NASCAR Cup Series

Dale Earnhardt Jr. opens the NASCAR season at the top of the charts in the first Daytona 500 practice. The driver of the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 46.364 and a speed of 194.116 mph.

t was announced Friday that Brian Vickers would be filling in for Tony Stewart in the Sprint Unlimited as well as the Daytona 500. It’s an exciting prospect for Vickers whose NASCAR career has stalled due to a medical condition that requires him to periodically take blood thinners. It’s also an opportunity that could lead to re-establishing Vickers as a marketable driver.

It’s a big shock to me. I have been trying to word a column about Wood Brothers Racing which came from the Charlotte Motor Speedway Media Tour a couple of weeks ago, and then the news of the Charter system came down and everything said just went away.

Crew chiefs drew their drivers' starting positions for the race on Friday -- the Sprint Unlimited (75 laps, 187.5 miles) is set for the green flag Saturday at 8:15 p.m. ET (FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Crew chief Chad Knaus landed the prime position for Jimmie Johnson, who will start from the pole position. Johnson has visited Victory Lane at the 2.5-mile track three times in his career.

Stewart-Haas Racing has named Brian Vickers interim driver of its No. 14 Chevrolet SS for all the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events during Speedweeks Feb. 12-21 at Daytona International Speedway.

Furniture Row Racing driver Martin Truex Jr. was made available to the media at Daytona International Speedway:

Joey Logano, driver of the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford Fusion and defending Daytona 500 winner, met with media Friday afternoon at Daytona International Speedway ahead of practice for Saturday night’s NASCAR Sprint Unlimited event.

Daytona Speedweeks got started in earnest Friday afternoon with a pair of Sprint Unlimited race practice sessions. Prior to cars hitting the track, Eddie, Len and Jon Wood of Wood Brothers Racing met with media members to discuss the upcoming 2016 season in which they will race full time, and address the team not receiving one of 36 NASCAR charters for the year.

HScott Motorsports announced today that it has reached agreement with Premium Motorsports for use of its Charter in 2016 to run the No. 46 Pilot Flying J Chevrolet driven by Michael Annett. This agreement has been accepted and approved by NASCAR.

One of the largest and fastest growing credit card issuers in the United States, Credit One Bank has entered into a multi-year partnership with NASCAR to include official agreements with both the sanctioning body and one of the most successful teams in auto-racing, Chip Ganassi Racing. The collaborations designate Credit One Bank as the “Official Credit Card of NASCAR,” in addition to being a partner of Chip Ganassi Racing.