Stewart-Haas Racing has accomplished a lot, especially this past year. What are your expectations coming into this season?
“Really, to continue with the things that were happening last year and the improvements made in the areas that I was looking to improve them, and also to develop new relationships, obviously. With a new crew chief and a new group, we need to get to know each other sooner than later, so I’ll be putting a lot of hard work into getting our communication going as quickly as possible. But then, after that, it’s to kind of pick up where I left off with Tony Gibson and his guys who taught me so much and really helped me get much further toward the front and qualifying much better and running much better. I’m sure there will be a little bit of a learning curve, but I think we can overcome that sooner than later.”

The 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season kicks off on Saturday night with the annual Sprint Unlimited where five Ford drivers – Aric Almirola, Greg Biffle, Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – will be looking to win the race for the first time.

THE FIRST TIME…Ford won the Sprint Unlimited was on Feb. 8, 1987 when Bill Elliott captured what was then known as the Busch Clash. The format that year was a single 20-lap run (50 miles) with no pit stop required. Elliott, who started on the pole in his No. 9 Coors Thunderbird after a blind draw, fell back to sixth on the start after Terry Labonte and Ricky Rudd were involved in an accident on the first lap. On the ensuing restart, Elliott steadily reeled in leader Darrell Waltrip and passed him on lap eight. Elliott led the final 13 laps and won with an average speed of 197.802 mph, a record that still stands for the event. A week later, Elliott won his second Daytona 500.

When Ryan Blaney makes his debut in the iconic No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion in the 2015 Daytona 500 and the events leading up to the Great American Race, he will be mindful of his rookie status, but will be looking for ways to get to and stay near the front of the pack.

“I’d like to say being a rookie doesn’t change your thought process but it definitely does,” said the 21-year-old Blaney. “You go through it with every new series you go into. You have to give respect to get it. That’s what I’ve always done.

CHEVROLET ON THE TRACK—DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY:

-- Chevrolet drivers have won 20 of 36 Sprint Unlimited races. Wins by active drivers are:
o Tony Stewart, No. 14 Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet SS, has three (3) wins in the Sprint Unlimited (’01, ’02 & ’07)
o Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Jimmy John’s/Budweiser Chevrolet SS, has visited Victory Lane three (3) times in the Sprint Unlimited (’09, ’10 & ’13)
o Jeff Gordon, No. 24 Drive To End Hunger Chevrolet SS, has two (2) Sprint Unlimited wins (’94 & ’97))
o Dale Earnhardt, Jr., No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet SS, has two (2) trophies from the Sprint Unlimited (’03 & ’08)
o Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet SS, has one (1) Sprint Unlimited win (’05)
o Kurt Busch, No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet SS, has captured the checkered flag in the Sprint Unlimited once (’11)

-- A Chevrolet driver has won seven (7) of the last 10 Sprint Unlimited races

I get it.

Jeff Gordon is a great champion who has represented the sport of NASCAR well for two decades plus.

He was dominant in the late 1990s and into the early 2000s, has four Cup championship trophies as a result, and will desperately be seeking another one in his final full-time year competing for Rick Hendrick in 2015.

He may well win, as he showed in 2014 that he is still fully capable of competing for a championship. If not for some bad luck toward the end of the 2014 Chase, he may well have been there in the end to compete for the title at Homestead.