Top 10 list

What to expect when the engines roar at Daytona

Ten things to expect at Daytona:

10. Six drivers in the field will account for nine of the past 10 wins at Daytona. And, two years later, we'll still be mourning the seventh.

Jeff Gordon, Dale Jarrett and Michael Waltrip each have two, while Jeff Burton, Ward Burton and Dale Earnhardt Jr. have one apiece.

9. Darrell Waltrip will be wearing an ear-to-ear grin throughout SpeedWeeks, all the while practicing his "boogity, boogity, boogity" as Little E. leads the field to the green flag.

And if there's a lugnut snafu, cross your fingers for ol' DW to serenade the viewing audience with "You picked a fine time to leave me, loose wheel," even though it's not very likely.

8. Mike Wallace, fastest during this month's testing, will not start ahead of brothers Rusty and Kenny.

Ryan Newman, however, will start in front of his Penske South teammate. But don't count the 2 car out; Rusty has the series' highest average finish for the past 10 Daytona races: 6.6, including six top-10s.

7. Brooke Gordon will not be there to hug Jeff in Victory Lane. She'll be in a cave, dollar signs rolling in her eyes waiting for the sun to go down.

So what if The Kid makes $1.1 million a month. When was the last time Brooke traded paint with anyone other than her interior decorator?

6. Michael Waltrip will have another strong finish. After all, it is a restrictor-plate race. And he does drive for DEI, the best engine builders in the plate-racing business.

The next week, he'll be thrown to the wolves. The past five years Waltrip has only one top-20 in the season's second race, while averaging a 27th-place finish.

5. As the laps count down, Jarrett may miss Ricky Rudd more than many may think. In his last eight Daytona races, Rudd's average finish is 16.7 ... not too shabby for a front-of-the-pack drafting partner.

On the other hand, Elliott Sadler, Jarrett's new teammate, has two top-threes in the past three races at Daytona.

4. For all the 2002 talk of Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch and Mark Martin carrying the Roush Racing flag, Jeff Burton will post the team's best finish. And Greg Biffle will prove he belongs in the big leagues.

Burton is my darkhorse to challenge for the 2003 Winston Cup championship. He's too smart and too talented to have consecutive winless seasons for the first time since 1995-96.

3.

2. Anyone notice Kevin Harvick's test speed? 183.035 mph. FYI, that's better than Tony Stewart, Bill Elliott, Jimmie Johnson.

Maybe it was a sophomore slump. We'll know before sundown.

1. Three words: The Big One.

Isn't that what everyone is supposed to say about Daytona? (Or Talladega?) Too many cars running door-to-door. Not enough horsepower to breakaway from the too many cars running door-to-door. Too many drivers with not enough horsepower to breakaway from the too many cars running door-to-door. Aerodynamics have minimized the drivers' skills because there are too many drivers with not enough horsepower to breakaway from the too many cars running door-to-door.

1a. Three more words: Start your engines.

B. Duane Cross is a senior producer for CNNSI.com.

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