by The NASCAR season is well underway, but there’s still plenty of time left for the big races. You could argue that a good portion of the year remains open. With that in mind, we’re going to take a look at five drivers who have the best chances of winning the next two Sprint Cup races — the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400. We’re not necessarily saying they will win each race, but they have the best chance of coming away with the win in the next two weeks.
How to Win the Daytona 500
Ryan Blaney
After a near crash in the 2021 Daytona 500, Ryan Blaney waited to make his race-winning pass. Then, he made it. Blaney and Brad Keselowski had made contact several times during the race. Fortunately, the extra padding on the Next Gen cars kept Blaney in control of the race.
The 2022 season started with Blaney’s fourth-place finish in the Daytona 500. While his first 13 races produced no wins, he finished consistently, earning four top-five finishes and six top-tens. He then went on to win the NASCAR All-Star race, which he won by just three points. In his third start of the season, Blaney was 16th, but he won the pole position and finished fourth. The next weekend, he finished ninth, but he didn’t make the checkered flag, dropping him out of the playoffs.
Blaney hasn’t won the Daytona 500 yet, but he’s been very close. In 2014, he was seventh in the Hollywood Casino 400. If he can win this race, it could put him back on track for the championship.
Denny Hamlin
The Daytona 500 has been a big event for Denny Hamlin. He has seven wins and 18 top-five finishes. His most recent race in Miami saw him start on the pole but finish 10th. He will be looking to win the race again in 2021. This is his sixth Daytona 500 and he has done well at the track in recent years. He has won three of the last five events there.
The Daytona 500 is a very difficult race. It has a lot of different variables that can make it difficult to win. Many drivers are better at superspeedway races than at other tracks, which can make it more difficult to predict the outcome of a race. However, there are a few things you can do to increase your chances of winning a race at this track.
In the 2007 Daytona 500, Hamlin finished 28th. During the season, he won the Lenox Industrial Tools 300 at the New Hampshire International Speedway. However, in the Pepsi 400, he crashed and finished 43rd.
Joey Logano
If you ask Joey Logano how to win the Daltona 500, you will get a different answer than you might have expected. In the 2014 race, Logano finished 11th. He then went on to finish fourth in Phoenix and Las Vegas. Then, in Texas, he won the race and passed Jeff Gordon to secure his spot in the 2014 Chase.
In his first two races of the season, Logano finished seventh, which was a solid performance. He also won at Watkins Glen and Chicagoland. This was his 26th career win. His next race was the Drive for Cure 300 at Charlotte, where he overtook a dominating Kyle Larson to take the checkered flag.
In his previous races, Logano had won the pole position five times. However, in Daytona, he was eliminated after colliding with the No. 42 car of Ricky Stenhouse Jr., which led to an intense pile-up. After the race, Logano was confronted by Tony Stewart, who had just finished the race. Logano had blocked Stewart on the final restart, and Stewart pushed Logano, but Logano reacted by throwing a water bottle at him.
Joey Logano is a 31-year-old NASCAR driver. He won the inaugural Clash race in Los Angeles earlier this month. He is a father of three and is excited about the Great American Race on Sunday, February 20. However, he’s had a rough time at Daytona in qualifying, but he remains positive and is ready to give it another go.
Austin Cindric
Austin Cindric knows how to win the Daytona 500. He became the first rookie to win the Great American Race in the NASCAR Cup Series. However, during his celebratory burnout, he broke his car. Fortunately, his team repaired the car on-site at the Daytona International Speedway.
Cindric’s victory came on the 64th annual Daytona 500. He beat Bubba Wallace, who finished second, to capture his first Cup victory. Behind him, Chase Briscoe finished third and Ryan Blaney finished fourth. Aric Almirola was fifth. The race was red-flagged with nine laps left after Ricky Stenhouse Jr. crashed into Brad Keselowski.
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Austin Cindric’s victory was part of a celebration of Roger Penske’s 85th birthday. He won the Daytona 500 after winning the Xfinity Series opening race the year before. He also won the Daytona 500 in 2003, 2004, and 2008. However, there have been other drivers who have done it before, including Kevin Harvick, Ryan Blaney, and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Michael McDowell
Michael McDowell’s goal for 2022 is to win the Daytona 500 championship. The Phoenix, Arizona native admits that he feels a great deal of pressure heading into the event. He won the race last year under caution but is looking to add another title to his trophy case.
Before entering NASCAR, McDowell won numerous open-wheel and sports car races. He also won several road-course races in the U.S. and was the 2004 Star Mazda champion. He was also the 2004 ARCA Rookie of the Year.
Although the Daytona 500 has become one of the premier races of the NASCAR season, it is also a big gamble. The prize money in the race swings wildly and a driver who doesn’t win this race is likely to not compete for the rest of the season. McDowell said that the pressure was high but that he felt relief when he crossed the finish line.
He was a surprise winner of the 2021 Daytona 500. He had been right in the middle of a 16-car wreck on lap 15 and suffered damage on all four corners. But his crew chief Drew Blickensderfer, who previously worked on the winning team of Matt Kenseth, assessed the damage and repaired the car so it could continue running with the leaders for the rest of the race.
Kyle Larson
Kyle Larson is a Cup driver with a long history of success. However, he has struggled at superspeedways. He has never won a Daytona 500, and his best starting position before 2022 was eighth. His average finish at Daytona is 21.1. He has scored more top-ten finishes than he has top-five finishes. However, he has been in the top ten in his last three Daytona races.
His best finish at Daytona is seventh in eight starts. This season has been full of highs and lows. In the fall race at Talladega, Larson spun out after a tire issue. Larson was then penalized for speeding on pit stops and ended up finishing in 16th place. Larson finished second in the next two races at Kansas and in Phoenix. In the championship, Larson was eliminated in the Round of 8. He finished sixth in the championship points.
Larson will start on the pole this weekend at Daytona International Speedway. He will be joined on the front row by defending champion Chase Elliott. However, Larson has never won the Daytona 500. Only Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, and Jeff Gordon won the race. There are 22 drivers in the field, including Larson.
Ryan Truex
Ryan Truex will drive a Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet in the Daytona 500. The team has a long history with the race and Truex has a family history in motorsports. He has run for several well-known teams and has started in all three major NASCAR series. However, he has failed to qualify for the Daytona 500 in the past.
The No. 18 Toyota was driven by Martin Truex, Jr. on May 25, 2007. The team is going all out to support Truex this season. The team has partnered with NAPA to design a new paint scheme for Truex. This new scheme will replace the original white No. 00 Toyota.
In Stage two, Truex finished second, earning 15 points over Blaney. However, the Bass Pro Toyota is still pretty damaged from the first incident and has some work to do. Truex was able to tell Burns that he would need more time to recover from the damage. The weather is another factor that increased the intensity of the race.
