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:
- Carl Edwards
- Greg Biffle
- Tony Stewart
- Matt Kenseth
- Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- Regan Smith
- Marcos Ambrose
- Jimmie Johnson
- Jeff Burton
- Elliott Sadler
- Michael McDowell
- Joey Logano
- Kevin Harvick
- Kyle Busch
- AJ Allmendinger
- Jeff Gordon
- Robby Gordon
- Ryan Newman
- Jamie McMurray
- Kasey Kahne
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- Mark Martin
- Brad Keselowski
- Dave Blaney
- David Ragan
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Aric Almirola
- Kurt Busch
- Danica Patrick
- Clint Bowyer
- Denny Hamlin
- Bobby Labonte
- David Gilliland
- Joe Nemechek
- Juan Pablo Montoya
- Casey Mears
- Paul Menard
- David Reutimann
- Landon Cassill
- Trevor Bayne
- Tony Raines
- David Stremme
- Terry Labonte