The green flag will wave at the start of another NASCAR Cup series on Sunday afternoon at Daytona International Speedway, where the Daytona 500, the Great American Race, will be run for the 66th time since 1959. It can be difficult to divine anything too telling from the race—the last time the winner went on to claim the season title was in 2013, when Jimmie Johnson won both the 500 and the Cup. With restrictor-plates making sure everyone is running at about the same speed, Daytona can be a wide-open affair, as likely to be won by a callow rookie (Austin Cindric, 2022) as a seasoned veteran.
But story lines in the race are as much of a February ritual on Florida’s Fun Coast as Speedweeks or Spring Break, and this year is no exception. Below are five of the most compelling.
