Looking at the Daytona 500 field -
#38 David Gilliland
#88 Ricky Rudd
Both Robert Yates Fords have been fast in practice but the similarities end there. Gilliland has been mixing it up in race trim while Ricky Rudd has shown no particular courage in traffic.
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#20 Tony Stewart
#2 Kurt Busch
The clear favorite for the 500 is the JGR Chevy of Stewart, but Roger Penske's Dodge of Kurt Busch has been quietly displaying a lot of strength all Speedweeks.
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#8 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
#40 David Stremme
Junior has been a little inconsistent this Speedweeks, lacking some of the raw muscle he'd shown in the recent past, while David Stremme's Ganassi/SABCO Dodge has quietly snuck into the mix.
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#31 Jeff Burton
#5 Kyle Busch
RCR versus Hendrick Motorsports in this row, and of the two Busch has considerably more power this Speedweeks.
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#11 Denny Hamlin
#17 Matt Kenseth
JGR's super-rookie of 2006 has been quietly good all week while Matt Kenseth got into the noisiest cheating scandal in recent NASCAR history. He nonetheless has shown enough muscle to be a genuine threat as the race's first Ford outside of the front row.
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#07 Clint Bowyer
#18 J.J. Yeley
RCR vs. JGR. Bowyer's career looks like it is stalling out, as he hasn't advanced to any next level yet. Yeley in contrast has begun showing dramatic improvement from his rough rookie year.
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#1 Martin Truex Jr.
#99 Carl Edwards
DEI hasn't been the plate monster it was through 2004 and it shows in Truex, a talented driver in danger of stalling out his still-young career - the fate that has right now befallen 2005's super-rookie Carl Edwards.
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#55 Michael Waltrip
#12 Ryan Newman
That Waltrip's Toyota - the highest qualified of the Camrys - is even in the race is astonishing enough; cheating scandal or not Mikey has been rather slow. Ryan Newman's Dodge debuts its new crew chief and Newman has to start fighting here to get his career reignited.
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#25 Casey Mears
#13 Joe Nemechek
Casey Mears is the latest pigeon to take over the Hendrick #25, while Joe Nemechek needed his Robert Ginn teammate Sterling Marlin to fall out of the lead group to get into the 500.
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#21 Ken Schrader
#96 Tony Raines
The Wood Brothers Ford and Aikman-Staubach Chevrolet haven't been impressively fast this week, yet they aren't slow, either.
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#48 Jimmie Johnson
#09 Mike Wallace
Hendrick's newest champion has been pretty mediocre all week while Mike Wallace has been up and down the rankings every race he's run this week and can play spoiler in the 500.
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#60 Boris Said
#26 Jamie McMurray
An all-Roush Ford row. That Boris Said made the 500 is amazing; that Jamie McMurray hasn't won anything since his lone victory in 2002 is also amazing. Said has been rather lucky this week; expect that luck to run out.
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#16 Greg Biffle
#01 Mark Martin
Neither the Roush Ford nor Ginn Chevy have shown a whole lot this week. Biffle can be counted on to make some noise while Martin will take it smooth.
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#43 Bobby Labonte
#9 Kasey Kahne
Petty Enterprises has been a disappointment this week after a mediocre 150 and some mediocre practices, though Labonte and crew chief Paul Andrews clicked quickly in their late-2006 run-through period and began to show some spark in late practices. Kahne has struggled all week long and got socked in the week's cheating scandal.
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#45 Kyle Petty
#19 Elliott Sadler
Same story one row back, though Petty, beginning what looks like a transition season out of the car, has more pressure on him because he needs to fight much harder than he's done all decade to get anywhere.
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#66 Jeff Green
#10 Scott Riggs
The third Evernham Dodge has been consistently the weakest, while Gene Haas' flagship Chevy has surprisingly struggled this week.
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#41 Reed Sorenson
#29 Kevin Harvick
How's this for a switch? Last year Sorenson was showing improvement in the Ganassi/SABCO Dodge organization as the weeks went on while Stremme was slow; this week it's been a different story. Harvick's RCR Chevy debuts new sponsorship after breaking in his 150, then coming back and winning a hard-fought BGN 300.
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#6 David Ragan
#42 Juan Montoya
A rookie mismatch. Drivers have to avoid racing with Ragan at all cost because this kid sucks. Juan Montoya, in contrast, is for real.
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#22 Dave Blaney
#14 Stewrling Marlin
Blaney, the only BDR Toyota to make the field, surprisingly struggled on Thursday but began to get better as the week ended. Marlin has been largely lost in the shuffle in his Ginn Chevy.
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#7 Robby Gordon
#00 David Reutimann
Robby Gordon can be counted on to pass people. Reutimann, the second Michael Waltrip Toyota, looks a lot less courageous in that department.
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#70 Johnny Sauter
#24 Jeff Gordon
Sauter has run fast but is erratic. Jeff Gordon won his 150 but got hit hard in postrace for being too low. This may be the biggest single threat to upend Tony Stewart.
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#44 Dale Jarrett
Forget it.
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With cool temperatures expected and some strong winds, the 500 may be less predictable than usual, especially if the track has enough grip - not a sure thing as it slickened up pretty badly in the BGN 300 - and the draft kicks in. If this happens, all bets may be off for Daytona.
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