It's an annual NASCAR tradition, 4th of July weekend at Daytona.  Since 1998, this race has been run under the lights, and it's been awesome to watch Daytona at night.  Now called the Coke Zero 400, formerly the Pepsi 400, this race is truly the Firecracker 400 (the original name of the race) as it will be held on the 4th of July.  Why crash boom bang goes the 4th?  It's quite simple, high speeds + restrictor plates + 3-wide racing = THE BIG ONE!  It's not a matter of if, but rather when.  In the Nationwide race, a 5-car wreck during a green-white-checkered finish gave Clint Bowyer the win, much like how Kyle Busch won the 400 last year when a huge wreck occurred behind he and Carl Edwards who were battling for the lead on the final lap.

I bring it up all the time, but what about first-time winners?  Well, John Andretti was the last to win his first career race at the "Firecracker," the final year the race was run in the daylight in 1997.  Go back another several years to Greg Sacks who won his only Cup race right here in 1985.  Can anyone break through?

There are a few drivers who we can consider the usual suspects here, guys like Jeff Gordon, Dale Jr., Tony Stewart...speaking of Smoke, he starts on the pole by default again, although this time qualifying was rained out at a track you'd expect such a thing, it's Florida for cryin' out loud, it rains there almost every day!  So who wins this thing anyway?

My Pick: Dale Earnhardt Jr. - I'm gonna play the homer this week.  He always finds his way to the front in restrictor plate races, and providing he misses the big one when it happens, he should be fighting for the win as the laps wind down.

Dark Horse: Kurt Busch - Kurt and Roger Penske haven't had much success in restrictor plate races, but he was part of that 1-2 finish with Ryan Newman in the Daytona 500 last year, and starts outside of row 2.  He's having his best year since he won the championship back in 2004, and he could be a surprise when the lights come on in Daytona.

There will be fireworks after the race, but there's sure to be plenty of fireworks on the track during the race.  This is your official open race thread to discuss the happenings before, during, and after the Firecracker 400 is history.

Happy 4th of July everyone!