NASCAR's bringing out some heavy hitters to help get the season underway. I think you've probably heard of a few of them:

 

 John Cena

Honorary Pace Car Driver
He's a 15-time WWE World Heavyweight Champion, five-time US Champion, record-setting Make-A-Wish granter and Internet meme phenomenon.

 Ken Griffey Jr

Honorary Starter
"The Kid" is a 13-time All-Star, 10-time Golf Glove Award winner,  seven-time Silver Slugger, a member of the MLB All-Century Team and a near-unanimous first ballot Hall of Famer.

Gerard Butler

Grand Marshal
He's already played a Spartan King and U.S. Secret Service agent, but this time next week you can see him as a God of Egypt.


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Inside Daytona NASCAR Richmond International Raceway RIR

8:03 AM

Speedweeks has been great. Fantastic finishes, high-energry and the unvelining of the first motorsports stadium. But now it's time to Ready. Set. Race. 

Daytona 500 Inside Daytona Richmond International Raceway RIR

6:47 PM

The NASCAR XFINITY Series season is officially underway! Here are some of the best sights:

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Inside Daytona NASCAR Richmond International Raceway RIR XFINITY Series

5:34 PM

As we tune in to the Powershares QQQ 300 this afternoon, here's a look at some of the young guns the NASCAR XFINITY Series has to offer in 2016. There are four drivers entered as Sunoco Rookies for 2016- lets get to know them.

Jones turned 19 just a few days ago, and we're sure he'd take a trip to Victory Lane as a belated birthday present. He's already seen success during his limited run in the series, with a top-5 and two top-10's in just five XFINITY Series starts. He doesn't have the experience others do in the series, but we're pretty sure he can handle the challenge (considering he balanced a slate of 33 races while finishing up his senior year of high school last season).

Richard Childress Racing  |  No. 33 Menards Chevrolet

Poole got a heavy of the XFINITY series last season - making 17 starts (including both Richmond races) and collecting two top-10 finishes in the process. The 24-year-old was a mainstay in the ARCA Series, collecting six wins in 35 starts since 2011. One of those wins came in his very first ARCA start at Salem Speedway, and in 2012 he finished third in the final standings.

Chip Ganassi Racing  |  No. 48 DC Solar Chevrolet

The 2015 Camping World Truck Series champion, Jones is the early front-runner for Rookie of the Year honors.  Earning seat time in both the No. 20 and No. 54 last season, he made a total of 23 starts and earned two wins, three poles, 12 top-5 and 17 top-10 finishes. The 19-year-old even worked his way into a Cup ride for three starts last season. You can find out even more about Jones by checking out the chat we had with him earlier this week.

Joe Gibbs Racing  |  No. 20 Resers Main Street Bistro Toyota

Preece is a graduate of the NASCAR Next program. He hails from Berlin, Connecticut, and at 25 years old has made three XFINITY Series starts (from 2013 and 2014).

JD Motorsports  |  No. 01 UPTick Vineyards Chevrolet

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Five at Five Inside Daytona NASCAR Richmond International Raceway RIR XFINITY Series

2:46 PM

We had a few minutes to catch up with NASCAR XFINITY Series rookie Erik Jones, and get to know the man behind the wheel

You can see Erik, starting P5, and the rest of the XFINITY Series field tonight for the Powershares QQQ 300

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Erik Jones Inside Daytona NASCAR Richmond International Raceway RIR XFINITY Series

2:00 PM

All three series were on track Friday, and here's some of the best of what we saw:

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Daytona 500 Inside Daytona NASCAR Richmond International Raceway RIR Sprint Cup Series XFINITY Series

10:42 AM

A couple of exciting finishes last night, XFINITY series on track of the first time, truck racing tonight and the Daytona 500 just two days away. There's a TON going on at the World Center of Racing, but here's five things we have our eye on...

JGR's Got Speed
The Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas of Kenseth, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Carl Edwards have been wicked fast. Hamlin was the only one of the team's cars in the first Duel and he finished a respectable fifth and actually battled Earnhardt for the lead much of the night. In the second Duel, Kenseth and Busch combined to lead all but two laps, with Busch taking the victory (click for more...)

The Replacements
Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Martin Truex Jr, and A.J. Allmendinger were forced into their backup cars this afternoon after last night's crash cost them their primaries. Johnson was the only one of the four who participated in the early practice round, and actually paced the field. All four made it out for the second session. (read more here)

Drivers Show Their Lighter Side
Speedweeks can be a long one! Coming off the Sprint Unlimited there's Media day, five days on track for five days and five races. We all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, so it's good to see when they're able to let their hair down a little bit. Like Bubba Wallace getting all giddy over seeing a certain driver... (click to find out who)

Early Moneys On Logano
The Century Poll, which has 50 NASCAR media members and 50 who work in the garage, predicts that Joey Logano will win the 2016 Sprint Cup Series title. Logano received 30 votes, Kevin Harvick was second with 19 and six-time champion Jimmie Johnson was third with 13. Defending champion Kyle Busch tied for fourth with Carl Edwards at eight votes. Seven of Busch’s votes came from voters in the garage. We took our own poll earlier this week, see how we matched up.

McDowell, Richardson Make the '500'
We saw the new charter system play out last night in the Duels, with Michael McDowell and Robert Richardson Jr locking up two of the four open positions under the new system (which guarantees all 36-charter teams entry in NASCAR Sprint Cup Events). As you can tell from their post-race interviews; they're relieved.

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Daytona 500 Five at Five Inside Daytona Richmond International Raceway RIR

5:00 PM