is the first race of the season.

With the way that the qualifying played out this year I believe that the winner will be from the top 10 starting spots.  In the races at Daytona and Talladega that is not always the case.  Since the cars are all bunched up most of the time the winner could very easily come from any of the starting spots.  In these races it seems that if you make the field then you have a chance to win.  Most years I would say that is true.  This year I am feeling that the winner will come from one of the top 10 and more than likely one of the top 5 starting spots.  Of course my record in picking winners in NASCAR races is extremely poor.

I will go out on a limb (NOT) and pick Dale Earnhardt Jr. as the winner.  Joey Logano second and Chase Elliott third.

There has been some big crashes in the week building up to the race.  There will more than likely be at least one wreck that includes 5 – 10 cars.    As long as these three drivers can stay in front of that wreck then they will be alright.

Who is your pick for the Daytona 500?

You can read my preview of the 2016 NASCAR season here