NASCAR: Dark Horse Picks for the Daytona 500
As the Daytona 500 and the 2016 season are getting closer to reality, the odds are beginning to be set for the Great American Race. Looking for a surprise driver to root for on Sunday? Here is a list of the drivers to watch for in the 58th Daytona 500.
As the days turn into hours that the NASCAR world is counting down until the Great American Race this Sunday afternoon, everyone is beginning to finalize their favorites for the event. After the Can-Am Duels Thursday night it is beginning to look like the battle for victory will be the Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolets against the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas. This will not come as a surprise after Chase Elliott and Matt Kenseth sat on the front row on Sunday in qualifying and Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kyle Busch took the Can-Am Duel Qualifying races.
Were you to place odds on the race, it would essentially be JGR and HMS versus the field. Of course, every year we come do Daytona there are always surprises, and this year will be no different. In fact, despite the changes to the field with the charter system, the big surprise coming out of the Duels has to be the BK Racing stable putting all four of its Toyotas in the Daytona 500. There will certainly be even more surprises on Sunday afternoon when the engines roar for the Great American Race.
There already have been many great stories throughout Speedweeks, and we have not even got to the real racing action this weekend. The Camping World Truck Series are set to run their 250 mile event Friday night with the Xfinitg Series running the PowerShares QQQ 300 on Saturday. Look for surprises out of those races, such as last year little known Roush Fenway Racing driver Ryan Reed coming out of Daytona victorious in the Xfinity Series event.
That being said, this Sunday’s Daytona 500 is sure to be a phenomenal start to the 2016 season. There will be many story lines to follow in the event, and I have compiled a list of the drivers to watch for in the 500 who may pose a threat to the normal slate of drivers expected to win.
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