Jeff Gordon Looks For History In Final Daytona 500

Jeff Gordon will lead the field to green in today’s 57th annual Daytona 500. The race will mark his final outing in the “Great American Race.” Photo by Robert Laberge/NASCAR via Getty Images

Jeff Gordon kicked off his final full-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season the best way he possibly could – by winning the Daytona 500 Coors Light Pole.

The 43-year-old will attempt to launch his farewell full-schedule campaign in even grander fashion in today’s 57th running of “The Great American Race” by becoming the 10th Daytona 500 winner to visit Victory Lane from the pole.

“I can’t think of anything cooler than to start this season, the Daytona 500, my final Daytona 500, final full season, on the pole,” he said.

Gordon won his second of three Daytona 500s from the pole in 1999. The other drivers to accomplish the feat are NASCAR Hall of Famers Fireball Roberts (1962), Richard Petty (1966), Cale Yarborough (1968, ‘84), Bill Elliott (1985, ‘87) and Dale Jarrett (2000), as well as 19-time race-winner Buddy Baker (198).

Despite competing for the championship for the final time this season, Gordon claims to have tunnel-vision as he tries to tackle the 2.5-mile behemoth.

“I want to win the championship, I want points, but right now it’s the Daytona 500,” he said. “All I want to focus on is winning the Daytona 500. I’m just enjoying the ride, enjoying the moment.”

Fellow Chevrolet drivers Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and 2014 NSCS champion Kevin Harvick are set to spoil Gordon’s Daytona 500 swan song.

Earnhardt, last year’s Daytona 500 victor, boasts two wins in the 500 and will attempt to become just the fourth driver to repeat at the event (Petty, 1973-74; Yarborough, 1983-84; Sterling Martin, 1994-95). A skilled restrictor-plate driver, Earnhardt owns eight career checkered flags at superspeedways.

Harvick, who won the final two races last season to capture his first NSCS crown can join Gordon (1999), Lee Petty (1959), Richard Petty (1973), Yarborough (1977) and Jarrett (2000) as the sixth defending premier series champion to win the Daytona 500.

The pilot of Stewart-Hass Racing’s No. 4 Budweiser Chevrolet is primed to become the 11th driver in NSCS history to secure consecutive titles.

“As you come into this year, knowing we can do the things that we accomplished last year is very rewarding,” Harvick said. “And it is a great confidence builder for our guys and team.

“We know we can thrive in those situations, be successful in those situations and win races if we put all the pieces together correctly.”

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Daytona International Speedway – Daytona Beach, FL
Daytona 500 – Feb. 22, 2015

57th annual Daytona 500 Starting Lineup

1. Jeff Gordon
2. Jimmie Johnson
3. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
4. Matt Crafton
5. Joey Logano
6. Carl Edwards
7. Tony Stewart
8. Greg Biffle
9. Clint Bowyer
10. Martin Truex, Jr.
11. Kevin Harvick
12. Ryan Blaney
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14. Reed Sorenson
15. Jamie McMurray
16. Mike Wallace
17. Landon Cassill
18. Justin Allgaier
19. Cole Whitt
20. Danica Patrick
21. Paul Menard
22. Ryan Newman
23. Michael McDowell
24. Regan Smith
25. J.J. Yeley
26. David Gilliland.
27. Michael Annett
28. David Ragan
29. Kyle Larson
30. Austin Dillon
31. Ty Dillon
32. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.
33. Aric Almirola
34. Michael Waltrip
35. Matt Kenseth
36. Johnny Sauter
37. Trevor Bayne
38. Sam Hornish, Jr.
39. Brad Keselowski
40. A.J. Allmendinger
41. Casey Mears
42. Denny Hamlin
43. Bobby Labonte