NASCAR draws stars to Daytona 500 with Trump, Captain America expected at ‘Great American Race’

By Canadian Press on February 14, 2025.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — It’s NASCAR’s turn to throw its version of the Super Bowl and the Daytona 500 is trying hard to match the hype. “The Great American Race” has Captain America coming, maybe even President Donald Trump.

“I think having a sitting president come and be a part of one of our biggest days of the year is special,” said Chase Elliott, NASCAR’s most popular driver. “It certainly brings a lot of eyes and a different perspective to what we do down here for this race.”

The field is stacked with stars, including four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves, a former “Dancing with the Stars” champion who is making his NASCAR debut Sunday at the age of 49. He used a controversial new “elite-driver rule” to enter the race as the 41st driver, making this the largest Daytona 500 field in a decade.

Castroneves drew a Friday crowd at the Wendy’s concession stand inside Daytona International Speedway; the Brazilian is sponsored in the race by the hamburger chain and is wearing a firesuit resembling a chef.

“This is a great exposure. This is one of the biggest races in the world. You want to have as much exposure as possible,” Castroneves said. “When I was testing Talladega, people in Talladega were exciting, (saying) ‘I’ll be watching for you. I’ll be cheering for you.’ It gives opportunity for foreign people, Brazilian people, people from other series to watch it.”

He joins seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson and 2017 Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr., who unexpectedly lost his father one day after he announced he was entering the Daytona 500.

There is no clear favorite, but Elliott will try to join his father in winning the exhibition Clash and following it with a Daytona 500 victory. Bill Elliott won the Clash and the 500 in 1987 when both races were run at Daytona.

Toyotas are fast and would be undefeated in the Cup Series at Daytona this week had a late caution flag not flown as Erik Jones raced Austin Cindric to the finish line in Thursday night’s second qualifying race. Jones thought he finished first, but NASCAR ruled Cindric was ahead at the time of the yellow.

Bubba Wallace of 23XI Racing won his first race at Daytona in the first Thursday qualifying race, and Justin Allgaier earned an open entry that brought Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. to tears. He owns JR Motorsports alongside his sister, but they run in the second-tier Xfinity Series, where Allgaier is a cornerstone driver for the team. He’s the reigning Xfinity champion and ran two Daytona 500s, his last in 2015. He figured he’d never again get the chance.

“I don’t think I realized how much I missed this race until you come back to it,” Allgaier said.

Allgaier and JR Motorsports got the opportunity to try behind musician-sponsor Chris Stapleton, who wanted his whiskey label on a stock car in the Daytona 500. Stapleton will attend the Daytona 500 fresh off winning the Grammy for best country solo performance. It was the 11th Grammy of his career.

“Man, we have kind of tried to downplay how badly we want to race in the Cup Series,” Earnhardt said. “At least I have. It’s one of those things where you’re like, if it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be.”

The start of the race has been moved up an hour, to 1:30 p.m. Eastern, with the threat of rain later Sunday. Pitbull is scheduled to perform the pre-race concert after his appearance was canceled last year because of rain. Anthony Mackie, who plays the main character of Marvel’s latest “Captain America” movie, is scheduled to give the command to start the engines.

They will be overshadowed if Trump makes his second visit. Trump also came to the Daytona 500 in 2020 and is a week removed from becoming the first sitting president to attend a Super Bowl.

A federal antitrust lawsuit continues to hang over NASCAR as teams 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports challenge the series’ charter system and business model as a monopoly. 23XI runs Wallace’s car and is owned by NBA Hall of Famer Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin, who is trying to become a four-time Daytona 500 winner.

NASCAR has appealed a ruling that allowed 23XI and Front Row to start the season as chartered teams. For now, they can.

Wallace is now a contender to win the race for Jordan, and so is Hamlin, who drives for Joe Gibbs Racing and is looking to become the third driver to win four or more Daytona 500s. Hamlin has a Toyota, and the manufacturer has dominated Daytona so far with Briscoe on the pole, Johnson and Truex earning two open spots on speed and Wallace’s qualifying race victory.

“I would trade it all for a win on Sunday,” said Tyler Gibbs, president of TRD U.S.A.

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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

Jenna Fryer, The Associated Press