Stewart. He could be one to watch. Thats what weve been waiting for, cars to get uncovered. Were hopefully going to be racing very soon. Coming up a little more from daytona as we get you ready to race. We have a lot of activities. The colors the cars uncovered. Crew members and drivers being called to their cars. Why are we watching this again . I pay for all these channels, so i make myself watch them all. Joey, ill watch anything except this. Except this. Go back, go back, go back, go back, go back, go back. Fios custom tv lets you pay for the types of channels you want, not the ones you dont. 100 fiber optics is here. Get out of the past. Get fios. Now for 79. 99 a month. Go online or call. Call the Verizon Center for customers with disabilities at 800. 974. 6006 tty v a sight at the jersey show has swimmers out of the water. Tonight at 11 00. Its about to get exciting. Exciting. Harvick wins you are going to daytona. Fourth of july weekend is always so much fun. Come on. Because were ready to roll. And we are ready to roll. The wait is almost over. Great job by the track and nascar to get us ready to go racing. Big thank you to the fans who have continued to stick it out. Out with us here at home and the stands. The team members that cant wait to go racing and the hardest workers in the group with pit reporters. I think we have been working hard and happy to go racing a. Driver who understands that the peril of restricter plate racing is clint bowyer. He was upside down and literally on fire here at daytona and knows he must gain points because if hes one point outside of the chase cutoff. He is an excellent restricter plate racers and he knows this might be his best shot. Mike . You talk about urgency. Pit stalls 22 to 33 hungry drivers, winless so far in the season and need a win to punch the ticket to the chase. Among them tony stewart. Could be considered a contender tonight. He has 19 total victories here at daytona. With a record like that, you cant count him out regardless of the season he is having. My section of pit road is just past the Halfway Point and i have heavy hitters including Xfinity Series winner austin dillon. The guys to have my eye on is denny hamlin. Number 11. Hes won almost every here at daytona except a points paying race. He is among the top six among the last three races here. He will be starting 35th and with that spot in the chase secure, he can take some extra risks. Dave . Kelly, ill be out covering 11 drivers. Six are 2015 winners. Five still need a lot of help to get into the chase. Only next piece to his chase puzzle. Now he has to run consistently enough to ride to 30th in points if he makes the choice. And he knows that at daytona there is nothing consistent except its unprediblt kt. Christa . That is so true. Drivers being called to their cars. Joey logano waited out a portion in the stands with the fans. Theres certainly some folks watching from the stands tonight rooting for joey logano. There you see Dale Earnhardt jr. Talking to nascars bret bodine and spotters called to the stand a few minutes ago, as well. To get ready to go racing. July fourth weekend is a chance to earn a postseason. Wake up. Get yourself loose and ready. Racing under the legs is intense. What about at near midnight . These drivers, the you areurgency, the intensity. Its going to be insane. Some of them like dale said some laid back. Watching tv. Playing with the kids. Relaxing. Clint bowyer is jogging around the racetrack and jumped up. It gets intense. They will have a clean racetrack to race on. Very cool. French mime trick. Thats really gonna work. french music playing okay, no, no, no. No stop it. No. Haha, what do you think of that . grumbles you want me to rub your fingers with my rub my fingers . You owe me money for my rope. Oohlala. Introducing the buttery, french croissant dog. And dont forget our halfprice shakes after 8 pm. clicks a lot of people have helped get me here. My sister has always had my back. My buddies sonny and sean. The crew pushing me to be faster. Amy reminding me to enjoy the moment. Fans of course. And nationwide who ive personally been with for 25 years. Its never been just me out there. Nationwide is on your side. The track is complete. The drivers climbing into their cars getting ready to get underway with 160 laps 400 miles of racing Daytona International speedway. Its been almost three hours since the green flag was supposed to drop. Drivers like Dale Earnhardt, jr. , who was just in the pace car going around the track to figure out if the track was dry enough if he felt comfortable going around the wheel, he obviously does if hes about to climb in that car climb in behind the wheel of that car. So jeff gordon, all smiles. But a lot of drivers getting ready for a great race. And always when we come to this racetrack, it has a different heir about it. Theres no question. So much history. So much heritage. This is the birthplace of speed. This is where it all started with nascar. Not only that it was one of the most exciting and sometimes only daring is the only way you and i describe it. These drivers are going something that we dont doer every single week. So