The previous qualifying record of a female Sprint Cup Series driver was held by Janet Guthrie, who twice started ninth in 1977. The only other woman to win a pole in one of NASCAR’s national touring series was Shawna Robinson, who won the pole of a Nationwide Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway in 1994.

Jeff Gordon posted the second-fastest time of the day, running a lap of 196.292 mph (45.850 seconds). He and Patrick will start on the front row for the Daytona 500. The rest of the field will be set in the Duels.

Waltrip said:

I am thrilled to drive the #30 Toyota for Swan Racing and the chance to win a third Daytona 500. Reuniting with Tony Jr. and Steve Hmiel brings back a lot of good memories and is going to create new ones.

Brandon Davis, CEO of Swan Energy Inc., an independent oil and gas company, bought Inception Motorsports in the offseason and rebranded it Swan Racing.

Davis said:

Swan Racing is here to compete and to build a championship contender. This one-race partnership with Michael puts a two-time champion behind the wheel and the #30 in the mix at the Daytona 500.

David Stremme will regularly drive the car following the one-off deal with Waltrip. He said:

This is a great move for Swan Racing. Michael and I have been friends for a long time. We got to talking last year and from my perspective I thought this would help to further our relationship with Toyota and be a good building block for Swan Racing.

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The following night in the Bud Shootout, Johnson was involved in a crash that collected  Kurt Busch, Jamie McMurray, AJ Allmendinger, and resulted in Jeff Gordon flipping down the backstretch. Kyle Busch and a few other cars were involved, but they were able to continue. Johnson finished 14th.

Johnson’s weekend got a little boost when he finished third in his Gatorade Duel, earning him the eight starting position in the Daytona 500.

But, on lap 2 of the 500, Johnson was pushing Regan Smith with help from Elliott Sadler. As Sadler pushed Johnson, Johnson went high, it looked like, to pass Smith. Just as he got outside, Sadler made contact with Johnson in his left rear, an action that had catastrophic results throughout the weekend. The contact turned Johnson, turned down, then back up to correct it. He hit the outside wall head-on, then he spun across the track coming to rest in the middle.

Danica Patrick made contact with David Ragan while trying to avoid Johnson’s car, which sent both of them sliding into it. Ragan made hard contact with Johnson. Ragan’s No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford and Johnson’s Chevy were both done. Patrick repaired the damage and returned to the race nearly 70 laps down. Johnson wound up finishing 42nd.

Just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse for the five-time Sprint Cup champion, NASCAR announced penalties, suspensions and fines for the No. 48 team.

The No. 48 car was found to be in violation of Sections 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing); 12-4J (any determination by NASCAR officials that race equipment used in the event does not conform to NASCAR rules detailed in Section 20 of the rule book or has not been approved by NASCAR prior to the event); and 20-2.1E (if in the judgment of NASCAR officials, any part or component of the car not previously approved by NASCAR that has been installed or modified to enhance aerodynamic performance will not be permitted — unapproved car body modifications).

Crew chief Chad Knaus and car chief Ron malec were suspended for the next six Sprint Cup Series championship events.  They both have been placed on NASCAR probation until May 9th. Knaus was also fined $100,000.

Driver Jimmie Johnson and car owner Jeff Gordon have been penalized with the loss of 25 driver and owner points, respectively.

As a result, Johnson should be 23 points in the hole because he only earned 2 points by finishing 42nd.

Jeff Gordon’s wreck, which collects Johnson, others: 

Johnson’s Wreck in the Daytona 500:

Elliott said:

I am really excited to be racing with NEMCO Motorsports and Joe Nemechek, who has been a friend and respected competitor through the years. This will be a great way to start off the 2012 NASCAR season in Daytona.

In related news, the team’s No. 87 Toyota will be sponsored by AM FM Energy in the Daytona 500. AM FM will also serve as an associate sponsor for the team’s Nationwide Series entry in the season-opening Drive4COPD 300 at Daytona.

AM FM will appear on the Cup and N’Wide cars in select races throughout the season.

Waltrip will drive the No. 40 Aaron’s Dream Machine in his 75th start at the famous track — including Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series.

Waltrip said:

I appreciate what the folks at Hillman Racing including Joe Falk are putting together. Hopefully my experience at Daytona will help them get out of the gate strong with their new team.

Waltrip will drive Michael Waltrip Racing’s No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine in the Bud Shootout. Mark Martin will then drive the No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine in the Daytona 500. this team changed numbers from the No. 00, which was driven by David Reutimann last year.

So, NASCAR made several changes to the rules to make races more appealing to fans. During the season, they moved from single-file restarts to double-file. In the off-season, they decided to eliminate the bump drafting rule, make three attempts at a green-white-checkered finish, and change from a rear wing to a rear spoiler, all in the interest of improving the racing.

Then, in the biggest race of the year, NASCAR had to deal with something they couldn’t have foreseen: a track surface at Daytona International Speedway that couldn’t hold itself together. Up to that point, the racing was decent. There were several lead changes, and no one car got too big of a lead. But, the benefit of improved racing was nearly wiped out because of the pothole.

As track crews scrambled to fix the problem, both NASCAR and track officials had to be in a state of shock. As seconds turned to minutes, and minutes turned into an hour, they had to feel like they were in a bad dream in which they were standing in front of their high school class in their underwear. What a bad day to wear Spiderman Underoos.

After a delay of more than an hour, the field went back to racing. But, early into the run, cars were shooting off sparks as they went over the patch. Shortly thereafter, chunks of the surrounding pavement were coming up, forcing NASCAR officials to stop the race again. “This can’t be happening,” I’m sure at least one of them thought.

