
The NASCAR Cup Series is mere hours away from kicking off its 2020 season, where the biggest race of the year gets the things rolling in the most dramatic and thrilling way possible. The Daytona 500 is affectionately known as “The Great American Race,” and for good reason. No other event in American motorsports brings as much energy and excitement as this race, where the best stock car drivers on the planet are all chomping at the bit to not only begin their season on a high note, but achieve the pinnacle of victories in NASCAR’s premier division.
Monster Energy’s own Kurt Busch is familiar with that feeling. Back in 2017, Busch led only one lap of the Daytona 500, but it happened to be the most important one. After hanging around the front of the field all day long, even overcoming some significant damage to his car after getting caught up in the “big one,” Busch made the pass of the race around his eventual teammate, Kyle Larson, to prevail with arguably the biggest victory of his career. That afternoon three years ago was an adventurous one, and that’s exactly what the Daytona 500 is, an adventure. Over the course of the race’s 200 laps there are so many ebbs and flows, dramatic shifts in momentum, and guaranteed attrition. Success can be just as much about survival as it is about having a good car and making the right strategy decisions. Rarely does the clear-cut best car in the field go on to win the race, which is a truly unique distinction of this race..