DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY (2.5-MILE SUPERSPEEDWAY)
LOCATION: DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA
EVENT: NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES (RACE 17 OF 36)
TUNE IN: 7:45 P.M. ET, SUNDAY, JULY 5 (NBC/MRN/SIRIUSXM)
No. 5 Great Clips/Shark Week Chevrolet SS / Kasey Kahne
Driver Kasey Kahne Hometown Enumclaw, Washington
Age 35 Resides Mooresville, North Carolina
2015 Season
8th in standings
16 starts
0 wins
1 pole position
2 top-five finishes
6 top-10 finishes
41 laps led
Career
412 starts
17 wins
27 pole positions
85 top-five finishes
155 top-10 finishes
4,582 laps led
Daytona Career
23 starts
0 wins
0 pole positions
2 top-five finishes
8 top-10 finishes
30 laps led
SHARK WEEK: Great Clips, the world’s largest salon brand with more than 3,800 salons in the United States and Canada, has partnered with Shark Week for the third year. Shark Week heads to Daytona this weekend with Kasey Kahne driving the No. 5 Great Clips/Shark Week Chevrolet SS. Great Clips and Discovery are working together to encourage NASCAR fans to give back through a unique donation program; with every Great Clips mobile app download between June 1 and July 12, Great Clips will donate $1 to Oceana’s shark conservation efforts. The Great Clips partnership also allowed Kahne to come face-to-face with real-life sharks last month during a dive in the Bahamas. Requests for photography and footage of the dive can be submitted to cbarry@hmsracing.com.
SEASON-TO-DATE: After the first 16 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races this season, Kahne currently ranks third in fastest speed in traffic (8.000 average rank), fourth in laps in the top 15 (3,837), fourth in fastest drivers early in a run (7.714 average rank), fourth in average running position (11.489) and fifth in fastest drivers late in a run (7.643 average rank). He ranks sixth in the following categories: green-flag speed (7.286 average rank) and fastest drivers on restarts (11.375 average rank). Kahne ranks seventh in quality passes (1,051), eighth in driver rating (95.6) and 10th in fastest laps run (165).
DAYTONA LOOP DATA: According to NASCAR loop data from the last 21 points-paying races at Daytona, Kahne ranks second in green-flag passes (4,572), seventh in laps in the top 15 (2,001), ninth in quality passes (2,825) and 10th in speed in traffic (190.070 mph). Kahne’s most recent top-10 finish at the 2.5-mile tri-oval came earlier this year at the Daytona 500 in his first race with new crew chief Keith Rodden.
GREAT CLIPS / GREAT CLIPS RACING VIP SWEEPSTAKES: Great Clips will adorn the hood of Kahne’s No. 5 Chevrolet SS this weekend at Daytona International Speedway, and will be the primary sponsor on the car for three more Sprint Cup Series races this year: New Hampshire Motor Speedway (July 19), Chicagoland Speedway (Sept. 20) and Homestead-Miami Speedway (Nov. 22). Now until Aug. 13, fans can enter for the chance to win a VIP racing experience thanks to Great Clips. The sweepstake’s grand prize includes a trip to Charlotte, North Carolina with airfare as well as hotel accommodations covered for three nights, tickets to the NASCAR races at Charlotte Motor Speedway Oct. 9-10, behind-the-scenes tour at the track, and the opportunity to meet Kahne. For more information, please visit http://bit.ly/18SLkLD.
No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet SS / Jeff Gordon
Driver Jeff Gordon Hometown Pittsboro, Indiana
Age 43 Resides Charlotte, North Carolina
2015 Season
11th in standings
16 starts
0 wins
3 pole positions
2 top-five finishes
8 top-10 finishes
162 laps led
Career
777 starts
92 wins
80 pole positions
322 top-five finishes
462 top-10 finishes
24,826 laps led
Daytona Career
45 starts
6 wins
4 pole positions
13 top-five finishes
20 top-10 finishes
710 laps led
TOPS AMONG ACTIVE DRIVERS: Jeff Gordon, driver of the No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet SS, leads the following statistical categories at Daytona among active drivers: wins, pole positions, top-five finishes, top-10s and laps led.
ALL-TIME RESTRICTOR-PLATE WINS LEADER: Gordon is the all-time leader in restrictor-plate victories with 12. Dale Earnhardt Sr. ranks second with 11 while Hendrick Motorsports teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. is third with nine.
#RAINBOW24: On Tuesday, June 30, on “CBS This Morning,” Gordon unveiled the No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet SS rainbow paint scheme that he will race at Bristol Motor Speedway in August. Gordon piloted the now iconic paint scheme to more than 50 Sprint Cup victories from 1992 to 2000.
GREAT AMERICAN RACE: In his final Daytona 500 earlier this year, the 43-year-old driver led a race-high 87 laps from the pole position before a last-lap wreck resulted in a 33rd-place finish.
2-FOR-2 IN 2015: Along with his pole position in the season-opener at Daytona, Gordon won the pole position in May at the only other venue where restrictor plates are mandatory, Talladega Superspeedway.
