It’s the one you want to get.
To no one’s surprise, that’s how defending NASCAR Cup Series champion Joey Logano describes the Daytona 500. Logano is one of only seven drivers entered who have won the event. The Team Penske driver speaks from first-hand experience, having won the prestigious season-opening race at Daytona Int’l Speedway in 2015.
“Everyone has a chance to win that race and it is truly career changing when you’re able to do it,” Logano said. “Everyone wants to have that on their résumé and say they’ve won the Daytona 500.”
Kicking off his 15th full season in the Cup Series with a Daytona victory remains a high priority on Logano’s list as he begins his championship defense. However, one of his greatest competitors will be none other than his teammate, Austin Cindric.
Though Cindric is only in his second season in the Cup Series, he is entering Daytona with the confidence of a veteran. After all, he became the first rookie to win The Great American Race when he beat 23XI Racing’s Bubba Wallace to the finish line last year.
“There’s nothing cooler than being able to do that,” Cindric said. “I’ve only been doing this for a year now in the Cup Series, but you look at guys who have worked here for 10 to 20 years and what something like that means. It’s a career achievement for a lot of the people on my team.”
There’s little doubt that Team Penske (including third driver Ryan Blaney) will take on Daytona in full force, but there are several drivers who feel they have a claim to stake at the 2.5-mile superspeedway.
One such driver is A.J. Allmendinger, who is returning to the Cup Series full time this season in Kaulig Racing’s No. 16 Chevrolet Camaro. As the 41-year-old has spent the last four years primarily competing in the Xfinity Series, this week marks his first Daytona 500 since 2018.
“I’m pumped to get back to the Daytona 500. It’s a race that I’ve missed being part of over the last five years, and there was a part of me that always wanted to be there,” Allmendinger said. “It’s our race, it’s one of the biggest races in the world and as a race car driver, you want to be a part of that.”
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin will be eyeing a fourth (2016, ’19 and ’20) Daytona 500 triumph, while he supervises the three entries fielded by 23XI Racing, the team he co-owns with Michael Jordan.
Hamlin and seven-time Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson (two), who is returning to the series for the Daytona 500, are the only active drivers with more than a single Daytona 500 victory. Wallace, Tyler Reddick and non-charter driver Travis Pastrana will spearhead 23XI Racing’s efforts to collect the team’s first Daytona 500 win.
Meanwhile, Pastrana will be under additional pressure during qualifying as he is one of six non-charter drivers vying for four open positions on Sunday’s starting grid.
To secure his spot in The Great American Race, Pastrana will need to be one of the two fastest cars in single-car qualifying or be the top-finishing, non-charter entry in his Duel on Thursday.
The same goes for the remaining five drivers in his group — Johnson, Conor Daly, Austin Hill, Chandler Smith and Zane Smith.
Two Cup Series regulars who started their season off strong during the Duels at Daytona last year were RFK Racing teammates Brad Keselowski and Chris Buescher. Each driver won his Duel, in what was the on-track debut of the re-branded RFK Racing team.
“It was a little bit of a shock. I didn’t expect us to have that level of success that quick, and we quickly got humbled in the weeks to come,” said Keselowski, co-owner of RFK. “Sometimes you get shocked in bad ways. Sometimes you get shocked in great ways. It’s nice to get shocked in a great way.”
He and Buescher hope to be on the front row for a second consecutive year when the flag goes green at Daytona Int’l Speedway on Sunday.