SM Staff

Anticipation had been building over the course of testing as everyone wanted to see it - everyone wanted to see the pack hit the track with the new Generation 6 cars. Friday afternoon brought forth a pack of 20 cars that let everyone see what they'd expect with drafting. However, it didn't last long as contact between Marcos Ambrose and Dale Earnhardt Jr. would cause a wreck, collecting a total of 10 cars.

Kurt Busch, who was hired by Furniture Row Racing late in 2012 to run the last 6 races of the season and returns in 2013 to pilot the #78 Furniture Row Chevrolet along with crew chief Todd Berrier.

The Richard Childress Racing fleet of cars had one goal for the morning session on Friday - full-out qualifying mode. They would tape the grill right up, bypass the oil cooler and do all those wonderful things they do just for qualifying. As a result, they led the speed charts with the top two speeds.

After trying out some drafting because he will miss the next couple of days, Denny Hamlin topped the afternoon test chart with a speed of 195.986 mph. Hamlin will miss the next two days to be home with his girlfriend Jordan Fish, who is expecting a baby any day now.

Another day closer to Daytona and another Sprint Cup Series team to preview for 2013. Up on the docket today is the three car operation of Front Row Motorsports which will be fielding cars for drivers David Ragan, David Gilliland, and Josh Wise in 2013. All three drivers ran for the team in 2012

You can make changes, but some things remain the same. That can be said as while this is the first time at Daytona for the Generation 6 cars, defending Daytona 500 Champion Matt Kenseth topped the charts on Thursday morning with a speed of 192.757 mph. Kenseth also had the best 10 lap average.

After finishing 29th in points in 2012, Germain Racing returns in 2013 with no changes to the team. Casey Mears will return as driver of the #13 Geico Ford Fusion with crew chief Robert “Bootie” Barker at the helm once again.

With pre-season testing kicking off in Daytona this week, the time has come to begin previewing the teams that will be running in the Sprint Cup Series in 2013. Since every team has not announced their plans for 2013, we will preview the 14 teams that have announced their 2013 plans.

While 2012 has been a year of change for NASCAR driver David Ragan, including getting married in the off-season, 2013 will be the year of motivation for the 27 year old behind the wheel of the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford Fusion.

The 2013 NASCAR Nationwide Series can be best summed up with one word. Transition. Familiar faces in new places seems to be the theme this year for NASCAR's number two series. Heading into to this season we know with all certainty we will have a new NNS champion as 2-time champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is heading to the Sprint Cup Series to drive Roush Fenway Racing's iconic No.17 vacated by Matt Kenseth when he left for Joe Gibbs Racing.