No. 48 Lowe’s Patriotic Chevrolet SS / Jimmie Johnson
Driver Jimmie Johnson Hometown El Cajon, California
Age 39 Resides Charlotte, North Carolina
2015 Season
4th in standings
16 starts
4 wins
0 pole positions
9 top-five finishes
11 top-10 finishes
432 laps led
Career
487 starts
74 wins
33 pole positions
202 top-five finishes
303 top-10 finishes
17,583 laps led
Daytona Career
27 starts
3 wins
2 pole positions
10 top-five finishes
13 top-10 finishes
225 laps led
LOWE’S PATRIOTIC IS BACK: Jimmie Johnson will pilot the No. 48 Lowe’s Patriotic Chevrolet SS this weekend. The last time Johnson raced the scheme was at the All-Star Race and the 600-mile event at Charlotte in May. The red, white and blue-themed Chevy SS will race this weekend in celebration of the July 4th holiday. Lowe’s has a long history of supporting the military. Lowe’s Home Improvement was founded just after World War II by military veteran Carl Buchan, whose leadership helped it grow from a small hardware store in Wilkesboro, North Carolina, into the Fortune 100 company it is today. Currently, Lowe’s has more than 13,000 active, veteran and Guard/Reserve employees ranging from store employees to managers to customer support center employees in the North Carolina offices.
FLASHBACK TO 2013: The last time Johnson won at Daytona was on July 6, 2013. Johnson led 94 laps en route to his third win at the superspeedway. That year he also happened to win the Daytona 500 and his sixth NASCAR Sprint Cup championship.
TOUR DE FRANCE COVERAGE: In May, while racing at Talladega, Johnson and some fellow members of the NASCAR community filmed a cycling feature with professional cyclist and Tour de France analyst Christian Vande Velde. The segment, showcasing Johnson and crew on a 62-mile ride through Alabama, climbing over 4,700 feet in elevation, will air during the Tour coverage on NBC Sports Network this weekend.
DAYTONA STATS: In the last 10 years at Daytona, according to NASCAR loop data, Johnson has the sixth-best driver rating — 87.9. During that span, he has an average finish of 20th, leading 225 total laps at the track.
JIMMIE JOHNSON FOUNDATION RECORD: Last week in San Diego, Johnson held his annual golf tournament at Torrey Pines. The event raised a record $900,000. The tournament, which in nine years has raised more than $5.6 million, benefits the Champions Grants program, a partnership between the Jimmie Johnson Foundation and Lowe’s Toolbox for Education. The grants range from $25,000-$100,000 and are distributed to K-12 public schools in Chandra and Jimmie Johnson’s hometowns in California and Oklahoma, and where they currently reside in North Carolina.
No. 88 Nationwide Stars and Stripes Chevrolet SS / Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hometown Kannapolis, North Carolina
Age 40 Resides Mooresville, North Carolina
2015 Season
5th in standings
16 starts
1 win
0 pole positions
8 top-five finishes
10 top-10 finishes
108 laps led
Career
557 starts
24 wins
13 pole positions
135 top-five finishes
234 top-10 finishes
7,955 laps led
Daytona Career
31 starts
3 wins
1 pole position
12 top-five finishes
18 top-10 finishes
482 laps led
NATIONWIDE STARS AND STRIPES: Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet SS will feature a special patriotic paint scheme this weekend at Daytona International Speedway. The No. 88 Nationwide Stars and Stripes Chevrolet SS features an American flag-themed design and was created to be part of NASCAR’s “An American Salute” campaign. The industry-wide program serves to recognize and thank current, retired and veteran members of the U.S. Armed Forces and their families.
IN THE 400: Earnhardt has scored one win, four top-five finishes and eight top-10s during 15 appearances in the annual July event at Daytona. He has led a combined 243 laps during the summer race, including 116 during his win on July 7, 2001.
DAYTONA DOMINANCE: Earnhardt has 14 NASCAR wins at Daytona – three in the Sprint Cup Series, six in the XFINITY Series, three during qualifying events and two during exhibition events. He has won the 2004 and 2014 Daytona 500s and the 2001 Pepsi 400, as well as two Sprint Unlimiteds (2003 and 2008) and three Duel qualifying races (2003, 2004 and 2008). Earnhardt won the four straight XFINITY Series events that he entered at Daytona between 2002 and 2004.
STRONG ON SUPERSPEEDWAYS: In 62 combined Cup starts at Daytona and Talladega Superspeedway, Earnhardt has recorded nine wins, 23 top-five finishes and 33 top-10s. He won the most recent superspeedway race at Talladega in May. Earnhardt currently ranks second among active Cup drivers in the following categories at restrictor plate tracks: wins, top-fives, top-10s and laps led (1,381), trailing only leader and teammate Jeff Gordon. He has the best average finish among active drivers (14.06).
Hendrick Motorsports
HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS AT DAYTONA: Hendrick Motorsports has achieved 13 wins, 14 pole positions, 52 top-five results, 90 top-10s and 1,753 laps led at Daytona. The organization has eight Daytona 500 victories, with Earnhardt most recently collecting a win in The Great American Race in 2014.
ORGANIZATION STATS: To date, Hendrick Motorsports has totals of 236 victories, 204 pole positions, 963 top-five finishes and 1,597 top-10 finishes in Sprint Cup competition. Its teams have led 64,584 laps since 1984.
QUOTABLE /
“I’m really excited to get the Great Clips/Shark Week Chevy out on the track this week. We ran good at Daytona earlier this year and we had a fast car at Talladega. We built from both of those runs and I think we have a good base looking forward to the race. It should be a good weekend.”
