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When Chevrolet finishes its redesign for the 2013 NASCAR season, what model would you most like the design to reflect?
Camaro 78 %
Impala 12 %
Malibu 5 %
Volt 5 %
For NASCAR, it all starts with Daytona
Caraviello: Time to begin anew, which means trip to one special place.
Order Daytona tickets
For NASCAR, it all starts with famed Daytona
It's time for the sport to begin anew, which means a trip to only one place
NASCAR reducing restrictor plate
Fan Fest appearances set
Expectations and excitement
Order all your Daytona tickets
Dodge and even Ferrari had cars named after it, a
world capital of speed and danger and daring.
That's the place that for NASCAR faithful is a shrine, and for competitors is the holy grail.
There are still all kinds of unknowns, from the new track surface at
Daytona International Speedway to the new ethanol-blended fuel to trial balloons and innuendo over potential changes to the points system or the
Chase.
For years, it wasn't even the season opener -- as difficult as it is to believe now, Daytona didn't assume that perch until
1982, with Riverside International Raceway in Southern California serving as the premier division's jumping-off point for the decade prior.
But for NASCAR, it all starts with Daytona, and has since founder
Bill France had it carved out of a cypress swamp 52 years ago.
Five decades ago they called it the
Big D, and it sat alongside Volusia Avenue, near where General Electric was marshaling its engineers for work on the space program at Cape Canaveral.
Today it's just
Daytona, and the address is International Speedway Boulevard, and it's surrounded by acres of office parks and commercial developments
"It was out of this world," former driver Cotton Owens said of the inaugural Daytona 500 in 1959.
No question, the place has a dark side. The names of men like
Billy Wade, Bruce Jacobi, Neil Bonnett, Rodney Orr, and Dale Earnhardt stand as a testament to the fact that the quest for speed is not without its human costs.
At times Daytona has been too big, too fast, too much for tires to handle, too unpredictable for aerodynamic packages to harness.
The fondness that so many competitors have for Daytona is often mixed with a fearsome respect.
It's late January, and the sky is leaden, and even in much of the South there's still snow on the ground.
It's time for the sport to shake off the frost and begin anew, which means a trip to only one place. It's time to go back to Daytona.
http://www.daytonainternationalspeed...ode=NDCPROMO45
More than 40 teams expected at testing
Teams prepared to gather data on cars, new surface at Daytona.
Essentially it's an all-new track for us.The first step for us will be to look, set-up-wise and see what we may need to have different with the new surface.
Steve Wallace set for Daytona 500 debut
Fourth member of his racing family to run the 500, setting track mark.
Hornish's slate limited
Steve Wallace to make Cup debut in Daytona 500
Deal with Penske locks Nationwide driver in field with points from No. 77
Third-generation racer Steve Wallace will make his Sprint Cup Series debut -- and some Daytona International Speedway history -- as a guaranteed starter in the 2011 Daytona 500, driving a No. 77 Toyota fielded by Rusty Wallace Racing.
The program was facilitated by fellow team owner Roger Penske, who formed a partnership with Steve's father
Rusty Wallace -- who drove in Cup for Penske from 1991 until he retired as a driver after the 2005 season -- in order to use the guaranteed spot in the top 35 of the owners' standings earned by Penske driver
Sam Hornish Jr. in 2010.
When he starts the 53rd Daytona 500 on Feb. 20,
Steve Wallace will become the fourth member of his family to race in the
Great American Race, along with his father and uncles Mike and Kenny Wallace. Previously, the
Wallaces were tied with the
Allison, Bodine, Earnhardt and Petty families with three members each.
"There are a lot of people that just hate me and they hate Steve and they're jealous of what we've been able to put together -- and I don't blame 'em -- I understand."
Elliott plans part-time ride with Phoenix
Will drive in at least 18 Cup races, starting with the Daytona 500.
Elliott auction for JDRF
Elliott, 55, has driven a part-time schedule for
Wood Brothers Racing the past four years, but the Wood Brothers are working to put together a deal for Trevor Bayne, leaving Elliott to look for another Cup ride.
Elliott, the 1988 Cup champion, won the Daytona 500 in 1985 and '87.
His best 2010 finish was 15th in the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
With 821 career starts,
Elliott ranks 15th all time with 44 career victories. His last full-time season was 2003.
Three with NASCAR ties make Int'l Hall
Rex White, Maurice Petty and John Holman among those to be honored.
White tells his story
Former Cup champ White, engine builder Petty, co-owner Holman to be feted
Rex White, who won the 1960 Cup championship and 28 races during a nine-year career, famed engine builder
Maurice Petty and legendary team co-owner
John Holman are three of this year's five-person class scheduled for induction in April into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in
Talladega, Ala.
White, 81, won six times, with 25 top-five finishes in 40 starts to beat
Richard Petty for the 1960 title.
Maurice Petty made 26 starts as a driver (1960-64), with a career-best, third-place finish at Spartanburg, S.C., but is best known as the head
engine builder at Petty Enterprises, where his engines powered
more than 200 victories and more than 750 top-10 finishes for the team's drivers.
A seven-time
Mechanic of the Year selection, Petty's engines helped carry brother, Richard, to five of his seven Cup titles.
Holman was one-half of the famed
Holman-Moody team that won two Cup titles (1968-69) with driver
David Pearson, as well as 96 races with more than 30 different drivers.
Brian Redman (Formula One/Can-Am) and legendary sprint car driver
Jan Opperman complete the 2011 class.