The 2012 Daytona 500 is finally and at hand, and if the weather can hold off for a few hours, we could have one heck of a race on Sunday. Carl Edwards holds pole position while Greg Biffle will join him on the front line of the race. The Bay Area is represented by Los Gatos-native A.J. Allmendinger in the No. 15 position and Vallejo-born Jeff Gordon next to him in the No. 16 position.

Allmendinger is aiming for his first career NASCAR victory. He finished 11th at last year's Daytona 500 and a career best third in the 2009 Daytona 500. Gordon is looking for his fourth Daytona 500 victory and career win No. 86. He finished 28th in last year's Daytona 500 following a day filled with big-name crashes. Prior to that he had a pair of top ten finishes, and lost won at Daytona in 2005.

Here is a breakdown of the entire starting grid for the 2012 Daytona 500:

1. Carl Edwards
2. Greg Biffle
3. Tony Stewart
4. Matt Kenseth
5. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
6. Regan Smith
7. Marcos Ambrose
8. Jimmie Johnson
9. Jeff Burton
10. Elliott Sadler
11. Michael McDowell
12. Joey Logano
13. Kevin Harvick
14. Kyle Busch
15. AJ Allmendinger
16. Jeff Gordon
17. Robby Gordon
18. Ryan Newman
19. Jamie McMurray
20. Kasey Kahne
21. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
22. Mark Martin
23. Brad Keselowski
24. Dave Blaney
25. David Ragan
26. Martin Truex Jr.
27. Aric Almirola
28. Kurt Busch
29. Danica Patrick
30. Clint Bowyer
31. Denny Hamlin
32. Bobby Labonte
33. David Gilliland
34. Joe Nemechek
35. Juan Pablo Montoya
36. Casey Mears
37. Paul Menard
38. David Reutimann
39. Landon Cassill
40. Trevor Bayne
41. Tony Raines
42. David Stremme
43. Terry Labonte