There's a saying that has floated around NASCAR for ages: "The actual season starts after Daytona" or something to that effect. This is partly due to Daytona being its own animal with its own rules and prestige, but also due to the simple fact that it's a superspeedway race -- an outlier event. It's impossible to gauge who the best teams out of the gate are at such a place.
NASCAR's decision to place drafting tracks back-to-back for the opening of the season pushes that idea to the third week of the year. While the wins count all the same in regards to the playoffs, the competitors won't know who truly has the edge until Phoenix and Vegas are in the rearview. Speaking to media Saturday at Atlanta, 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion Chase Elliott echoed this sentiment, noting that it's "totally fair" to say we won't have a clear idea of who is leading the way until end of the March or beginning of April.
