Daytona notes: Three favorites forced to use backup cars

Two-time Daytona 500 winner Jimmie Johnson lost his primary car in a late-race wreck during the second duel race Thursday.

Same can be said for fellow two-time winner Matt Kenseth. Also involved and in similar fate is Martin Truex Jr., who reached the championship round of last year’s Chase.

“I’m sad to lose that car,” Johnson said after the race. “It was really, really good. I’m just bummed out we lost a race car.”

Johnson found himself in the middle of an accident once he made a run on the outside for the lead, but Jamie McMurray went up and appeared to make contact with Johnson.

That caused Johnson to wreck, and he gobbled up Kenseth and Truex along the way. All three suffered severe damage and, per NASCAR rules, will have to start in the back of the field because they are using a secondary car.

It’s not the end of the world, though. Daytona International Speedway is known as an unpredictable track where any driver has a reasonable chance of winning.

As Kenseth said, “Starting in the back in 500 miles, if you can’t get to the front in 3  1/2 or four hours, you have an issue. I’m not as worried about that as I am the next car.”

Truex seems confident that his No. 78 Toyota team can get the secondary car ready, too. They drafted with Joe Gibbs Racing cars Friday, and felt his secondary car ran similarly to his primary.

Sunday, though, is when he will find out.

“It’s really hard to tell until you get into racing conditions,” Truex said. “Hopefully the backup will act similar in the big pack as our primary did last night in the duel race. I was real happy with the primary and felt we had a competitive car. I appreciate all the hard work from the guys.”

Two straight?

Only three drivers have won consecutive Daytona 500s, and Joey Logano is certainly eyeing that exclusive club.

Logano, driver of the No. 22 Ford, made a splash to start last season by winning the prestigious event, and that propelled him to the best season of his career. Logano won six races and had been in position for his first championship until Kenseth intentionally wrecked him at Martinsville.

Regardless, Logano is looking to duplicate his success from last season. A win Sunday will get him in a small fraternity with Richard Petty (1973-74), Cale Yarborough (1983-84) and Sterling Marlin (1994-95).

He said it

“We had a couple of little handling things that we could make better, but all in all really happy, just for the fact we could pass cars, maneuver and the handling was good. There were a lot of cars where the handling was starting to go away. So, in the mix, that is what we needed to do.” – Kevin Harvick after his duel race on his car for the Daytona 500

This story was originally published February 19, 2016 at 6:53 PM with the headline "Daytona notes: Three favorites forced to use backup cars."