they had to wait. And then its worth it because you know its getting ready to happen. Theres a lot of nerve. I know theyre ready to get going. Its only 48 hours. I guess imagine what they were thinking about. Theyre excited. Theyre ready to strap in. Fivehour energy. If you took it right before the scheduled start of this race. But were about to get underway. Danica patrick will be climbing into her number 10. About to get underway. Its great to see these drivers by their cars. I really have to applaud the fans here. Daytona arising, 50,000 Seats Available and it doesnt look like anybodys left. Its passed 11 00 now in the Daytona Beach area. The fans sfienlly lyfinally ready and piling up. All the trackdrying efforts. All of these fans these 50,000 fans that are here they deserve a chance to see these race cars. Steve, do you worry about your cars sf . Theyve been sitting out here a little over four hours waiting to be uncovered . This is an inbound race. Nascar has controlled the cars since yesterday. The crew chief, you keep trying to work on it keep trying to find speed. And now, a little over a day now, these crew chiefs have been looking at notes and they havent been able to work on their car. The crew chief, you hate to have your hands tied. And thats what these rain delays do. Theyve already got a win on the season. David ranken will get behind the dreemt machine. I saw joey lagano up in the grand stand. Im sure hes happy to be behind his car and about ready to client in and get some racing on the way. We talked last week about how long they work and great to come here in february. It was a huge accomplishmented for him as it would be any driver to generate a tremendous amount of accomplishmenteds. He continues to take pictures and sign autographs. Earlier, when it was raining, he was up in the grand stands just outside of turn number four. Come towards the trioval. Hes ready to get the victory lane standing here with harvick. Theres two guys here they both know how to get it done here. Tony has done a ton of races here. Theres been a time in his career where he needs to win. This has been an opportunity tonight for him to make it happen. Thats a lot of racing. Tonight may be the most important. They need something good to happen for them. And if they do win a race theyre eligible for the chase on a season where they havent had much success. Tony stewart has made to come. Back in 2005 the race started just after 11 00. Very similar to the way this race is about to unfold, starting after 11 00. It was 1 42 in the morning when tony stewart did this climbed up on the fence of the grand stand and celebrated. We gave him a ladder to get up to the flag stand. A very good idea. Jimmy mcmurray has had success with is this racetrack. Hes been to victory lanes before. Hes focused. Hes ready to fire. Whenever you come to a speedway race he used to come up with the conversation. He won a race. Dale jr. , and i he always seems to be up front controlling this field. Youre not trying to control this car. It seems funny to me that in the same day, you continue to row tat. I think of deny hamlin. Think of mcmurray. Its what the circumstances always find a way to move in front of the speedway races. Jeff gordon. Watch him getting ready to climb in blind the wheel of his car. I know we talked to him earlier, he mentioned his home track there to race. Coming back today toe that this has to have a flood of emotions. Multiple winner in the daytona 500. Hes won just about everything hes been in down here. At some point in his career to come back in when he straps in it will be his last in the stox car. And its got to be a little emotional to him. Hes got that smile and that grin. I know hes trying to get back to his office and get back to work. I think hes one of the drivers that use this as an opportunity. Weve seen drivers all of the time, they run very well here. I think thats also true with danica. Shes possible lid going to pull an upset tonight. She has finish ed finished eight at this racetrack. Austin dillen he won in 2008. It bodes well for you. I think it does. Theres a backup car with none of the traffic yet. Its a great racetrack. I know its going to be a fast car. So well see what we can do with it tonight. So many unknowns does that concern you . Squl im. Im a little bit concerned, but its a long race. Make adjustments and see more up front. Hop in the car. All the drivers are getting there, rick. Yeah, it was 9 23 when the rains left and the ttans fired um and started to dry the track. At 1 is1 05 they were told to load into those cars. Were about to get the engines fired up. Im ready. I think we all have. Daytona is such a spectrum as it is. But to see 43 cars at 200 miles an hour i remember back in 98, when they put lights in this track, it was just a crazy idea. Here we are today, i think we take it officer granted. What a beautiful perspective when these guys grow up. Absolutely. A little rain delay recap from daytona. There are 20 of them here on site. And jeff pryors. We had 23 interviews and three burdens on air. And two drivers did take shots. I sfelt bad about two. But two out of 23 i feel a little