Tony's turn

No matter what, there will be at least five Toyotas in this year's Daytona 500. The three drivers from Joe Gibbs Racing, J.J. Yeley, the new driver for Hall of Fame Racing, and Dave Blaney, driver for Bill Davis Racing, all finished in the top 35 in last year's owners standings. That means all five drivers are locked in to the first five races of the year, including the Daytona 500.
Some are already saying this could be Tony Stewart's year to win the race, even though his team is using Toyota engines for the first time.
Toyota struggled last year, its first year in Cup. Only one Toyota driver, Blaney, finished in the top 35 in the owners standings. Yeley was 25th driving the No. 18 Chevrolet for Joe Gibbs Racing last year. He will be in the No. 96 Toyota for Hall of Fame Racing this year. Kyle Busch is in the No. 18 car after driving the No. 5 Chevy for Hendrick Motorsports last year.
Even though Toyota had its problems, Stewart said it shouldn't slow his team down this year.
“This series is so competitive week in and week out that I really don’t think there's any more pressure this year than there has always been,” said Stewart, driver of the No. 20 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. “It’s a situation where you know there are so many good, quality teams out there that you have to have the right pieces and the right equipment every week. I feel like we have the right pieces in place, and now I just have to go out there and do my job.”
Toyota will have six cars in the Bud Shootout, an exhibition race for pole winners from 2006 and previous Bud Shootout winners. Blaney qualified for the Shootout by winning the pole at New Hampshire International Speedway, the first pole for Toyota in Cup. Yeley won the pole at Michigan International Speedway and Michael Waltrip won a pole at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama.
Denny Hamlin, winner of last year's Bud Shootout, Dale Jarrett and Stewart are also eligible for the Shootout. Jarrett and Stewart each have three Shootout wins.