After a year away, Daytona 500 media day returned Wednesday, with several drivers making the rounds from 8 a.m. to nearly 5 p.m.
All 42 drivers entered in this week’s Great American Race spoke ahead of Sunday’s 64th Daytona 500, starting with defending champion Michael McDowell and ending with 2003 Daytona winner Greg Biffle.
Last year’s annual event was all virtual due to the pandemic.
Daytona 500 front-row qualifying will go green at 8:05 p.m. tonight.
SPEEDWEEKS SCHEDULE: Daytona 500 schedule: Here’s a full rundown of what’s happening every day at the track
NEXT GEN CRAZINESS: Will the Daytona 500 look different this year? A crash course on NASCAR’s Next Gen car
DAYTONA DUELS: How to watch Bluegreen Vacations Duels at Daytona NASCAR qualifying on TV, live stream
4:15 p.m. | Greg Biffle back in NASCAR for Daytona 500
The Biff is Back!
Greg Biffle, now 52, will attempt to qualify for the Daytona 500 on Thursday in the No. 44 NY Racing Team Chevy.
NY Racing last competed in the Cup Series in 2018, while Biffle was last in Daytona in 2016, when he started on the pole for the Coke Zero Sugar 400 in what would be his final full-time season.
Biffle won the 2003 Pepsi 400 and said this surprise return actually started a few years ago.
“Well, I’m excited for my rookie season,” Biffle said with a laugh. “(Owner) John (Cohen) and I have been talking for a couple years. He reached out to me and I said if he could get it to come together give me a call. Fast-forward to the 500 and he says I think I have a plan: Chevy’s gonna support it, RCR’s gonna build the car and I have a Hendrick engine. I was like, ‘This is getting serious now.’
Biffle, who last won a NASCAR race in 2019 when he ran a one-off Truck race for Kyle Busch, said it’s been a challenge getting everything buttoned up with the new Next Gen car.
Of course, though, that won’t stop him from dreaming big.
“Oh, I plan to win,” he said.
3:30 p.m. | Daytona practice results? Doesn’t matter to Kevin Harvick
Kevin Harvick knows his way around Daytona International Speedway, winning the 2007 Daytona 500 and 2010 summer race.
So Next Gen car or not, the racing veteran said he didn’t pay attention to Tuesday’s lap times during practice and he won’t ask about them during the rest of the week.
“I assume if we do things right, and the car is fast and does what I want it to do in the draft, we’ll be there,” he said.
Harvick, by the way, was 12th fastest in the second practice Tuesday with a speed of 187.336 and 16th in the opening session.
2:30 p.m. | Kyle Busch doesn’t care about Daytona 500 qualifying
Kyle Busch being blunt on media day? Who saw that coming?!
When asked about his approach for tonight’s Daytona 500 front row qualifying, Busch didn’t mince words.
“Zero,” he said of the emphasis he puts on it. “You’ll find out. (We’ll be) 18th if we’re lucky. We try, but we’re gonna be mid-pack. You’ll see a Hendrick car or two on the front row. Same old stuff. A new car, but the same stuff. Watch out for the 48 car.”
1:45 p.m. | Defending champion Kyle Larson gives Tyler Reddick big endorsement
Kyle Larson took the NASCAR world by storm last season, winning 10 races and a Cup Series championship.
Safe to say that was Larson’s breakout season, right?
So, who does the defending champ think could be this year’s “Kyle Larson”?
“Tyler Reddick … I feel like he’s gonna have a breakout season,” Larson said of the 26-year-old RCR driver. “When I watch him I think I’m watching myself. I think he’s going to have an amazing season.”
1 p.m. | Brad Keselowski prepares for 1st season as a NASCAR owner
Brad Keselowski made waves last season, announcing it would be his final with Team Penske as he planned to become an owner-driver for what is now Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing.
Kez will pilot Ryan Newman’s old No. 6 machine, while Chris Buescher will remain with the team in the No. 17 Ford.
Buescher, who is usually in the mix at Daytona, admitted Wednesday he’d have a hard time moving his new boss if it came down to it on Sunday.
“I’ll take a shot, but I’m definitely not going to wreck my boss,” he said with a laugh.
10:45 a.m. | Chase Elliott on NASCAR: It’s changed more in the last two years than the last 25
NASCAR’s most popular driver, Chase Elliott, grew up in the sport, going to the track with his dad (ever heard of him?) before becoming a full-time Cup driver himself back in 2016.
So if anyone knows what the old NASCAR used to look like, compared to today’s version — including schedule changes, road courses, dirt tracks and the LA Coliseum — it’s Elliott.
“It’s changed more in the last 2-3 years than the last 25,” Elliott said of the recent changes in the sport. “I don’t know where that line is. We have a sold out crowd on Sunday for the Daytona 500 and it seemed like everybody liked the Clash, so I guess they’re doing it right. It certainly seems fine to me on my end.”
10 a.m. | Bubba Wallace on being a Black driver in NASCAR: “It’s always the media asking.”
Bubba Wallace, the Cup Series’ only Black driver, was asked during Wednesday’s media day what it meant to be a Black driver in NASCAR, and how his experiences over the years have changed how he answers that question.
Well, frankly, they haven’t, Bubba said.
“It’s always the media asking,” Wallace said. “Nobody else is walking around saying that. That’s always been my take. When are we going to stop hearing about the Black driver? Whenever the hell ya’ll stop saying it.”
9:45 a.m. | Is the Erik Jones, Ryan Blaney Clash feud over?
Erik Jones and Ryan Blaney’s HANS device got nice and cozy at the LA Coliseum after Blaney tossed his neck restraint at Jones’ No. 43 Chevy after the two wrecked during the Feb. 6 Busch Light Clash.
All good, Erik?
“He hasn’t reached out to me, so I guess its resolved,” Jones said with a laugh. “If i had a problem with someone I’d talk to them, but I guess it’s over.”
9 a.m. | What Michael Jordan told Kurt Busch before joining 23XI Racing
It’s Year 2 of the 23XI Racing team — the Denny Hamlin/Michael Jordan-owned organization — and Bubba Wallace won’t be the only driver in the meetings this season.
Kurt Busch, the 2004 Cup champion and 2017 Daytona 500 winner, will pilot the No. 45 Toyota this season, leaving Chip Ganassi Racing after three years.
Busch said he met Michael Jordan last summer when his contract negotiation window opened, and one simple line from the NBA superstar made his decision to join the team easy.
“We will win together,” Busch recalled.
8:30 a.m. | Daytona 500 favorite Denny Hamlin reveals his secret
When it comes to the Daytona 500, at least it in recent years, it starts and stops with Denny Hamlin.
Hamlin has won two of the past three 500s, and three of the past six. During the early portions of Wednesday’s media day, Hamlin said his secret is simple … it’s the air!
“I have a good understanding here of the air and how it moves around the walls,” he said. “I guess it’s something about the banking, the width of the track, height of the walls … I just understand where those little pockets of air are better.”
8 a.m. | Michael McDowell looking to defend Daytona 500
No better person to start media day with than defending champion Michael McDowell.
“It’s awesome!,” he said of returning to the 500 as the defending champ. “(This race) has more meaning than your average NASCAR race. IF there’s one you’re gonna win, this is the one.”
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Daytona 500 media day: Greg Biffle is back and Kyle Busch is blunt