Johnny Benson

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla - Last weekend Jeff Gordon finished fourth in the Bud Shootout, a non-points race at Daytona International Speedway. This Sunday points are on the line as the Daytona 500 kicks off the Sprint Cup season, and if I were a betting man, Gordon would be the driver I'd pick as the toughest to beat, and the one with the best shot of winning the Great American Race for a fourth time.

Working in Gordon's favor
When it comes to accomplishments at Daytona International Speedway, a restrictor-plate track, Gordon's been living a dream. The driver nicknamed "Four Time" for his having won four Cup championships (1995, 1997, 1998, and 2001) has recorded six wins, 11 top-fives and 17 top-10s in 30 races at this superspeedway. His three Daytona 500 wins came in 1997, 1999, and 2005. His average finish at the 2.5-mile track is 13.9.

Last year Gordon and his team put forth a tremendous effort in attempting to win the Cup championship. They finished second but it was a season so strong that it would have likely won them the title in any other year when there was not such a stunning overall performance like that from Jimmie Johnson, who bested Gordon by 77 points. Gordon enters Daytona and the new season just as hungry for his fifth Cup championship as he was a year ago. Expect him to carry the momentum from 2007 into the new season.

Gordon's success last year can be traced in part to the outstanding relationship that has developed between the driver and his crew chief Steve Letarte. Gordon won some races on strategy last year and Letarte should be credited for that. Letarte provides solid leadership for the team of the No. 24 Chevrolet and while he has the smarts he doesn't have a big ego where he goes around strutting his stuff. He has gained Gordon's trust and confidence and the two have developed a belief they can win any race they run.

This year all Cup races will be run in what last year was known as the Car of Tomorrow. Gordon's first restrictor-plate race in the COT ended in Victory Lane. That win came last October at Talladega Superspeedway when despite almost losing a lap because of a mistake on pit road, Gordon -- after hanging back to avoid getting caught up in a wreck -- put on a charge that saw him lead only one lap, but it was the most important one -- the final one. Gordon's Talladega win should boost his chances at Daytona since in the race last fall Gordon got a better understanding of what to expect with the COT in big drafts on a superspeedway.

Other drivers to watch
Let's start with Gordon's three teammates at Hendrick Motorsports: Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Casey Mears.

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Johnson won the Daytona 500 two years ago and at this superspeedway he owns the best average finish among active drivers (with more than one start) at 11.33. The two-time defending Cup champion is going to be tough to best as he has consistently run well at this superspeedway. At Daytona, he has seven top-10s in 11 Cup starts. Most times out on a restrictor-plate track Johnson holds his own with any other driver. It would not surprise me at all if he did the same this year and won the race.

For Junior it's a new start as he puts his days with Dale Earnhardt Inc. behind him, and hopes to take the next progression in his career -- that being winning his first Cup championship -- with his new racing family. In his debut for Hendrick Motorsports he won the Bud Shootout. Junior hopes it only gets better from there. At Daytona International Speedway, he's got two wins (one in the Daytona 500 and one in the Pepsi 400), six top-fives and nine top-10s to go along with 319 laps led during 16 Cup races. His average start is 11.9 and his average finish is 14.3

Mears has nowhere near the star power of Gordon, Johnson or Earnhardt Jr., but he does have loads of potential. He had been feeling the burden of being labeled "the best driver yet to win" until he got to Victory Lane at Charlotte in May. That was the only win of his first season at Hendrick Motorsports, but he ran strong on a consistent basis -- a sign more success could be at hand this season.

Mears has a new crew chief in Alan Gustafson, and in 10 Cup races at Daytona International Speedway he has two top-10s, both coming in 2006, including a second-place finish to Johnson in the Daytona 500.

It's Tony Stewart's 10th season with Joe Gibbs Racing, where his resume is a stellar one: two Cup championships, 32 wins, 10 poles, 119 top-fives and 190 top-10s. Now Stewart and the organization he races for must respond to the challenge of transitioning to a new manufacturer -- Toyota. I recently tested Stewart's Nationwide Series car in Las Vegas and his crew chief Greg Zipadelli and his team are very methodical and precise as they prepare the Toyotas to fit Stewart's liking. At this superspeedway Stewart has two Cup wins but he has not made it to Victory Lane in the Daytona 500. In 18 starts at this track, he has nine top-10s.

Two others on my radar as top contenders in this race are Kurt Busch and Martin Truex Jr. A past Cup champion (2004), Busch had a strong second half of last season, which included wins at Pocono and Michigan. He made the Chase for the Championship and finished seventh. He's never won a restrictor-plate race, but he's posted six top-10s in 14 starts at Daytona International Speedway.

With Dale Earnhardt Jr. having moved on from DEI, this is the first season for Truex Jr. as the No. 1 driver for that organization. He can do a lot of good things on the track and he should be formidable not only in the race on Sunday but for the entire season. Truex Jr. is a rising star, the new face of DEI, and after making the Chase last season and placing 11th, he has even higher expectations for 2008.