nervous about that. Bad percentage thats going my wile. Dale jr. , he didnt use all the leverage that he had. But its all in fun. Theres not many versions we put on the air, but theres going to be a lot more driver that is give me a hard time. And that is the great sight. Drivers strapping in. At this moment when you know that youre about to go 400 miles at a racetrack that you know is unpredictable. Are is there buter flies . Is it Nervous Energy that you have . Number one, youre dwlad toglad to get the race in. Yes, i think you are nervous. I think waiting made me just a touch more nervous. Listen, i was afraid to say it. I was more nervous in daytona than i ever went. When i am strapped into this if youre smart, you look at the odds, theres a good chance youre going to be in a wreck. You have to know that when you put your held met on, when youre getting strapped in. You cant tell me that thats not different than every other one. Theres so many distractions. Theres a lot of people on the grid. A lot of people want to say hello to the drivers. Those are all backed intentions. When the driver finally straps to the race car, i always try to stick my head in, some last hfd minute instructions. Its not as much as what i said as how i deliver. Here, all of ethis is behind us. Just try to calm the moment and lets go to work. Recess the driver. Get us focused on the task at hand. When i walk away from that conversation, i felt to a different mood. My car to the pit boss. And i love that as a driver. I love my crew chief to come just before the race. Im trap astrapped in. And i loef my crew chief to look in there, eyetoeye just Say Something simple to me. Just little things. Now, were on the same page. We Work Together were on the same page. Weve been joking around, rain delay, whatever. Now its time to go get it done. Were going to do it together. Were going to be talking, were going to be communicating. Nascar has told the teams and drivers were about four minutes away from firing the engines. As they continue to strap up and get ready, well take a quick break and be right back fwror the command here at daytona. I used to be a subway meatball guy but now i love sweet onion chicken teriyaki, too. Ah, thats always been my favorite. I like red onions on mine. Yeah put extra onions on mine no onions for me, boys. Too strong for my tastes. Im a green pepper man. Showoff. Carl edwards is training hard on his new team joe gibbs racing. Fueled by his favorite the subway sweet onion chicken teriyaki with premium cut all white meat chicken strips, made the way carl likes with fresh spinach and black olives. I always thought you were a meatball. What do you mean by that, carl . A lot of people have helped get me here. My sister has always had my back. My buddies sonny and sean. The crew pushing me to be faster. Amy reminding me to enjoy the moment. Fans of course. And nationwide who ive personally been with for 25 years. Its never been just me out there. Nationwide is on your side. Mplts. And, tonight we will be commercialfree for the racing. Brought to you by our partners at smithfield food. 43 miles of commercialfree coverage here on nbc. The drivers are strapped into the cars, getting ready for the command. Team members finding last minute for these drivers. As you mentioned, the crew chiefs chatting with them now, up on their pit box. Getting ready to go 160 laps 400 miles as were closingeing on 11 30. Announcer and now, for the most famous words in motor sports, please welcome your grand marshal, mike obrien. Drivers, start your engines. Engines are fired and ready to go. I think everybody in the grand stands are excited, were excited. Feel the roar of the crowd, the enjiens fired, the cars about to roll on to the racetrack. The anticipation it took about three hours longer than what everyone was expecteding. But the anticipation building for the green flag in this one. Yeah the anticipation is the toughest part. I mean, you work its not just here. Theyve been working on these cars for weeks, if not months. Speedway racing is the one chance a year where the car really seems to dominate. The shots take this personal, the head shots take this very personal. Its a tremendous amount of work to put these 43 cars on the grid. We got rained out yesterday, so this is the first time these cars have been on the racetrack and drivers have been buckled in these cars. So its been going on longer than a day, this started yesterday. A little over half way through a fuel run, were expecteding the fuel one to be around 45 to 48 laps. They wont be able to add fuel prior to that competition. If they do decide to come onto pit road. Thats one thing we have to keep in mind. This started later than we thought. Handling is going to be handling will be less accuracy than you eve ever seen even if it just a few hour earlier. The radio just made a comment about the fans. Id like to say thank you to all of these amazing fans that hung out with us here tonight. Good to see you here tonight. Its pretty darn full. Looks good. You guys are in for a good show tonight. That might have been one of the roars. A lot of fans will be able to have scanners and