<I>Crash.Net Preview</I> - Daytona 500.

The high banks of the Daytona International Speedway have been warming to the sounds of racing engines for over a month now with various pre-season preparations for both NASCAR and Grand-Am Series contenders.

While levels of excitement, and attendance may have been down for the Rolex 24 Hours Grand-Am event, there is no danger of a repeat when it comes to the 45th running of the Daytona 500 around the full 2.5-mile Superspeedway.

During an off-season where chassis manufacturer, sponsor and crew-chief changes were far more prevalent than driver musical chairs, the front of the Winston Cup field looks remarkably similar on the surface compared to last year with only Elliott Sadler's already confirmed swap with Ricky Rudd at Robert Yates Racing combined with the departure of long-time RYR sponsors Havoline to Chip Ganassi's team creating any significant differences on the surface.

However, underneath the paintwork much has changed and in addition to new bodywork rules to go along with the already announced fuel cell changes, there are still plenty of questions that will keep everyone guessing until the green flag falls on Sunday February 16th.

Chevrolet and Pontiac have completely new cars while the Dodge teams are adjusting to an entirely new rear-end for their Intrepid's. 2002 Winston Cup Champion team Joe Gibbs Racing has switched chassis manufacturer, as have Penske Racing and several mid-grid teams. More than a dozen teams will start 2003 with new crew chiefs and all will have to gel with the rest of their respective teams quickly ahead of the biggest, and most high profile race of the season.

NASCAR's new aerodynamic rulings, which includes a 'common template' for Superspeedway cars (identical body mounting points for all four chassis manufacturers) and a far simpler, and easier to police, set of spoiler rules. While the racing should remain, as it has for the last three years, typically close and spectacular it should also eliminate much of the inter-marque sniping and whingeing that has prevailed at Superspeedway's during that time.

Undeniably the favourite team heading to Daytona is Dale Earnhardt Incorporated, whose drivers have accounted for seven of the last nine-restrictor plate races dating back to the autumn Talladega race in 2000.

Most telling of all however was Earnhardt Jr's performance in last Saturday's Bud Shootout, which he won from last on the grid with apparent ease.

With Junior also victorious in both Talladega races last year and the Pepsi 400 in 2001, the #8 Budweiser team are generally regarded as the current Superspeedway Kings and the red and black Chevrolet could well be the only car capable of making this year's race 'boring' as far as minimising leader changes go.

On saying that though, much of the above was thought o Dale Jr's team ahead of last year's '500 and despite having all the potential victory tools at his disposal, NASCAR's biggest race once again proved that she is superior to any on-paper credentials. In any case, Earnhardt Jr should be more than just the emotional fan favourite for victory next Sunday.

Earnhardt Jr's regular Superspeedway drafting buddy, Michael Waltrip should also feature prominently in the #15 NAPA Chevrolet as he is the defending Daytona winner, having won last July's Pepsi 400 while Steve ark in the third DEI Monte Carlo enters the year with a new crew-chief in Tony Gibson and the knowledge that this year is surely a 'make-or-break' affair for him.

Tony Stewart, who won last year's Bud Shootout and then retired from the '500 on lap three, has stressed that 2003 will be the year he has fun, although 'Smoke' wasn't having too much fun with an ill-handling car on Saturday night. However the Greg Zipadelli led squad will have done everything humanly possible to ensure that there is no repeat of last year's gut-wrenching failure.

Another driver looking to end a recent run of comparative Daytona 500 misfortune is quadruple Winston Cup Champion Jeff Gordon, bumped down to ninth last year, involved in a major crash the year before, and the victim of mechanical failure the year before that.

Twice a winner of NASCAR's biggest race, Gordon was arguably 'best of the rest' next to Junior in Saturday's Shootout and should only get better as the week progresses.

Another driver looking to re-stamp his authority over the Winston Cup field is the returning Sterling Marlin. A major contender for victory at Daytona for the past two season's, this year's Dodge Intrepid looks even better than last year's in Superspeedway configuration. Marlin will not only be looking to confirm that he is 100 per cent fit and ready to pick up where he left off last year but also trying to erase the memories of 2002 when a potential victory went down the drain due to the driver working on the car under red flag conditions.

A trio of Marlin's fellow Dodge drivers, Ward Burton, Rusty Wallace and Ryan Newman, should also not be overlooked with Burton arriving as the defending Daytona 500 Champion and Wallace still searching for that elusive first Daytona 500 triumph.

Wallace and teammate Newman will also be starting Penske Racing's first race with Dodge and both are being viewed as serious contenders for this year's overall Winston Cup crown.

As usual there are a host more contenders: Dale Jarrett and Elliott Sadler in Robert Yates' Ford's, Mark Martin, Kurt Bush, Matt Kenseth and Jeff Burton in similar Taurus's prepared by Jack Roush and several more less heralded teams who fancy their chances of pulling off a major upset.

The teams that finished second and third behind Burton in last year's race may have different faces behind the wheel with Ricky Rudd swapping with Sadler at Wood Brothers and Mike Wallace replacing Geoffrey Bodine at Phoenix Racing. Wallace was fastest of all in pre-season testing while Rudd should be much more at ease in the closer knit confines of the Wood Brothers team.

Morgan-McClure Motorsports, two time winners at Daytona but so long in the doldrums, came back with a bang in pre-season testing with their new Pontiac Grand Prix with Mike Skinner second fastest behind Wallace. The distinctive yellow Kodak sponsored machine should be in better shape this year than in years past.

Someone else looking better than they have done in a while thanks to a sterling performance in the Shootout on Saturday is BAM Racing's Ken Schrader. Both Schrader and his new team had their best run of the 2002 season in the Daytona 500 and the likeable veteran finished a worthy sixth on Saturday night.

However, if all goes to plan, the man everyone will have to beat next Sunday wears red and black and goes by the name of Earnhardt. Junior that is.