s0483 BC-CAR-NASCAR-Daytona50 5thLd-Writethru 02-22 1976

By Wire
Published in Sports on February 22, 2013 1:47 PM

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The

Associated Press

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- There are two certainties heading into the Daytona 500: Kevin Harvick is the favorite, and no one is sure what the action will look like in the "Great American Race."

Harvick remained perfect through Speedweeks on Thursday by winning the first of two 150-mile Budweiser Duel qualifying races, and the victory has positioned him as the top pick to win NASCAR's version of the Super Bowl.

Being labeled the favorite is the last thing the 2007 Daytona 500 winner wanted headed into Sunday's season-opener.

"We like to be the lame-duck underdog. That's what we're shooting for," Harvick said.

Harvick is a perfect 2 for 2 at Daytona International Speedway. He also won an exhibition race last weekend. This strong start comes at a time when Harvick has found a balance in his life with the addition of son, Keelan, who was born last July, and as he heads into his final season with Richard Childress Racing. Harvick has already decided to move to Stewart-Haas Racing in 2014.

"We've been fortunate to win the first two races of Speedweeks. We've just got to keep a level head on our shoulders, not get too high over what we've done, just do the same things that we've done," he said. "If it's meant to be, it's meant to be. I think we definitely have the car and team to be in contention to do that."

But nobody is quite sure what the 500 will look like with NASCAR's new Gen-6 race car. Sunday's race will go off with a full 43-car field, double the amount of cars that ran in Thursday's qualifying races. There were 19 cars in last Saturday's exhibition.