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2011 Daytona 500: Jeff Gordon, A.J. Allmendinger, Kevin Harvick Represent Bay Area, Central Valley

The 2011 Daytona 500 is about to get underway on FOX and the Bay Area and much of California is well represented in this year's race. NASCAR great Jeff Gordon (born: Vallejo), A.J. Allmendinger (Los Gatos), and Kevin Harvick (Bakersfield) are three of the top favorites in today's race. Gordon is are going off at 12 to 1, Kevin Harvick is the odds-on favorite at 8 to 1, and A.J. Allmendinger is a 50 to 1 long-shot.

Gordon has won the Daytona 500 three times but is coming off a 26th place finish in last year's race. Gordon finished ninth in the 2010 Sprint Cup Series, netting 11 top-five finishes and 17 top-ten finishes. Kevin Harvick won the 2007 Daytona 500 and finished seventh last year. Harvick won the 2007 Daytona 500 and finished seventh last year. He finished third in last year's overall Sprint Cup Series, netting three victories, 16 top-five finishes, and 26 top-ten finishes. Allmendinger has never won the Daytona 500 and finished 32nd last year. He finished 19th in the 2010 Sprint Cup Series, netting two top-five finishes and eight top-ten finishes.

Gordon will start today's race in the second position, Harvick will be seventh, and Allmendinger will be 15th. Here is the complete starting lineup for the 2011 Daytona 500:

  1. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
  2. Jeff Gordon
  3. Kurt Busch
  4. Jeff Burton
  5. Regan Smith
  6. Clint Bowyer
  7. Kevin Harvick
  8. Michael Waltrip
  9. Matt Kenseth
  10. Kyle Busch
  11. Kasey Kahne
  12. Brian Keselowski
  13. Juan Pablo Montoya
  14. Jamie McMurray
  15. AJ Allmendinger
  16. Brad Keselowski
  17. Mark Martin
  18. Denny Hamlin
  19. Paul Menard
  20. Martin Truex Jr.
  21. Ryan Newman
  22. Carl Edwards
  23. Jimmie Johnson
  24. David Reutimann
  25. Tony Stewart
  26. Greg Biffle
  27. Brian Vickers
  28. Robert Richardson Jr.
  29. Bill Elliott
  30. Robby Gordon
  31. Bobby Labonte
  32. Trevor Bayne
  33. JJ Yeley
  34. David Ragan
  35. Marcos Ambrose
  36. Steve Wallace
  37. Andy Lally
  38. Joey Logano
  39. David Gilliland
  40. Travis Kvapil
  41. Joe Nemechek
  42. Dave Blaney
  43. Terry Labonte