New faces give Daytona 500 throwback feel Anthony Davis finds himself in the spotlight
Pelicans star unsure if he’ll play in NBA All-Star Game tonight
Daytona Beach, Fla. — Among those trying to win the Daytona 500 this year are a Florida watermelon farmer, a short-track champion from New England, a television analyst and a 22-year-old whose career nearly was derailed by a brain tumor.
The front row is the youngest in Daytona 500 history and it will be William Byron, a Liberty University student who had his wisdom teeth removed in the offseason, leading the field to green in today's showcase race to kick off the NASCAR season.
The overall look of the nation's top racing series has undergone a transformation the last few seasons and proof is plastered on the hood of Corey LaJoie's car. His full facial-haired face adorns his Ford Mustang, which easily makes him the most recognizable driver among the eight Daytona 500 rookies in the field.
"He looks like he's going to eat you every lap," quipped Clint Bowyer.
LaJoie's paint scheme for his low-budget team is courtesy of sponsor Old Spice, which chose "The Great American Race" to promote its dry shampoo. Manscaped.com bought the space on the back of Landon Cassill's car, Bubba Wallace signed Aftershokz headphones for the race. After Casey Mears made the field — his first race in two years — skateboard rim maker Rim Ryderz joined his program.
This Daytona 500 is unlike any in recent memory and truly highlights the dramatic loss of star power from just four years ago. The 2015 race featured Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards, Bobby Labonte, Michael Waltrip and Danica Patrick. All are now retired.
Some of the big-money sponsors in that race included Lowe's, Target, Dollar General, GoDaddy and 5-Hour Energy. All have since pulled out of NASCAR.
What remains is a new-look NASCAR that nonetheless has a throwback feel.
NASCAR was built on the premise that if a budding driver or team owner could scrape together the funds to field a car, they could bring it down to the beach and try to make the big show. As the sport exploded past its Southern origins, it became nearly impossible for a new driver to claw his way into a ride.
But change has created opportunity — even second and third chances for a guy like Ross Chastain. The eighth-generation watermelon farmer impressed a sponsor with his work ethic and landed a career-changing ride with unexpected funding. Federal agents raided the sponsor right before Christmas, but Chastain still managed to land a seat for his NASCAR CUP DAYTONA 500 2:30 p.m., Daytona Int. Speedway (Ch. 61)
first Daytona 500.
Ryan Preece bounced back and forth between NASCAR and New England short tracks before finally gambling on his future. He settled for a part-time job with a competitive team because he believed he could show his true talent if given the right equipment. Now he's also a Daytona 500 rookie.
Same with Matt Tifft, who learned he had a brain tumor four races into his 2016 season. Or Daniel Hemric of Kannapolis, North Carolina, who followed hero Dale Earnhardt Sr. from the old mill town into a ride with Richard Childress Racing.
Parker Kligerman, a part-time racer and full-time television personality, raced his way into his second Daytona 500.
"Watching this race last year, I literally thought I'd never drive a Cup car again, never have another chance in the Daytona 500," Kligerman said. "I'm doing TV full-time. It just didn't seem like I was really getting anyone's attention. For whatever reason, I just couldn't find the right opportunity, couldn't find a sponsor."
"I went off and did the TV thing. You've seen drivers do that before, where they do something to up their profile, then they get back in a ride. It kind of feels like it's finally all starting to work."
Kligerman works for NBC Sports and so does Earnhardt Jr., his broadcast partner who will drive the first pickup truck to pace the race. It is an unexpectedly heavy NBC Sports promotion in a race broadcast by rival Fox.
Despite all the hardscrabble hopefuls who at various times figured they'd never make it to NASCAR's biggest stage, the super teams still exist and the stars are the favorites.
Hendrick Motorsports and its four fast Chevrolets at the start of Speedweeks went 1-2-3-4 in time trials. Byron, who is 21, and 25-year-old teammate Alex Bowman swept the front row for qualifying and gave Chevrolet an early boost in its effort to defend last year's Daytona 500 victory with Austin Dillon .
Still, Ford drivers swept both podiums in the pair of 150-mile qualifying races to load rows two, three and four with the brand new Mustang. Ford competed last year with the Fusion, winning 19 of 36 races and its first Cup title in 14 seasons, and is eager to make an immediate statement with its sportier new race car.
Kevin Harvick and Joey Logano, previous Daytona 500 winners, led the Ford charge. Logano and Team Penske teammate Brad Keselowski are listed as 8/1 favorites in betting lines.
Charlotte, N.C. — Anthony Davis isn't completely sure if he's going to play in tonight's AllStar game. He doesn't know how much the New Orleans Pelicans will have him play the rest of this season. Or where he'll play next season. Or where he'll play the season after that, either. So Davis, obviously, has a lot of questions. At All-Star media day, he also had some answers.
Yes, Davis wants to keep playing through the end of the season with New Orleans. No, he didn't eliminate Boston from the list of cities where he would consider playing. Yes, he will test the free agent market in the summer of 2020. And above all else, big market or small market, he insists that having a chance to win is all that matters going forward.
"It's time to go play ball," Davis said. "That's what I'm trying to do."
Davis — provided a shoulder strain doesn't keep him out — will finally be LeBron James' teammate tonight, when Team LeBron takes on Giannis Antetokounmpo's Team Giannis in the All-Star Game.
The league's annual showcase exhibition always comes with subplots, and this year, the one where Davis just asked for a trade that didn't come seemed to generate more All-Star weekend buzz than anything else.
"I'm just keeping it real, to be honest," Davis said while talking with reporters. "I knew that's all you guys wanted to talk about. I just stated how I feel, I stated my intentions and I go on from there."
Davis confirmed that there was a list of teams on his preferred get-traded-to list — James' Los Angeles Lakers, along with the New York Knicks, the Los Angeles Clippers and the Milwaukee Bucks.
He also denied that the Celtics were not on his list, news sure to delight fans in Boston and not the rest of the Eastern Conference. "They are on my list," Davis said. The Lakers unsuccessfully tried to acquire Davis, and the Pelicans aren't exactly sure what happens now.
They fired general manager Dell Demps on Friday and replaced him on an interim basis with Danny Ferry, a move that Davis said caught him by surprise but also doesn't change his thinking that a change of scenery is needed. It's been argued that the Pelicans might be best served not playing Davis, though the NBA — which has already fined the 2017 All-Star MVP for saying he wanted a trade — would surely come down hard if they sat him for no reason.
"It's about the best situation for me, the best fit for me," Davis said.
"When the time comes, obviously, I have to re-evaluate my situation and see what market best fits me and go from there."
Dirk and Dwyane
Neither Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki nor Miami's Dwyane Wade expects to play a lot in the game, which they got invited to by Commissioner Adam Silver to commemorate their NBA careers. Nowitzki is in his 21st season, all with the Mavericks, and hasn't officially said he's retiring. Wade is retiring after 16 seasons, most of them with the Heat.
"I'm getting old," Nowitzki said. "This doesn't get old. This is great to be here. Just enjoying the stage one more time."
Wade had his son Zaire on the floor for some of practice on Saturday, as father-and-son were throwing lobs to each other.
"He has the same dream," Wade said, "to one day be sitting up on this podium."
NBA ALL-STAR GAME 8:20 p.m., Spectrum Center (TBS, TNT)