What to watch for in Sunday's Daytona 500

Jeff Gluck, USA TODAY Sports | USATODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Five drivers who won't win Daytona 500 USA TODAY Sports' Jeff Gluck predicts the drivers who won't win Sunday's Daytona 500

Kevin Harvick could become the first driver to sweep Daytona Speedweeks

Drivers are still figuring out how much they can draft in NASCAR%27s new Gen 6 cars

Two-time Daytona 500 champion will drive the No. 26 car as a tribute to Newtown victims

Will Kevin Harvick sweep?

When Daytona International Speedway inked a deal with Budweiser to sponsor this year's Speedweeks, little did the track know Bud-sponsored driver Kevin Harvick would leave his own mark on the week.

Harvick won the first of two Budweiser Duel races Thursday to go with his Sprint Unlimited exhibition victory Saturday and could become the first driver ever to sweep Speedweeks if he wins the 500 on Sunday.

"I always think Kevin is one of the guys to beat, when we come to Daytona especially," Kasey Kahne said. "He's got this place figured out. He's showed that they're really fast. He understands this type of racing really well."

Though he's leaving Richard Childress Racing for Stewart-Haas Racing after the season, Harvick has brushed off any lame-duck talk. He might quiet it for good if he can pull off a Daytona sweep.

"We've just got to keep a level head on our shoulders," he said. "Not get too high over what we've done, just do the same things that we've done. If it's meant to be, it's meant to be."

Race might not come down to last lap

Even after 325 miles of racing for some drivers — at least the ones who made it through the Unlimited and a Duel — NASCAR's new Gen 6 cars still are somewhat of a mystery.

Drivers aren't sure how much they can draft with one another before causing a wreck. The air has been acting funky. Case in point: Denny Hamlin got unexpectedly loose during his Duel race.

"It just shows you that any kind of bad aero position you put yourself in, your car can be vulnerable," Hamlin said.

So far, the new car seems to be hurting drivers' ability to pass at Daytona, where restrictor plates harness power and bunch up the field. When cars tried pulling out to make a pass, they seemed unable to move forward.

NASCAR's new model was modified in part to increase side-by-side racing and passing at the 1.5-mile speedways, where drivers and fans complained racing had gotten predictable. However, those modifications have changed restrictor-place racing, and it remains to be seen if this style is for better or worse.

"They really stall easy," Greg Biffle said. "They won't suck up to the guy in front of you."

Juan Pablo Montoya said he tried bump-drafting with Biffle but Biffle's car took off like a spring and was boosted three car lengths ahead. Without ever lifting his foot off the gas, Montoya couldn't get back to Biffle's bumper.

Because it's more difficult for cars to make moves and slice through the field, there's a potential the Daytona 500 could be a track-position race in which pit stops and strategy figure more prominently.

"I think it's just a matter of whoever gets out front, to be honest with you," said Kyle Busch, who won the second Duel race.

That could mean the familiar last-lap passes at Daytona become a thing of the past. In both Saturday's Unlimited and Thursday's Duel races, drivers simply couldn't afford to wait that long.

"Maybe it's 20 laps to go (when the winning move is made) if there's no cautions at the end," Kahne said. "I think you need to be ready at any time ... to try to move up. I don't think waiting till the last lap is a ticket, the way things are right now."

Waltrip could drive to inspiring win

Two-time Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip made the field via Thursday's qualifying races after crashing in the Duel last year.

But that's just the first step toward what could be Waltrip's greatest victory: A win in the Daytona 500 with the Sandy Hook School Support Fund on the hood of his car.

Should Waltrip win in a car with "Newtown" written on it in big, bold letters, the victory could transcend NASCAR to become an emotional moment of national healing (Waltrip is running the No. 26 as a tribute to the 26 victims of the school shooting). It would be well-received outside the sport, perhaps second only to a win by Patrick.

"We needed to make it for the folks in Newtown, Conn.," Waltrip said after qualifying. "We wanted to have something for them to smile about on Sunday, and now they do."