Advance Auto Parts Clash Preview: NASCAR's Kickoff to 2019

The Advance Auto Parts Clash is a much shorter race than the 500-mile event the following Sunday, the Daytona 500. It more closely matches the heat races that we're familiar with seeing in late model stock racing on dirt tracks all around the country. The field is much smaller, but the stakes are just as high. Thanks to the one-million-dollar purse that is paid to the field, and about $200,000 of that to the winner of this event, the competition seen in this exhibition in some ways will be more heated than what we will witness in parts of the Daytona 500 the following week.

The racing consists of a 75-lap event that equates to 187.5 miles of racing on the famed Daytona International Speedway. The 75 laps are split into two segments by a competition caution at lap 25, with a 10-minute pit stop break in between each segment. The criteria to make the 2019 Advance Auto Parts Clash are based upon the following qualifications, with eligibility based on a driver having competed in the NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series within the last two seasons:

• Pole winners from the 2018 season.
• Past Advance Auto Parts Clash winners, who raced full-time in 2018.
• Past Daytona 500 pole winners and Daytona 500 winners, who raced full-time in 2018.
• All 16 Chase participants from last season.

This exhibition race tends to crank out repeat winners most seasons, although we've had first-time winners in Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano each of the last two seasons. Like any other race at Daytona, any driver with a knack for restrictor-plate racing and ability to make the partnerships on the race track to get to the front will enjoy the most success and compete for the win. Since this race is just 75 laps, it trends towards drivers who unload a fast car right off the hauler and don't have to make many, if any, adjustments to it. Here is a list of the last 16 year's winners of the Advance Auto Parts Clash. This should give us a good idea of the specialists for this race.

This race is completely different than NASCAR's normal format, so we have to take the historical statistics in context this week. The stats can be skewed since several teams come to the Advance Auto Parts Clash with "disposable cars" and looking to hit the big payday even at the expense of wrecking the team's car. With a total purse that will exceed a million dollars, the mindset is completely different than any normal points-paying event.

This exhibition race is unlike any of the normal Monster Energy Cup Series events, so we'll handle the prognostications a bit different as well. We'll give you our picks for who'll contend for the win in the Advance Auto Parts Clash. This exhibition race field is shaping up to be about 20 drivers, and these are the ones who we see as the top threats to win the first race of 2019 and take the big purse in this Sunday afternoon spectacle.

Advance Auto Parts Clash Contenders – Drivers in the Hunt for the Win

Joey Logano - The reigning Monster Energy Cup Series champion heads our list of contenders this weekend at Daytona. Logano has moved his way to the top of the mountain in more ways than one. The Penske Racing star has become the series' most dominant driver on restrictor-plate race tracks. Not only did Logano win this event two years ago, but he also has a string of three consecutive Top-5 finishes in the Clash, and five of the last six. He finished runner-up to teammate, Brad Keselowski, in last year's season-opening exhibition race. Logano grabbed a win last season at Talladega and three Top-5 finishes between Daytona and Talladega. Right now the No. 22 Ford team has the speed to beat on these huge ovals.

Brad Keselowski - The defending Clash champion put on a real show in this exhibition race one year ago. Keselowski led 43 of the 75 laps and pounded the competition into the pavement en route to his first Clash victory. The Penske Racing star had some tough luck finishing on these ovals in 2018, but the No. 2 Ford had the speed to win. Keselowski led a combined 51 laps in the four Daytona/Talladega events. With six-combined superspeedway victories in his resume, you can never take this driver and team lightly when we visit Daytona. His biggest competitor will likely come in the form of his teammate at Penske, Joey Logano.

Aric Almirola - The Stewart Haas Racing veteran has been shockingly good on these superspeedway ovals the last season. Almirola grabbed a win last year in the October Talladega race, so that makes him our last winner on these style ovals. He also has four Top-5 and five Top-10 finishes between Daytona and Talladega the last two years. Almirola has quietly been one of the top performers in the sport on these style ovals. The driver of the No. 10 Ford has a career-best Clash finish of sixth-place, which came way back in 2013. We have the feeling he'll wildly exceed that mark this Sunday afternoon.

Denny Hamlin - The Joe Gibbs Racing star is a two-time winner of the Advance Auto Parts Clash. Hamlin nabbed victories in the 2014 and 2016 installments of this exhibition race. The driver of the No. 11 Toyota qualified on the outside pole and led 8 laps in this event one year ago before finishing a respectable sixth-place. Last season was a pretty decent campaign on the superspeedways for Hamlin. He grabbed a pair of Top-5 finishes in the four starts between Daytona and Talladega. The veteran driver has always proven to be a threat to win racing in this event each season, and we expect 2019 to be no different.

Kevin Harvick - Harvick is a three-time winner of the Advance Auto Parts Clash and as recently as the 2013 season. He always seems to be in the mix for the victory when it comes down to crunch time in this exhibition race. Amazingly, Harvick hasn't won the Advance Auto Parts Clash since joining Stewart Haas Racing, and considering how strong the No. 4 team has been that's almost unbelievable. We should see a hungry driver this weekend. He typically performs better in this shorter exhibition race than he does in the longer superspeedway events. So keep that in mind when filling out your fantasy lineups for Sunday afternoon at Daytona.

Chase Elliott - This will be Elliott's third-career appearance in the Advance Auto Parts Clash. Up to this point, he's been unremarkable in this pre-season exhibition event. Finishes of seventh- and 13th-place have marked his first two starts in this race. We have good reason to believe this season will be different. All things turned positive in a big way for Elliott down the stretch last season. From August forward he grabbed three victories and finished a respectable sixth-place in the final point standings. Elliott is a three-time Daytona pole winner, so he knows how to get around this oval fast. The No. 9 Chevrolet should be in the mix to win the Advance Auto Parts Clash.

Kyle Busch - The Joe Gibbs Racing star is a one-time winner of this preseason exhibition race. Busch won from the front row in the 2012 installment in thrilling fashion. His record otherwise has been rather up-and-down in this exciting race. Busch's "go for it" attitude tends to get him more in trouble than serve him in this event. However, the driver of the No. 18 Toyota did finish seventh in this event one year ago. This driver and team are a roll of the dice to be sure in this particular race, but it's that homerun potential that you have to respect each time Busch takes to the track.

Martin Truex Jr. - Truex Jr. has never won the Advance Auto Parts Clash, but he's finally in a position that he can reverse that fortune. The move to Joe Gibbs Racing could help in that respect. The driver of the No. 19 Toyota finished runner-up in this event in 2015, so he's been close to grabbing this win and big payday. Truex also led 20 laps and finished second in his last start at Daytona in last season's Coke Zero Sugar 400 in July. Due to this driver's lack of accomplishments in superspeedway racing, many fantasy racing players could overlook Truex and this race team. However, we maintain that he has to be considered for deployment at Daytona this weekend.

Kurt Busch - The new Chip Ganassi Racing veteran has a long list of accomplishments in superspeedway racing. Busch is the 2017 Daytona 500 champion, and he finished runner-up at Talladega last spring. That's just his latest feats on these two huge ovals. The driver of the No. 1 Chevrolet is a one-time winner of the Clash, and it came back in 2011 while racing for prior boss Roger Penske. More recently, Busch finished third in the Clash of one year ago while racing for Stewart Haas Racing in the No. 41 Ford. This will be his first start for Ganassi in this yearly exhibition race, but it should be memorable. Busch has more Top 10s at Daytona International Speedway than any other active driver with 17 total.