SPORTS
Saturday, February 15, 2020
East Oregonian
B3
Daytona 500 up for grabs as no clear theme has emerged
By JENNA FRYER
AP Auto Racing Writer
DAYTONA
BEACH,
Fla. — The fi rst four events
leading into the Daytona
500 have produced four dif-
ferent winners. Ricky Sten-
house Jr. put his new team
on the pole, while Erik Jones
outlasted a crash-fest to
win a qualifying race. Joey
Logano and William Byron
won the qualifying races.
No clear favorite has
emerged for “The Great
American Race.” No single
manufacturer has a demon-
strated edge going into
NASCAR’s version of the
Super Bowl. It was a Toyota
1-2-3 sweep for Joe Gibbs
Racing last year, in part
because of mandated manu-
facturer alliances for drivers
to work together, but there’s
so far been little indication
the race will play out the
same way Sunday.
Instead, this is a wide-
open fi eld of 40 drivers and
all believe they have a shot at
the life-changing victory and
the record $23.6 million that
will be divvied by among
the drivers. And why not?
The unpredictability of Day-
tona allowed Justin Haley to
gamble on rain strategy last
July and shock the fi eld with
a win in his third and fi nal
start of the season.
Now Haley is back at
Daytona for his debut in
the Daytona 500, just one
of a handful of drivers in
a watered-down fi eld that
includes six Cup Series
rookies, a 10-year veteran
who had failed to qualify
for the race in his only other
previous attempt and a slew
of others chasing the payout
that can extend the season
for any fl edgling team.
Timmy Hill raced his
way into Sunday’s fi eld in a
qualifying race and said his
Daytona 500 debut will keep
tiny MBM Motorsports in
business for the foreseeable
future. More important? Hill
thinks he’s got a chance to be
competitive Sunday.
“My car is very capable
AP Photo/Terry Renna
Alex Bowman (88) and Jimmie Johnson (48) lead the fi eld to start the second of two NASCAR Daytona 500 qualifying auto
races at Daytona International Speedway on Thursday in Daytona Beach, Fla.
DAYTONA 500 PURSE IN HIGH GEAR, TOPPING $23 MILLION
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — NASCAR will
dole out a record $23.6 million to the 40
drivers racing in the Daytona 500.
The sanctioning body released the to-
tal purse Friday, an about-face for an orga-
nization that hadn’t released payouts since
the 2015 season. NASCAR’s charter system
with teams had previously prohibited the
disclosure of fi nancial details. The Race
Team Alliance announced Thursday it was
close to agreeing to NASCAR’s proposal for
a four-year extension to the charter system
that would run through 2024.
of running competitively
in this race,” Hill said. “I
feel like we’re not just here
to participate, we’re here to
race.”
But no one knows what
that racing will look like
when the fl ag drops on the
62nd running after President
Donald Trump, named the
grand marshal for the race,
gives the command for driv-
ers to start their engines. The
NASCAR has experienced signifi -
cant changes to its business model in
recent years, with sponsorship dollars
dwindling. Drivers have had to adjust,
too, with many of them working for less
guaranteed money and relying more on
purse winnings.
The Daytona 500 purse grew steadily
since the race’s inception in 1959. Lee Pet-
ty took home nearly $20,000 for winning
the inaugural “Great American Race.” This
year’s winner will receive an undisclosed
amount.
exhibition Busch Clash was
a demolition derby as drivers
shook off the offseason rust
and adjusted to NASCAR’s
new rules package.
The superspeedway rules
implemented last season put
a taller spoiler on the cars
and made for unpredictable
closing rates — and they
were not used in the Daytona
500. Teams raced the pack-
age twice at Talladega, and
VISIT US
ON THE WEB
The purse topped $1 million in 1985
and rose to a little more than $18 million
in 2015, the last year the fi gures were
released.
The race on Sunday is a sellout for the
fi fth consecutive season, with President
Donald Trump giving the command for
drivers to start their engines.
Copyright 2020 The Associated Press.
All rights reserved. This material may not
be published, broadcast, rewritten or
redistributed.
— Associated Press
in the July race at Daytona
that was shortened 82 miles
by rain. Moments before the
sky opened, former Daytona
500 winner Austin Dillon
wrecked the favorites with
an aggressive move as the
leader.
The Busch Clash last
weekend was similar as
Logano threw a block on
reigning series champion
Kyle Busch that caused a
of
EastOregonian.com
wreck that collected Logano
teammate Brad Kesel-
owski. Angry words were
exchanged, cars destroyed
and only six drivers were
running at the end. Kesel-
owski and Logano are down-
playing any feud, but block-
ing is a legitimate concern
for Sunday.
“At the end of the day,
you block because it works.
It works until it doesn’t,”
Clint Bowyer said. “That’s
successful until it’s not,
and then you’re the bad
guy. You’ve wrecked the
whole fi eld because it was
an untimely block, and you
wrecked everybody, but if
you didn’t, you should have
and you’re going to lose the
race.
“So it’s a tricky thing to
judge. It puts you on the spot.
And it’s do or die, and it’s a
decision that has to be made
that fast.”
Kevin Harvick, the 2008
Daytona 500 winner, thinks
smart racing will be crit-
ical Sunday with drivers
having to ignore the way
they’ve previously raced the
speedway.
“I think survival will be
more talked about this year
than any year in the past,”
Harvick said. “We have all
been programmed to block
and do things with the old
package for so many years,
and this is not the old pack-
age. The runs are happening
faster. The cars are kind of
lining up and spin out really
easy to the right when you
push them wrong. They are
fast compared to where we
were before.”
Two-time and defending
race winner Denny Ham-
lin is the William Hill bet-
ting favorite at 10-to-1 and
his Toyota has indeed been
good every time he’s hit the
track. And even after he suf-
fered extensive damage in
the Clash, he was still able to
push teammate Jones to the
victory.
The Daytona 500 has
not had a back-to-back win-
ner since Sterling Marlin
in 1994 and 1995, and he’s
one of only three drivers to
accomplish the feat.
“It’s tough, but there is
more confi dence,” Hamlin
said. “I think it’s been really
a great run we’ve had over
the last eight years in par-
ticular. We’ve been a fac-
tor to win every Daytona
500 it seems like for the last
decade. I come here thinking
there’s no reason that should
be any different.”
Pendleton, Oregon
of
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New This Year!
DESIGNER PURSE RAFFLE
Raffle winners were Kathy Gillette,
Shelley Atkinson, Rita Rosenberg,
Gidget Webb, Sofi Smith, Buffy
Farber and Brent Webb.
All proceeds benefit Altrusa’s KARE Project, which provides
shelter, clothing, personal hygiene and other items to homeless
students in Pendleton. Altrusa of Pendleton is a 501(c)3
organization and all donations are tax deductible.
A guest at the event dropped a set of keys. Contact Hamleys office to claim.