Seen and heard on Friday at the Daytona 500

By Carlos Mendez

cmendez@star-telegram.com

Mythical creature?

Carl Edwards’ 3-year-old daughter is like a lot of little girls — she likes Danica Patrick, too.

So dad, being a racer himself, took her over to meet Danica this week.

“Carl was saying that it’s good that she sees me in real life and in person because he’s like, ‘To her, you are like some mythical creature that doesn’t exist,’  ” Patrick said. “She had green shoes on — green GoDaddy shoes on.”

Later, Jimmie Johnson brought his daughter over for the same reason.

“Very flattering,” Patrick said.

Good day

Sometimes it’s not just a win that makes a good day for a race car driver.

Sometimes it’s good news from a sponsor.

“We got some really good news from Geico that they’ve decided to run the full year, which is a huge shot in the arm for this program,” Casey Mears said.

That means Mears’ No. 13 Ford is funded. Now it just has to be fast.

Remember when

Ryan Newman remembers his 2008 victory at the Daytona 500. He knows how to win here.

But let’s not get carried away.

“The track’s changed, the cars have changed, the tires have changed,” he said.

By the numbers

5Drivers who have won three Daytona 500s: Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough, Bobby Allison, Jeff Gordon and Dale Jarrett.

They said it

“Yeah, someone texted me that Bobby Allison wrecked three cars and then won. I haven’t wrecked a rental car yet, so we should be good.”

— Carl Edwards

“We already got it at 6 o’clock this morning, and they already put it in the truck. While you guys were sleeping, we were working.”

— Jimmy Fennig, Carl Edwards’ crew chief, on a new car’s arrival

Winners in the field

Nine former winners are in the field for Sunday’s Daytona 500, the race that can distinguish a NASCAR career, no matter what else happens. The rundown:

— Carlos Mendez

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