listen in to their favorite drivers or all of the drivers, so theyll listen in to crew chief, driver and spotter. That was nice to acknowledge the fans directly. What a great turn out it is for this race. And the fact that theyre still here, its just at 11 30 now, the bottom of the hour as were getting ready to see the green flag, the cars rolling off of pit road right now. Brett kezelowski having some radio issues. He wont lose his spot, though. No at this point, basically, the most important thing is find what the issue is and repair the issue. But you see this at times. When you have these rain delays the rain can get down inside the radio. Lets take a look at tonights starting grid. Outside row 6, Jimmy Johnson, three times 800 winner. Kite busch won this race. Topten finishes in the last four races are here. Starting 17th also a daytona 500 winner back in 2008. Matt kenzeth also a daytona 500 winner. And this guy, jeff gordon rolls off 23rd in his final start of daytona. Greg biffel. Two team mates starting next to each other. We talk about sleepers at the beginning of show. Tone any stewart won this race four times. That guy, 17. A good chance of winners. Speaking of winners, our defending winner will roll off 36. This race finished 19th. We had the opportunity to chat with a driver tonight, that being carl edwards. Why dont we tune him in and see if we can talk to the driver of the 19th. How are you doing . Im doing great, jeff how are you doing . Were doing great up here. You start in the middle of the pack. Thats going to make it harder because the strategy is to go to the front and start in the middle anything can happen. Really proud of my guys to get us through a great subway camry. To get it done thats good. So hopefully, we can put on a show here tonight and have a little bit of fun. Every race in daytona is always different. What do you see is the biggest challenge of winning tonights race. Considering how late it is and how much is going on today, i think it will be a race of miss takes. I think guys will be not just in the cars but on pit road. Its been a long day for everyone. There might be some mistakes. Just stay focused, avoid the wreck and have a little bit of luck. How does the track condition look right now with all of the rain. It looks pretty good. Those air tights are a good job. Theres just a little bit of moisture up right by the fence a little by. Really, it looks good. With the track being cooler because of the rain, ists later at night, do you think its going to be an issue . I think because of how late were starting you know everybody is probably i think well have long replay runs. And i think the handling might come into the play. If we were going to race tomorrow it would be a completely different race. I dont think the Steering Wheel is bad, they at least took it off. And thats something that the drivers often do. They reindex the wheel. They can hear brad, brad can hear them. It sounds good right now for the two on the radio. Thats a good thing. He was indexing his wheel. He will get back up to speed, catch up to the pack. Were going to idride a long with a few bus drivers, one of them being eric amorolla. Hell start in the 36th position in that number 43. The jimmy johns on word. Hell start 34rd in the fourth. It looks like kevin harvick. Tony sturt has the number one. He starts first tonight. Danica patrick with the coke zero on board camera. She starts 27th this evening. Just heard from and saw carl edwards. He carries the subway on board. Hell start 24 thd tonight. 24 for jeff gordon. Kyle larsson in the 42. Cocacola on camera, starts 16th tonight. And a great perspective at the back of the pace car is Dale Earnhardt, jr. That nationwide incar camera with him. He starts first. This place is narrow. If you were lucky enough to gain track position early, blocking and aggressive driving. Thats the key up front. Thats the key running up from. There are a lot of storylines were going to follow this evening. For more lets go to pit road and marty snider. A lot come in under a massive amount of pressure. That is not the case for Jimmy Johnson. He has four wins so far this season. Obviously, very comfortably so far for 2015. Because of that johnson told me earlier, were going to bring a big bat tonight and swing it very hard. A very agrezive Jimmy Johnson could be a fun Jimmy Johnson tonight. Its the end of an era. Over the year it was an iconic icon. The last time the three cars won this race back in 1993 was Dale Earnhardt. If he can get it tonight, it will be his first career sprint cup victory. Hes off to a fantastic start. Oh, by the way, youll be starting on the front row next to Dale Earnhardt, jr. , dave . That car has been sitting for a long time. Idol is not a word youll think of when it comes to Dale Earnhardt. Hes got the last one on pit lane. He has a great spot to take another victory want to take a closer look. 31 degrees and banking. 