NASCAR ROUNDUP News and notes

Trucks race postponed: NASCAR officials postponed the Camping World Trucks race Friday night at Daytona International Speedway because of rain. The race was rescheduled for 7 p.m. today. Heavy showers washed out all at-track activity at Daytona on Friday, including Sprint Cup series practice and Nationwide series qualifying. Kyle Busch will start on the pole for Saturday afternoon’s Nationwide race, and Danica Patrick will start 15th. Jason White won the pole position for the truck race in qualifying Thursday. The truck race will feature Cup regulars Elliott Sadler and Busch, who is driving for his own team. Austin Dillon, a grandson of NASCAR team owner Richard Childress, is driving a black truck bearing the No. 3 — the number Dale Earnhardt drove for Childress.

No clear favorite: There doesn’t seem to be a trendy pick to win the Daytona 500. Sure, former winners Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart are getting some attention. And it’s hard to count out the last three 500 champions — Matt Kenseth, Ryan Newman and Kevin Harvick. But since no one has really dominated Speedweeks like in previous years, opinions have varied as to who could end up celebrating in Victory Lane on Sunday. “We’ve got as good a car as anybody,” said pole-sitter Mark Martin, winless in 25 Daytona 500 starts. “Anybody can win this thing. It might as well be us.” Driver Carl Edwards called AJ Allmendinger a dark horse. “They were unreal the other day in that Gatorade race,” Edwards said Friday. “That’d be my pick for the guy to surprise everyone.” Allmendinger finished third in last year’s Daytona 500, so he’s not really a big reach. Kasey Kahne, though, had some more surprising choices. He said Sam Hornish Jr., Brad Keselowski and Marcos Ambrose were three of the fastest in his qualifying race. “It seemed like those guys were all pretty good,” Kahne said. Edwards and Kahne agreed, though, that no one should overlook Johnson. The four-time defending series champion won a qualifying race despite being in a backup car and driving the final few laps on older tires than just about everyone else. “Obviously, I want to win and everything,” Edwards said. “But Kasey is a guy to really watch for, and Jimmie. For Jimmie to hold everybody off with old tires like that. You watch [Max Papis] and he did what all of us would normally do when you don’t have tires and that’s go straight backward. But Jimmie was able to win that race, so I would say Kasey and Jimmie would be the guys to watch. [Stewart is] right there, too.” But Kahne had another favorite. “You never count out Jimmie, so that’s one,” Kahne said. “Kurt Busch, to me, was the best car out of every car in both races. I thought Kurt was the fastest car, and Stewart is there every week and he’s there every Daytona 500. He hasn’t won one, so you know he’s going to be right in the mix.”

No clear favorite: There doesn’t seem to be a trendy pick to win the Daytona 500. Sure, former winners Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart are getting some attention. And it’s hard to count out the last three 500 champions — Matt Kenseth, Ryan Newman and Kevin Harvick. But since no one has really dominated Speedweeks like in previous years, opinions have varied as to who could end up celebrating in Victory Lane on Sunday. “We’ve got as good a car as anybody,” said pole-sitter Mark Martin, winless in 25 Daytona 500 starts. “Anybody can win this thing. It might as well be us.” Driver Carl Edwards called AJ Allmendinger a dark horse. “They were unreal the other day in that Gatorade race,” Edwards said Friday. “That’d be my pick for the guy to surprise everyone.” Allmendinger finished third in last year’s Daytona 500, so he’s not really a big reach. Kasey Kahne, though, had some more surprising choices. He said Sam Hornish Jr., Brad Keselowski and Marcos Ambrose were three of the fastest in his qualifying race. “It seemed like those guys were all pretty good,” Kahne said. Edwards and Kahne agreed, though, that no one should overlook Johnson. The four-time defending series champion won a qualifying race despite being in a backup car and driving the final few laps on older tires than just about everyone else. “Obviously, I want to win and everything,” Edwards said. “But Kasey is a guy to really watch for, and Jimmie. For Jimmie to hold everybody off with old tires like that. You watch [Max Papis] and he did what all of us would normally do when you don’t have tires and that’s go straight backward. But Jimmie was able to win that race, so I would say Kasey and Jimmie would be the guys to watch. [Stewart is] right there, too.” But Kahne had another favorite. “You never count out Jimmie, so that’s one,” Kahne said. “Kurt Busch, to me, was the best car out of every car in both races. I thought Kurt was the fastest car, and Stewart is there every week and he’s there every Daytona 500. He hasn’t won one, so you know he’s going to be right in the mix.”