NASCAR Cup Series

Daytona Success: The Series kicks off its regular season this Sunday with the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. Hamlin will start the event from the front row alongside Alex Bowman after posting the second fastest lap time (46.132) during single-car qualifying Sunday, and it will be his sixth top-five start in 25 races at the 2.5-mile tri-oval. In addition to claiming the title of “2016 Daytona 500 Champion,” Hamlin has also led a total of 385 laps on the high banks of Daytona, and notched six top-five and seven top-10 finishes in 24 career starts.

Joe Gibbs Racing driver Daniel Suárez was made available to the media in Daytona: DANIEL SUÁREZ, No. 19 ARRIS Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing - What's been the difference looking back from last year to this year?

Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin was made available to the media in Daytona: DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing - How crazy would it get if NASCAR put that in every race? "Just your teammates or ‑‑"

JAMIE MCMURRAY, NO. 1 MCDONALD’S/CESSNA CHEVROLET CAMARO ZL1, met with members of the media at Daytona 500 Media Day. Full transcript: HOW IS LESSER NUMBER OF CREW OVER THE WALL GOING TO CHANGE THE DUALS ON THURSDAY “I know we had some stops in the Clash, but I don’t think until you get into the (Daytona) 500 and other races that I think that will show more especially with having 40 cars in pit stops instead of 16. I think then there will be a big difference from what we had last year.”

BUBBA WALLACE, NO. 43 CLICK N’ CLOSE CHEVROLET CAMARO ZL1, met with members of the media at Daytona 500 Media Day. Full Transcript: Could you talk a little bit about how to someone who's just like a casual NASCAR observer, who doesn't really pay scant attention to the sport, might see you coming in and say, I wonder if they're giving him a ride because of his heritage, where if they do their homework they'll see you have won on all these levels.

Forty drivers, 40 spots. Still, despite the lack of interest and resources for additional teams to attempt to enter the iconic competition, we have some high-quality contenders to watch out for. Alex Bowman and Denny Hamlin are locked into the front row, as long as their cars last. The rest of the top 20 qualifiers went into Thursday trying to protect their positions from all challengers in the two 20 car heats.

It looks like the new ride height rule has crew chiefs and engineers scratching their heads about how to make the car handle at Daytona. Thankfully they have a couple of days to run simulations and get a plan together and hopefully bring us an action-packed Daytona 500.

Peyton Manning, the two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback and Nationwide member/spokesperson, will serve as the Honorary Pace Car Driver for the 60th annual DAYTONA 500 on Feb. 18 at Daytona International Speedway.

NAPA AUTO PARTS has grown its relationship with 12-time NASCAR Cup Series champions Hendrick Motorsports with a new agreement that immediately expands its majority sponsorship of driver Chase Elliott and the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 team in 2018 and extends its support for another two years through the 2020 racing season.

Richard Petty Motorsports (RPM) today announced Pioneer Technology Group (PTG) will continue its relationship as a major associate sponsor of the No. 43 team and driver Darrell "Bubba" Wallace Jr.  The PTG logo will appear season-long on the rocker panel of the No. 43 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and on the uniform of Wallace.