160 laps. 400 miles, pit road speed, 55 miles per hour. The fuel window 4548 laps. Youve got to consider their handling. Even when the race track comes to grip. They say some handling issues. Hes opted for a full force package. They wanted a little more drag on the cars than they could. They were not an tis pating handling be an issue at all. They thought handling was to become a big issue. I believe the guys had the advantage of the ones that didnt worry too much about their guys handling. Take a look at this camera the asphalt really shows the speed and the closest. Thank you so much for staying with us. Your patience has really paid off. Pace car will be making a hard left turn, putting the field in the hands of Dale Earnhardt, jr. He got that position by being the fastz fast the fast oes in the first practice. Welcome you back to nascar on nbc. You see busch trying to pull up in the three lot. And they were four wide. Jimmy had to go down below the double yellow line. He was just trying to avoid being involved in an accident. Austin dillen on the hiebdndsight with the momentum. Dillen wants to take the lead in daytona. The three leading in daytona. The first lap of 400. You can see just how who the rear of these cars are on the racetrack. Thats just the force pushing down on that car. Austin dillen shoved down front. Dale earnhardt, jr. Clinton boyer, your top five. We saw last nights race the bottom of the net, even though he team meatate pushed him into the low. If youre not willing to block, youre not going to take the lead and you will not win this race. And around they go the 42. The 32. The 26. The 38 sheet metal about to fall off the 22. Coming out of turn number 4. There isnt room. Hes cutting across bumper. Thats what happens, in these tight packs, youre spinning way up in front of the pack. Its so hard when youre only a couple feet apart. Another hard impact was the 32 and the 38. When youre that close, you dont have enough room and someone gets spun out. You want to get behind the 88. He just doesnt have it synced up. Come on. Come on. Spin it back down. Stay high. Standby. Keep coming. Keep coming. Youre all good. You could hear in that. Roll, lift off throttle. The guys behind me we saw joey lagano. Got him turned around. Thats a typical daytona wreck right there. Dave, you got some on the 22 . Now its dajs control time for the daytona 500 winner. Theyll put an entire right Rear Quarter Panel behind their pit boss. They asked joey if the wheel is straight, he said thats a little off. That may be of concern. Weve seen damaged cars go back to the front here at daytona. Dont know if it will be the case tonight hes already lost one lap. We saw the 38 of david gilleman move down trying to get in front of the 15. Heres what the 15 has to say on the radio. I tried to check up. He didnt check up much, youd have got runned over. Thats the unpredictability of daytona. Hes headed to the chase. Marty . He actually did two 360s chlts he told us he might have the clutch in. Kevin told everybody, take your time fix everything you can. They dont have a lot of damage on that car. Thats the good news. They came in and fixed all the flap about the tires and took on four tires. Zani z Danica Patrick trying to get work done on her car. The 16, i wouldnt say its insignificant damage, but they could race with it. It seems like they got dinged up on all four corners. Lots of fair bond on that ma sheeb e sheen. They were able to get though down on the jack stand and try to get them back to the racetrack before losing too much track time. Theyre expected to come back down the last time down pit road. Greg biffel will be making his way to pit road. Danica patrick there now. Thats just so confusing. Well, its 80 plus 27 for the phone. But, thats only one of our four unlimited plans. David beckham is right. That is confusing. The other portion carries over but you have to use the whole portion of data from the current month before you use the rollover portion from the previous month. And that portion resets after one month. Its 15 for any additional gig over your data limit. That is not a good deal. Its a wireless revolution. What can i do for you . All i want is something unlimited and the phone that i want. Allin for one price. Sure. Anything for you david beckham. Oh, and i want it for all my friends. Okay. Okay then. I love you david beckham. Confused about whether or not youre getting the full story from the other guys . Get allin wireless from sprint. Unlimited talk, text, highspeed data and your pick of smartphone for 80 a month, allin. trouble hearing on the phone, visit sprintrelay. Com double the lovin this summer at mcdonalds with a double combo for just 2. 