Jimmie Johnson awarded Sprint Unlimited pole Two-time DAYTONA 500 champion Jimmie Johnson will start Speedweeks 2016 in style Saturday night: on the pole for the 38th annual Sprint Unlimited at Daytona International Speedway. Johnson, also a six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion, was awarded the pole via a draw involving the respective crew chiefs – in Johnson’s case, that would be Chad Knaus – for the 25 drivers entered in the annual all-star, non-points event. Eligibility for the Sprint Unlimited field is reserved for former Sprint Unlimited champions and former DAYTONA 500 pole winners who competed full time in 2015 and all 16 drivers from the 2015 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Any remaining open positions are filled based on 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship driver points. This year there also is a substitute driver, with Brian Vickers filling in for injured Tony Stewart, a two-time Sprint Unlimited champion. The various qualification criteria creates an elite field that also includes reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Kyle Busch (starting ninth), two-time DAYTONA 500 champion Dale Earnhardt Jr. (23rd) and 2013 DAYTONA 500 pole winner Danica Patrick (12th). Read more http://www.mynews13.com/content/new...cles/bhsn/2016/2/12/johnson_awarded_pole.html
The 4 biggest surprises of the Sprint Unlimited It was a wild Saturday night of racing at Daytona International Speedway, where Denny Hamlin edged out Joey Logano to win his third Sprint Unlimited on a cold Central Florida night. Here are the four biggest surprises from the first race of the 2016 NASCAR season. Read more http://www.foxsports.com/nascar/sto...a-5-biggest-surprises-sprint-unlimited-021416
Denny Hamlin got dinged, but he came out on top of the Unlimited Are you hurting? That seemed to be the prevailing question on Saturday night for select drivers after the exhibition Sprint Unlimited at Daytona International Speedway. There's good reason for that. It's an exhibition, and no driver wants to go into the Daytona 500 not feeling his or her best. Even the winner, Denny Hamlin, had to answer that question. He had offseason ACL surgery and a month ago said he was only 50 percent. "The knee is good," Hamlin said, fresh from Victory Lane. "I'm about 75 percent. I'm not anywhere close to doing anything sports related for a while. In the car, I'm good. Any time we have any kind of surgeries or anything, usually we win the next race. Read more http://espn.go.com/racing/nascar/cu...enny-hamlin-hangs-wreck-fest-sprint-unlimited
