It’s finally here! The start of the 2014 NASCAR season. And things are really heating up in Daytona. Last night was the Sprint Unlimited, and the season opener exhibition was riddled with wrecks. Denny Hamlin made it through all the accidents to take home the win.

Qualifying for the Daytona wrapped up this afternoon. And a guy who has already made waves is sitting at the pole position. Austin Dillon has already been in the NASCAR headlines for driving the number 3 this season. While the number on the side of his car may not sit well with a lot of people out there, Dillon got on the track today and brought more of the spotlight to himself and his car by pulling the fastest qualifying time (45.914 seconds= 196.019mph) to take the pole for the Daytona 500. He edged our Martin Truex Jr. who will be in the second position. Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards, and Ryan Newman round our the top five positions.

In other news from Daytona, while gearing up for the Daytona 500, it has been announced that Chris Evans, who plays Captain American in the Captain American/Avengers series, will be the Grand Marshal for the race. It was also announced that singer/songwriter Aloe Blacc will perform the National Anthem before the 500 on Sunday.

And with Daytona Speedweek under way, you may be wondering when the events will take place. Well to keep you on track (yes pun intended) here is the Speedweek schedule:

 

(All times eastern)

  • Tuesday, February 18-K& N Pro Series and Wheelen Modified practice and races
  • Wednesday, February 19- 2:30-3:50pm Camping World Truck Series practice                         4-5:30pm Sprint Cup Series practice                                                                    6:30-8pm Sprint Cup Series practice
  • Thursday, February 20- Noon-1:20pm Nationwide Series practice                          1:30-2:50pm Camping World Truck Series practice                                                          3-4:20pm Nationwide Series final practice                                                            4:40-6pm Camping World Truck Series final practice                                             7pm Budweiser Duels
  • Friday, February 21- 11:30am-12:55pm Sprint Cup Series practice                    1:05pm Nationwide Series pole qualifying                                                                 2:30-3:55pm Sprint Cup Series practice                                                      4:05Camping World Truck Series pole qualifying                                                    7:30pm NextEra Energy Resources 250
  • Saturday, February 22- 10-11:30am Sprint Cup final practice                          1:15pm DRIVE4COPD 300
  • Sunday, February 23- 1pm Daytona 500

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