50. Tonight, were going to be commercialfree for the early green flag racing. Thats brought to you by our parter ins er iner ins er iner in er iner in er iner in er iner in. At smithfield foods. She never took a hard high. But you can see her with her left eye looking out. She was trying to see if somebody was coming from behind. Joey laganos penalty, he came out after the pace car had already gone passed that line on the wall and then tried to go back to the of the field, but thats a penalty. Yeah you have to beat the pace car to that line. Is theres a the key is to try to stay on pit road as long as they could. They stayed there just a touch too long. Austin diller clinton border, carl edwards, jeff gordon. Yeah, that crash being so close to the front of the field, you know know, when you have an accident that far up in if front of the field, its an easy way to gain your track position quickly riding along with tony stewart, he looks like a daunting task with all the cars in front of him as were getting ready for the restart. Everyone has a lot of cars in front of them. Twobytwo, pace car, once again, this time, the race on the inside. Austin dillen won the extended race last night. Trying to go for the double. Green flag back in the air. I think as this race goes on youll see the second and fourth place car. That outside line working well. We see dal,Dale Earnhardt, jr. , working on the outside lane. Dale earnhardt, jr. , out in front. Familiar sight here at daytona. Youre going to see him do that over and over and other. Kyle larsson looks forward at carl edwards. Nascar is going to black flag the 22 the damage that they have on that car. Theyve decided he needs to come to pit road. So theyll have to continue to work on that. And i dont think this is what the feetield wanted to see. Im not sure that they want him out front. They want to find a way to shove him back. Its impressive to me how much he can stay out. He stayed one or two cars in front of the five consistent. Three wide behind him. Clint boyer in the 15th. Carl edwards well in the 19th. Youve seen the threewide battles. Sometimes you get stuck there. Winding up on the high line now, following after that 88. Goats a run. Hangs on the left. Clint boyer, thats the way it works here. You get that moe men tumt going, man, youve got to make a move. He was just inches of a buffer in front of him before he made that left turn. That perspective got me. Its amazing how much in control these guys are in an out 46 ofcontrol situation. We mentioned the unpredictability of daytona. We came down here one year and i wont say more since hendrix very rarely raises his voice. But he very sternly explained it. And its been good ever since. 13 wins here 23 place wins allinall. How about kyle busch in a backup car. Has to continue to be eligible for the chase. Hes goirng to get into the top 30. This is the backup car. He practiced the caution does he have to be wound up to. Hes going to get you into a crash. The backup situation, he needs to try to put points passed this line. He needs to go out and race the day as it falls to him. What are you hearing down there, dave . Adam stevens told me that the race car that they have on the track tonight, thats because they spent so much time on the backup cards here. The big ones do happen. And it happened in practice today. They were prepared. And it was as good as their primary. Unfortunately, thats just part of daytona you have to prepare for the worst in order to have a great week. In my eyes theyre racing hard. Theyre doing all they can. The gieuys in the second they decide Jimmy Johnson. Rick, we talked about this all weekend long. I asked jimmy about it earlier today. Actually jeff gordon said something about it. Why do you guys always want to run by yourself. How are you ever going to learn how your car will react here. Kyle busch gives into the one. Not what this team needed. Opportunity to make it chase. Theyre trying to get in that top 30. This is not what they needed. You could see the backend get around on him. Theres know way to go. The only thing he can do is hit the wall. They go to work on the inside. Make sure this thing is clear. The defenders are clear, but the tires dont run when he goes back out. Thats what it is when youre joey laga flrks o. Nay hit that stare eeering out. But were the competition in caution, they could not put fuel in the safety car. 138 points behind 30th. He was running in a position where he was only 110 points out of 30th. The point system the way it is dayre going to have to do the best they can. But you have such a drastic penalty for four finishes. Losing one point of percentage, its really hard to gain points. You lose a ton to somebody who has a good run. Castle in the 40. Make that outside line work. You have to remember he wasnt able to stake hard. He didnt give that much practice here. They got into an accident. Here we are, a few laps into the race they got up high and got up loose. You have to ask yourself is that something they would have learned. The one good thing he has going for him is right now, his highest score driver a lap down. Hes going to get at least one of those laps. And the more cars get e limb nated, he could be in a position where he gets his lap back. And thats so important about what they did on pit road. You have to fix it right. You have to stay there until you fix it right. The only thing he can do is not get it correctly. Well see if he did a good job of making sure all is finished. The car is still running, one, two, three, four dropping back to the fifth spot now. Jimmy mcmurray just behind jeff gordon. Mcmurray trying to make that outside line work. Theyre from landing castle in the 40. And kezelowski just behind there. As soon as hes feeling like he can get enough people to go with them hes going to go to the top of the racetr