FOX in the Fast Lane: Daytona 500 – Monday Night Race

UPDATE: Rain has forced the postponement of the Daytona 500 for the first time ever.  The race is now slated to begin at 7pm ET Monday.

Drivers, start your engines!  It’s time for the Daytona 500 and the start of the new Sprint Cup season!  Trevor Bayne is looking for his second consecutive Great American Race victory, while Mark Martin marks a milestone, a Presidential candidate makes a pit stop and more bad news breaks for a former Cup driver.

FOX News Radio’s Marghiee “Trackside” Teshineh has this week’s “FOX in the Fast Lane”:

He was the surprise winner of last year’s Daytona 500: Trevor Bayne, now 21 years old, and hoping to make it two in a row.

(Bayne) “Last year, our plan was to just make it until the end and then be there to have a chance to win.  So, I just got to stay patient, try to do it again.”

I asked Mark Martin, now racing for Michael Waltrip Racing, why is winning Daytona so important to drivers?

(Martin) “It is the crown jewel of NASCAR racing, and it’s one of the crown jewels of motorsports, for sure.”

Martin is celebrating his 30th anniversary in NASCAR this year and his 28th Daytona start this weekend.

And among the big names attending Daytona: Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

And suspended driver Jeremy Mayfield in more trouble with the law, indicted by a North Carolina grand jury this week on charges of possession of stolen goods stemming from a November 2011 search of his property.  Last year, Mayfield was indicted on a felony drug possession charge.

FOX in the Fast Lane, I’m Marghiee Teshineh, FOX News Radio.

You can follow Marghiee Teshineh on Twitter: @Ladytrackside