Does Kevin Harvick’s victory in the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona make him the 500 favorite?
No. Just as the Daytona 500 has little to do with the points race, the Shootout has little to do with the 500. Only five drivers in 30 years have won both events in the same season. And while Harvick is certainly on the short list of contenders – he won the 500 two years ago – his come-from-behind win on Saturday night will have no bearing on the outcome next Sunday. Not only is the Shootout considerably shorter than the 500 – 75 laps, compared to 200 – but it also is broken into segments. Harvick’s team was able to make critical repairs to crash damage during intermission at the Shootout. They’ll get no such break on Sunday. Can Tony Stewart the driver get along with Tony Stewart the owner? Absolutely. Although he’s as fiery a driver as you’ll find, Stewart has also demonstrated a keen management sense in operating his own open-wheel teams, as well as the legendary Eldora dirt track in Ohio. So the former Joe Gibbs Racing driver is undaunted by the prospect of become a 50% owner of th
