Youngsters front and center in Daytona 500

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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Never before has one race displayed NASCAR’s rapidly changing look more than the 2018 Daytona 500.

Three drivers younger than 25 will start in the first two rows, new rules will make the cars difficult to drive and NASCAR’s longtime most popular driver will watch from the sidelines.

NASCAR begins its season Sunday with the 60th running of ‘‘The Great American Race’’ and Alex Bowman on the pole.

Who? Well, the guy who got Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s coveted seat at Hendrick Motorsports when concussions forced the superstar to retire. Bowman is 24 and had washed out of NASCAR once before when he got the call to help during Earnhardt’s absence. Team owner Rick Hendrick gave him a car capable of earning the top starting spot for the biggest race of the year, and Bowman will lead the field to green after nearly a full year out of a race car.

‘‘I haven’t speedway-raced in a year, so it’s going to be tough,’’ Bowman said. ‘‘I have to get my feet back under me as far as speedway racing goes.’’

Bowman has given no indication how his car will handle because, in an effort to keep it safe for the Daytona 500, he dropped to the back of the field during his qualifying race and avoided drafting. Hendrick teammate Chase Elliott took the opposite approach, won his qualifying race and earned a starting spot in the second row.

Elliott is 22 and one of NASCAR’s budding stars. His peers think he’ll replace Earnhardt in fan voting for NASCAR’s most popular driver, and Hendrick gave him a boost this year by switching Elliott’s car number to No. 9 so he driver can honor his Hall of Fame father, Bill.

‘‘Car looks good,’’ Elliott said after his qualifying victory Thursday. ‘‘I’m a little biased, but the 9 looks good on top of the scoring pylon. I would love to have it there more throughout the season.’’

Elliott still is seeking his first points victory in the Cup Series after five runner-up finishes last season. He won his Daytona qualifying race last year, too, but ran out of gas in the Daytona 500.

Elliott will be Hendrick’s answer to the Ford brigade that so far has been led by Team Penske at Daytona. Ford drivers won all four restrictor-plate races last season, including Kurt Busch’s victory in the Daytona 500, and Penske drivers Brad Keselowski and Ryan Blaney have one victory apiece this Speedweeks. Blaney’s victory in his qualifying race put him on the second row next to Elliott, and teammate Joey Logano is right behind Blaney.

Logano, who won the Daytona 500 in 2015, has two runner-up finishes in Speedweeks behind his teammates. Keselowski is the Las Vegas betting favorite to win the race, but Blaney absolutely should be in the mix. In fact, Roger Penske appears to have three entries capable of winning the race.

Should they find themselves lined up 1-2-3 — the way they’ve run most of Speedweeks — on the final lap Sunday, they know the boss expects one of them to win.

‘‘Our team orders are to work together as best you can, but it’s a race,’’ Logano said. ‘‘Roger expects us to race for wins.

‘‘It’s a challenge when you’re all racing for the win. There’s a lot on the line. That’s probably one of the most challenging times for teammates is to be able to work together. It’s probably the most stress on a relationship with a team.’’

Ford drivers have speed, but 2007 Daytona 500 winner Kevin Harvick noted the cars are much harder to drive under new NASCAR new technical regulations. The sentiment was shared by Busch, who, like Harvick, is considered among the most talented in car control, so their gripes might be an indication NASCAR has gone too far.

‘‘I wasn’t very comfortable to pull on the wheel like I needed to, to be aggressive in making moves and blocking, all the things I needed,’’ Harvick said after his qualifying race.

If teams can’t make some gains by Sunday, passing might be difficult. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who won two restrictor-plate races last season, admitted he was ‘‘greedy’’ in his qualifying race when he made aggressive moves to try to figure out the draft. He twice spun competitors because he sucked the air away from their cars and caused them to lose control.

If drivers can’t solve that problem before Sunday, it might be an ugly race. NASCAR could have a single-car parade for some 400 miles, or the lack of experience in the field might lead to youthful mistakes.

The Daytona 500 also will be Danica Patrick’s last NASCAR race. She will take part in the Indianapolis 500 in May.

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