Despite struggling to a sixth-place finish in last year's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Jimmie Johnson was picked to win the series championship by members of NASCARMedia.com during Thursday's annual media day at Daytona International Speedway.
Johnson, a five-time Sprint Cup champion, received 147 votes in the annual preseason poll, two more than Carl Edwards. Edwards finished second in last season's championship points behind Tony Stewart, who was third in the poll, followed by Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, Kasey Kahne, Denny Hamlin, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle.
"To be honest, I'm stoked they did," Johnson said after receiving the honor. "They know racing and know how much last year will motivate us. Now, we need to go out and do our best to make them all look good."
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. received 74 points to grab the top spot among Nationwide drivers. The 24-year-old is looking to become the first repeat champion since Martin Truex Jr. in 2004-05.
Johnny Sauter barely edged out Ty Dillon, younger brother of Austin Dillon, by one vote to capture the top spot in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series poll.
Field grows for Daytona 500
The field for this year's Daytona 500 is going to be a crowded one, as several late entries bumped up the total number of drivers to 49.
Terry Labonte and Bill Elliott will join the field looking to take part in the race, which will be run at 10 a.m. PST Feb. 26 and air on Channel 11.
Thirty-five cars are already set for the field, leaving 14 drivers to battle it out for the final eight spots.
The front row will be decided by qualifying, which begins at 10 a.m. PST on Sunday.The rest of the field will be determined by two Gatorade Duel races, which take place at 10 a.m. PST on Thursday.
Thanking the right people
Even at an early age, Trevor Bayne exhibited qualities that would someday make him a good NASCAR driver.
The defending Daytona 500 winner relayed a story to the media that during a recent visit back home, he found a box of old papers from his kindergarten days and one foreshadowed his future career.
"It was from Thanksgiving and it was like, 'What am I thankful for?' " the 20-year-old said. "First thing I did was thank my sponsors, so I feel like I was born to do this."
Keselowski all a-Twitter
NASCAR continues to find new ways to embrace younger fans, and one way is with drivers using social media to interact with the public.
Keselowski is one of the drivers who fully embrace the social media lifestyle.
So much so that the 28-year-old sponsored an online contest that provided several lucky fans with a chance to have their Twitter handles featured on his No. 19 BKR RAM truck, which he will drive in the season-opening NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Daytona on Feb. 24.
"The world has changed and social media is certainly a large part of that," Keselowski said. "And that affects the sport of NASCAR as wel
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