NASCAR Cup Series

Saying that the Hendrick Motorsports camp has a lock on Daytona 500 qualifying is like saying water is wet.

Following his elimination in a big crash at the end of Sunday's Advance Auto Parts Clash at Daytona, Paul Menard's comments seemed to sum up the most common criticism of Jimmie Johnson's NASCAR career: "Jimmie does that a lot."

Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt will become the first NFL player to give the command to start engines at the DAYTONA 500 when he serves as Grand Marshal for the 61st running of “The Great American Race” on Sunday at Daytona International Speedway (TV – FOX, FOX Deportes; Radio – MRN, Sirius XM).

With the 61st annual Daytona 500 six days away, Rick Ware Racing (RWR) announced today the addition of Winn-Dixie as the primary sponsor of the team’s second chartered Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) entry driven by Cody Ware.

A new season. A new group of people and combinations. A new rules package. A new reason to hope for more entertaining action. We can only hope that this time they will succeed.

Roush Yates Engines announced today that it has reached a multi-year partnership extension agreement with L.S. Starrett Co.

Jimmie Johnson. Remember him? Just in case you'd forgotten about the capabilities of the two-time DAYTONA 500 champion – and seven-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion – he served up a reminder Sunday by making a trip to Gatorade Victory Lane at Daytona International Speedway.

Kyle Busch (14th) was the highest-finishing Toyota driver in Sunday afternoon’s The Clash exhibition race at Daytona International Speedway.

PAUL MENARD, No. 21 Motorcraft Ford Mustang – YOU LED THE MOST LAPS EVER IN THE CLASH. WHAT HAPPENED? “I didn’t know that. That’s something for the history books, I guess. Unfortunately, we just got turned there. I didn’t really know what happened until I saw a replay. I felt like it was aggressive side-drafting. I got turned to the inside and hooked to the right and all hell broke loose.”

BRAD KESELOWSKI, No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang – WHAT ARE YOU LEARNING ABOUT THE MUSTANG OUT THERE? “We thought all along it was gonna be really competitive and I think it hasn’t missed a beat from testing to now. We’re pretty excited about it. I think it’s a pretty good upgrade.” WHAT IS THE STRATEGY FOR THURSDAY? “To win the race. Nothing else matters.” HOW DO YOU LIKE YOUR CAR TO FEEL IN THE 500? “I think with this rules package, especially with the temperatures we’re seeing, you’re gonna probably trim for speed rather than handling. I think just fast.” DO YOU LIKE IT TO BE LOOSE OR TIGHT OR WHAT? “Generally in the 500 you want to be a little bit tighter than most of the race weekend here. It seems like the track always changes on the 500 day a little bit.”