kyle busch

With several of the sport’s biggest names starting from the back of the field, from missing qualifying sessions to missing driver introductions, here is what else was surprising and not surprising from the 56th annual Folds of Honor Quicktrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Joey Logano: Logano surged to the lead late at Daytona and held off Kevin Harvick, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., and Denny Hamlin to win his first 500.

It’s time for me to get back to covering NASCAR as I have for the past 10 years. As an editor at www.speedwaymedia.com I spend a lot of time behind the scene trying to bring everyone quality coverage on all sorts of motorsports.

Speeds over 200 mph. Three wide racing to the end. Dale Earnhardt Jr. had time at the front. So did Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson. Excellent announcing on FOX. Nice weather. What was there not to love about the Daytona 500?

NASCAR suffers from two dark clouds over the sport as two of its most talented drivers are absent.

After an incredibly eventful Speedweeks, here is what was surprising and not surprising from NASCAR’s first and one of the biggest races of the season, the 57th annual Daytona 500.

*Kurt Busch debuts the No. 007 car at Daytona and executes a last-lap pass of Denny Hamlin to win the 500. In post-race interviews, Busch goes on a ten minute rant and bad-mouths the entire NASCAR community, earning him the nickname “American Sniper.”

A new season, new hopes, new drivers, old drivers with new teams, and a whole lot of things I want to see come out of 2015.

The countdown has begun to the start of a new season, with less than ten days to go before the Sprint Unlimited exhibition race at Daytona. A new campaign, some new teams and some new expectations.

As one season ends and a new one approaches, teams begin a self evaluation that often results in changes among key personnel. Here’s your guide to some of the new alliances we will see in 2015.