NASCAR - Sprint Cup - Daytona 500 Preview

Last year's Great American Race was one for the ages, as 20-year old Trevor Bayne got the birthday present of a lifetime, defeating Carl Edwards by 0.118 of a second.

Just one day after turning 20, Bayne became the youngest winner in the 53-year history of the race in just his second career start. Jeff Gordon held the record when he won the 1997 Daytona 500 at the age of 25.

In a race that featured 74 lead changes, 22 different leaders and 16 cautions, it was rookie Bayne who led the final six laps for the win.

Bayne inherited the lead for the first time when NASCAR penalized David Ragan for changing his lane position just before the restart in the first of two green-white-checkered attempts. Ragan held the top spot in the closing laps when a multi-car wreck involving Kurt Busch, Regan Smith, Ryan Newman, Clint Bowyer and Denny Hamlin occurred on the backstretch, setting up the initial two-lap overtime finish.

Another accident on the backstretch, with this one involving race favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr., set up the second two-lap sprint to the finish. Carl Edwards, David Gilliland and Bobby Labonte made a last-lap effort to pass Bayne, but Bayne remained in front of them to cross the finish line first.

Bayne will seek to become the first back-to-back champion of the Daytona 500 since Sterling Marlin accomplished the feat in 1994-95. Bayne became the tenth different winner in the last ten Daytona 500s, as well as the 35th driver overall in the 53-year history of the race.

In 2010, Jamie McMurray started 13th on the grid, but it was his late pass that produced victory, as he edged Dale Earnhardt Jr by less than a second for his fourth career Sprint Cup title.

In a race that featured 52 lead changes among 21 drivers, McMurray swept past Kevin Harvick with just two laps remaining to claim the checkered flag by 0.119 of a second. Harvick, who led for the most laps (41), finished seventh. Pole sitter Mark Martin, after leading twice for 11 laps, ended 12th.

When Matt Kenseth won in 2009, he avoided a major wreck during the mid-stages of the race and then got help from Harvick to pass Elliott Sadler for the lead on lap 146. He held the top spot just before the eighth and final caution came for an incident involving Aric Almirola. Rain began falling on Daytona International Speedway by lap 149 and the red flag was displayed three laps later. NASCAR called the race shortly after, giving Kenseth his first victory in the Daytona 500 in his 10th attempt. Kyle Busch, who led for a race-high 88 laps, failed to finish the race due to an accident.

Ryan Newman overtook Tony Stewart on the final lap in 2008 to record his 13th career Sprint Cup title. Newman, who started in the seventh position on the grid, edged Kurt Busch by less than a second, while Stewart placed third. Newman led four times for a total of eight laps, while Kyle Busch, who placed fourth, led eight times for a race-high 86 laps. Pole sitter Jimmie Johnson finished 27th.

Harvick overcame Mark Martin in 2007 on the final lap to post a 0.090 of a seconds victory for his 11th Sprint Cup title. Pole sitter David Gilliland led for the first 18 laps, but Kurt Busch took over lead on three separate occasions for a race-high 95 laps. Busch however, would begin to fade due to tire problems and finished a disappointing 41st. Martin Truex Jr. replaced Kyle Busch at the front of the pack, but he yielded to Martin on lap 176. Martin held the lead for 26 laps, but Harvick, who led for just four total laps, clipped the veteran to take the checkered flag. Harvick tied Benny Parsons for fewest laps led by a winner. Parsons raced to victory in 1975.

In 2006, Jimmie Johnson outran Casey Mears down the stretch to capture his first career Daytona 500 win. Johnson, who had posted four straight top-five finishes at this race, won under the caution in front of an estimated crowd of 175,000. Johnson led the race on four separate occasions for a total of 24 laps, as he won for the 19th time in his career. Dale Earnhardt Jr., who finished eighth, led seven times for a race-high 32 laps. Pole sitter Jeff Burton, who led for the first 18 laps, finished 32nd.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. captured the 2004 Daytona 500, crossing the finish line a scant 0.273 of a second ahead of Tony Stewart. The prestigious victory was "Junior's" first in the "Great American Race." Earnhardt Jr.'s win came exactly six years to the day after his father, seven-time Sprint Cup champion Dale Earnhardt, won his only Daytona 500. Earnhardt competed 19 times before winning his only Daytona 500 (1998), the longest span of any of the race winners.

Only eight of the 34 Daytona 500 pole winners have won the pole more than once: Buddy Baker and Cale Yarborough and Bill Elliott (four); Fireball Roberts and Ken Schrader (three); Donnie Allison, Dale Jarrett and Johnson (two).

Seven Daytona 500 winners have won by a margin of one lap or more, most recently by David Pearson in 1976. The winner of the Daytona 500 has gone on to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship eight times: Lee Petty (1959), Richard Petty (1964, 1971, 1974, 1979), Cale Yarborough (1977), Jeff Gordon (1997) and Jimmie Johnson (2006). The last pole sitter to win this race was Dale Jarrett in 2000. Only nine pole winners have captured the Daytona 500. Chevrolet has 21 Daytona 500 wins, while Ford is second with 12. Twenty-six of the 53 Daytona 500s have been won from the top-five starting positions. The only Daytona 500s won from outside a top-10 starting position since 1980 were by Derrike Cope (12th - 1990), Michael Waltrip (19th - 2001), Ward Burton (19th - 2002) and Jeff Gordon (15th - 2005), Kevin Harvick (34th - 2007), Kenseth (39th - 2009), McMurray (13th - 2010) and Bayne (32nd - 2011).

In 53 years, only three drivers have recorded consecutive wins at the Daytona 500, Richard Petty (1973-74), Cale Yarborough (1983-84) and Marlin (1994-95).

Jeff Gordon has had remarkable success at Daytona International Speedway. "Speed Racer" has recorded six wins, 12 top fives and 19 top-10 finishes in 38 races at this track.

First held in 1959, the Daytona 500 has been the season-opener only since 1982. Bill Elliott has competed in the Daytona 500 29 times, more than any other active drivers. Elliott has raced 59 times at DIS, with four wins and 24 top-10s. When Lee Petty captured the inaugural Daytona 500, he became the first and only driver to win this race in his first appearance.

Six drivers have posted their career-first victory with a win in the Daytona 500: Tiny Lund (1963), Mario Andretti (1967), Pete Hamilton (1970), Derrike Cope (1990), Sterling Marlin (1994), Michael Waltrip (2001) and Bayne (2011).

A.J. Foyt is the only Indianapolis 500 winner to go on to win the Daytona 500. Foyt won at Indy in 1961 and at Daytona in 1965 and 1972. Mario Andretti also won both races but his Daytona 500 victory (1967) came before his win at Indy (1969).

Kevin Harvick's 0.020-second margin of victory over Mark Martin in the 2007 Daytona 500 was the ninth-closest overall since the advent of electronic timing in 1993, and the closest in a Daytona 500. Six of the last 15 Daytona 500s have ended under caution (2009, 2006, 2003, 2000, 1998 and 1997). The other eight have all had a margin of victory of less than three-tenths of a second: 1996 -0.120, 1999 - 0.124, 2001 - 0.128, 2002 - 0.193, 2004 - 0.273, 2005 - 0.158, 2007 - 0.020, 2008 - 0.092, 2011 - 0.118.

Actors Jane Lynch and Kate Upton will be the Grand Marshal's of the race and give the drivers the command to start their engines.

Danica Patrick will become the third female driver to compete in a Daytona 500 joining Janet Guthrie and Shawna Robinson

The next Sprint Cup Series race is the March 4 Subway Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix International Raceway. Jeff Gordon won last year's race there.