Forty-five minutes later, the drivers went back to racing. The pothole set up a 40-lap sprint to the finish, similar to the Bud Shootout. Officials hoped (and prayed) that a wild finish would make up for the pothole delay.

On lap 199, NASCAR’s prayers were answered: Bill Elliott and Joey Logano crashed in turn 3, setting up a sure-to-be thrilling green-white-checkered finish. One lap later, Kasey Kahne and Robert Richardson Jr got together, bringing out the caution.
 
Under the old rules, the race would have ended under that caution, thus enraging those fans who kept watching the race despite the long delay. But, the new rule meant there would be another attempt at a G-W-C.

When the green flag flew, NASCAR officials had to be nervous. They didn’t want a third attempt at a G-W-C because that would raise the likelihood that the race would end under caution.

What they got, however, had to exceed their expectations. Dale Earnhardt Jr, who ran up front early, but hung out mid-pack for most of the race, was running 10th. As most race fans know, when Dale Jr performs well, NASCAR performs well because Jr Nation tunes in when he is running well, and they tune out when he is not.
 
A top 10, after Dale Jr’s tumultuous 2009 season, would have sufficed for most Jr fans. But, over the final two laps, Dale Jr drove like a man on a mission. He drove like The Intimidator. He made it three-wide on the front stretch, pushing Clint Bowyer clear of Carl Edwards and Kevin Harvick. He followed Bowyer low, pushing him past Martin Truex Jr in turn 1. And, when Bowyer went high to get behind leader Jamie McMurray, and Greg Biffle went low, Dale Jr squeezed his car between to the two of them to move into second. I, like many of Jr Nation I suppose, was screaming at my TV, “Come on, Jr. Come on, Jr.” Fans at the track were on their feet, cheering. And while NASCAR officials have to appear unbiased, I’m sure that several of them were thinking what I was screaming, “Come on, Jr.”
 
Dale Jr wiggled as he made his way through Bowyer and Biffle, which prevented him from having the momentum to pass McMurray cleanly. So, he settled in for a second-place finish.

Jr Nation, which makes up a large portion of NASCAR fans, was pleased with his finish, and therefore more likely to talk about his 10th-to-second run instead of the two-hour delay because of the pothole.

Jamie McMurray’s emotional win was certainly a feel-good story. And several fans were happy that he won. But, Dale Jr’s finish allowed fans to feel good about McMurray’s win. Had Jr finished 22nd, the joy of McMurray’s win would have been offset by the disappointment of Jr’s finish for many fans, which would make them more likely to focus on the negative (pothole delay) instead of the positive (McMurray’s win).
 
Don’t get me wrong, the pothole fiasco is still fresh in people’s minds. But, Dale Jr’s finish coupled with McMurray’s win helped change the reaction to one of jokes rather than anger. And for that, NASCAR certainly breathed a huge sigh of relief.

When Earnhardt Jr signed on with Hendrick Motorsports, people expected greatness. After one full season, people expect Jr to have adjusted to his new team and for the wins to start coming. But, that hasn’t happened thus far this season.

Instead, Jr has run in the teens, and hasn’t seriously contended for a win. As a result, Jr Nation has been calling for Eury’s head.

Ironically enough, Jr, not Eury, was not the one who made mistakes in the Daytona 500. And, faulty parts were to blame for the team’s poor performance in the Auto Club 500. So, maybe Eury is not to blame for the team’s struggles. Still, he gets the criticism because Jr Nation believes he is the weak link.

Dale Earnhardt Jr spoke out on behalf of his embattled crew cheif, saying:

The guy I feel bad for is Tony Jr. He gets criticized so bad. Everybody in this room…knows how smart of a guy he is, certainly knows he’s a good mechanic and a solid crew chief. … I’ll take the fall. I’d rather be crucified than him. Every time I read in the paper that people are on his case I feel like I’m sending my brother to jail for a crime I committed.

And now, the man himself — Rick Hendrick — did the same:

Right now Tony Jr. is our guy. I’m 100% behind this group. I have no intentions of making any [personnel] changes. … I have all intentions of making it better. These guys are working their butts off … and I have to believe in the next few weeks we’re going to see some real success out of that crowd.

The team met for three hours to discuss their performance and to try to figure out ways to improve. And Jr himself has vowed to workout more and diet better.

Time will tell if these were steps in the right direction, but it is a positive sign to see that the team, and the driver, are doing everything they can to get better. For now, that will have to do for Jr Nation.

ESPN, the AP, and the Los Angeles Times also reported on this story.

Martin has experienced a ton of misfortune to start this season. He was running fourth in the Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway when he ran over a piece of debris, cutting a tire and severly damaging his No. 5 Kelloggs/Carquest Chevy. He finished 31st.

During the previous two races, the Shelby 427 from Las Vegas Motor Speedway and the Auto Club 500 from Auto Club Speedway (Fontana), he experienced engine failures that gave him a pair of 40th place finishes. 

His 16th-place finish in the Daytona 500 looks pretty good right now, compared to his finishes in the last three races.

Crew cheif Alan Gustafson was expected to meet with Martin to discuss how the team can save its season. The problem is, it hasn’t been mistakes as much as it has been bad luck.

The Daytona 500 was called early due to rain. If it hadn’t been, Martin may have finished better than 16th. He won the pole at Atlanta and was running in the top 5 when his tire blew.

He didn’t have winning cars at Las Vegas or Fontana, but he certainly could have finished better than 40th.

As a result of the misfortune, Martin is changing his focus from the Chase and championship to winning races. He is mathematically still in contention, but he knows that making up points on one person is easier than making up points on 34 people.

So, for now, Martin is concentrating on winning his first race since 2005.