Update: Larson to Start at Rear
There are a number of stories to follow during Sunday’s 61st running of the Daytona 500, which can be heard live on the Motor Racing Network starting at 1:30 p.m. ET.
Starting Lineup | Pit Stall Assignments
Youthful Front Row
William Byron and Alex Bowman’s combined age of 46 makes the duo the youngest front row tandem ever to start the Daytona 500. The Hendrick Motorsports drivers will lead the field to green after the organization swept the first four spots in last week’s qualifying session. Hendrick is shooting for its ninth victory in “The Great American Race.”
See Also: View All Paint Schemes for the 500
Fast Fords
While Chevy teams led by Hendrick were quick in qualifying so far Speedweeks has belonged to the Ford brigade. While Jimmie Johnson gave Chevrolet an Advance Auto Parts Clash an albeit controversial victory last Sunday, Ford drivers swept Thursday’s Gander Outdoors Duel 150-mile qualifying races with Kevin Harvick and Joey Logano.
See Also: Numbers Game at Daytona
Johnson in Spotlight
Despite his win in the Advance Auto Parts Clash, Johnson has been a topic of conversation for the wrong reasons this week. He made contact with Paul Menard on what turned out to be the last lap of the Clash , triggering a multi-car accident. In Thursday’s Duel race, Johnson tagged Kyle Busch and sent the Joe Gibbs Racing driver sliding down the backstretch (Read More). The seven-time champion, who will not have long-time crew chief Chad Knaus calling the shots this year in favor of Kevin Meendering, apologized for both incidents. But that hasn’t stopped criticism from other drivers as well as some fans.
Fresh Start
Several drivers will make their official debuts with new teams in Sunday’s race including Kurt Busch in the Chip Ganassi Racing No. 1 Chevy (12th), Daniel Hemric in Richard Childress Racing’s No. 3 Chevy (29th), Ryan Newman piloting the Roush Fenway Racing No. 6 (29th), Martin Truex Jr. driving Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 19 Toyota (11th), Matt DiBenedetto in the Leavine Family Racing No. 95 Toyota (9th), Daniel Suarez driving the Stewart-Haas Racing No. 41 Ford (23rd) and Ryan Preece behind the wheel of JTG Daugherty Racing’s No. 47 Chevy (21st).
Mixing It Up
After a relatively calm qualifying races on Thursday the main prize will be on the line in the 500 along with more stage points. Will more drivers mix it up on Sunday?
“I think it’ll be double file until the guys decide that they want to line up on the top,” Denny Hamlin said.
Final Practice Speeds | Fourth Practice Speeds | Third Practice Speeds
50th Daytona 500 for MRN
MRN will broadcast its 50th Daytona 500 and the 61st running of “The Great American Race” over 400 radio stations nationwide as well as Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. MRN’s first broadcast of the 500 came in 1970 and this season begins a two year celebration of “The Voice of NASCAR” celebrating 50 years on the air. (Read More)
Audio: 50 Years of the 500 on MRN
