Daytona 500 storylines and a look at the forecast for the Great American Race

The NASCAR Cup Series season starts Sunday with the Daytona 500. This is the first race as we speed toward the Cup championship. This also is an opportunity to claim one of NASCAR’s crown jewels and a playoff spot.

Questions heading into this weekend's "Great American Race" are numerous. Here are a few we are looking into at Rowan County Weather.  

Kyle Busch. He has achieved so much in his Cup career — two championships, 63 race wins, more than 19,000 laps led and a record 19 consecutive seasons with at least one win. The biggest thing missing from Busch’s Hall of Fame resume is the Daytona 500. Busch has superspeedway success with one Daytona summer win and two Talladega wins. He just remains winless in the biggest race of the season. None of this is completely on Kyle as he has had the race in his hands. Last year he technically won the 500-mile race. However, a late crash sent the race to overtime, and Kyle ended up not having the desired result as the checkered flag flew. 

Brad Keselowski. is winless in 14 starts in The Great American Race. He’s been so close. He’s made it to the white flag in each of the last three Daytona 500s but only reached the checkered flag one of those times. He’s led the most laps in the past two Daytona 500s. He has been vocal about wanting to win this race. Can he do it and also score his first victory at RFK Racing? He should be worth watching. This year has the feel of a rebound year for Brad as he tries to shake off the inconsistent results of a season ago.

Ford and Toyota will both have new bodies this year. Will this have a major impact on the race’s outcome, or will Chevrolet teams have an early advantage with their returning Camaro bodies? The Camaro bodies of the Hendrick camp have certainly dominated qualifying for the past few seasons at Daytona. The team has not won the Great American Race in 10 years with that last win coming from Dale Earnhardt Jr. 

There are some teams and drivers who need to have a solid start to the season and the ones we are focused on are as follows. 

It would be easy to pick Kyle Larson based on his past struggles — he had four DNFs in six drafting races last season — but he will be a favorite to win at numerous other tracks. The actual pick is Corey LaJoie. He has the playoffs as a goal for this season and he leads a revamped three-driver lineup. All eight of LaJoie’s top-10 finishes in Cup have been at drafting tracks, so the first two races of the season will be his best opportunities to score crucial points or steal a win.

Anyone from Stewart-Haas Racing. There are questions about this organization after going winless last year in Cup and losing Kevin Harvick and Aric Almirola. Car owner Tony Stewart said last week on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio that if improvements aren’t made, “major” changes will be made. SHR’s lineup this season — Chase Briscoe, Ryan Preece, Josh Berry and Noah Gragson — have combined for one career Cup victory (by Briscoe in March 2022 at Phoenix). Not starting in a hole could be big for all four of these drivers.

As of this post the weather could have an impact on the race getting ion on Sunday.  Showers are likely chance of precipitation is 60%. with mostly cloudy, with a high in the upper 60's. Northwest winds around 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. 

Stick with Rowan County Weather throughout the week for updates leading into the Great American Race