NASCAR's Super Bowl: Daytona 500 draws the stars on and off-track

 It’s NASCAR’s turn to throw its version of the Super Bowl and the Daytona 500 is trying hard to match the hype. “The Great American Race” has Captain America coming, maybe even President Donald Trump.

“I think having a sitting president come and be a part of one of our biggest days of the year is special,” said Chase Elliott, NASCAR’s most popular driver. “It certainly brings a lot of eyes and a different perspective to what we do down here for this race.”

The field is stacked with stars, including four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves, a former “Dancing with the Stars” champion who is making his NASCAR debut Sunday at the age of 49. He used a controversial new “elite-driver rule” to enter the race as the 41st driver, making this the largest Daytona 500 field in a decade.

Castroneves drew a Friday crowd at the Wendy’s concession stand inside Daytona International Speedway; the Brazilian is sponsored in the race by the hamburger chain and is wearing a firesuit resembling a chef.

He joins seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson and 2017 Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr., who unexpectedly lost his father one day after he announced he was entering the Daytona 500.


There is no clear favorite, but Elliott will try to join his father in winning the exhibition Clash and following it with a Daytona 500 victory. Bill Elliott won the Clash and the 500 in 1987 when both races were run at Daytona.

Toyotas are fast and would be undefeated in the Cup Series at Daytona this week had a late caution flag not flown as Erik Jones raced Austin Cindric to the finish line in Thursday night’s second qualifying race. Jones thought he finished first, but NASCAR ruled Cindric was ahead at the time of the yellow.

Bubba Wallace of 23XI Racing won his first race at Daytona in the first Thursday qualifying race, and Justin Allgaier earned an open entry that brought Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. to tears. He owns JR Motorsports alongside his sister, but they run in the second-tier Xfinity Series, where Allgaier is a cornerstone driver for the team. He’s the reigning Xfinity champion and ran two Daytona 500s, his last in 2015. 

Allgaier and JR Motorsports got the opportunity to try behind musician-sponsor Chris Stapleton, who wanted his whiskey label on a stock car in the Daytona 500. Stapleton will attend the Daytona 500 fresh off winning the Grammy for best country solo performance.

The start of the race has been moved up an hour, to 12:30 p.m., with the threat of rain later Sunday. 


Photo: Thursday's qualifying race gets the green flag. (AP Photo Terry Renna)