The 57th running of the Daytona 500 is already shaping up to be potentially one of the most exciting of all time.

There are story lines all over the place for this year's Great American Race, anchored by Jeff Gordon's farewell tour. This will be Gordon's last full time season of NASCAR Sprint Cup racing and supposedly his last Daytona 500. But as I know and most race fans know, retired drivers always like to come back for the well-known races like the Daytona 500, Brickyard 400, Coca-Cola 600 and Bristol night race, so only time will tell if Gordon sticks to his guns on that claim.Jeff Gordon's final season even has a special place in my heart as it was my father's favorite race car driver. I lost my father this past year to cancer as many people have all over the world, but most of my fondest memories of him were when he and I were bantering over Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Gordon as they rivaled each other throughout the 1990s.Gordon has been strong since Daytona Speed Week has started, qualifying on the pole position last Saturday. He also finished second to Hendrick teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the first Budweiser Duel last night. It's obvious that Gordon has a lot of speed and so do his Hendrick teammates. Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Earnhardt Jr. (Hendrick drivers) will start one, two and three on Sunday, barring any problems in practice.As noted, two-time Daytona 500 winner Earnhardt Jr. took home first place in the first Budweiser Duel last night. Junior started from the back of the field due to his car being too low on post-qualifying inspection last Saturday and wasted no time getting to the front of the pack. It's evident he has the speed and most importantly the handling to bring home a third Daytona 500 victory on Sunday.It was actually impressive to watch his car move from the inside lane to the outside lane with ease and throughout the Budweiser Duel he moved around better than any other driver.Dale Jr.'s speed was a story from the Budweiser Duels, but it wasn't the story. The biggest story on the night came from drivers Danica Patrick and Denny Hamlin. Patrick and Hamlin were involved in an incident in practice earlier in the week that forced Patrick to switch to a back-up car for the Budweiser Duels.The two got together again in the second Budweiser Duel again last night when Hamlin was racing close to Patrick's rear bumper late in the race. As Hamlin pulled up to Patrick going through the corner it made Patrick loose, causing her to spin.Patrick, who needed to race her way into the Daytona 500 with a 15th place or better finish was able to get her car back out onto the track, finishing 10th, safely qualifying for the race. However, back-to-back incidents with Hamlin that could've cost her a spot in the Daytona 500 obviously didn't sit well with Patrick."He cut across my rear bumper and pulled the back end around," Patrick said. "I get being close. But he's been going to my left rear and it just gets it light. I don't want to have these issues, but if we're going to have these issues then we're going to have to deal with them. We can't be putting ourselves out of our race at someone else's expense and nothing's happened to him."Hamlin of course then had a response of his own to Patrick's comments. After the drivers departed from their cars the two spoke, with Patrick obviously voicing her concerns in a more than emphatic way."I try to treat everyone as equal," Hamlin said. "If you're in this Cup series, you deserved your way here and you can handle a lot of situations. I just got close to her and her car got loose again. I just tried to explain that, 'Danica, oh, it's you; I've got to stay away two feet because your car is loose?"Late last night Hamlin took to Twitter to somewhat apologize to Patrick."On the streets of real life cops always give the ticket to the car behind in a accident. We will use that logic on this one.""Folks I watched it back and was in the drivers seat so I know.. I did NOT hit her. BUT I was close, too close obviously."Both incidents come down to just racing in my opinion. Hamlin, I believe, has the right to race closely with Danica because frankly every other driver out there is racing close as well. But, if Hamlin knows that Patrick's car is loose and that it could possibly wreck her, himself, and a whole lot of other drivers then give her some space and pull up closer to her on the straightaway where the risk of wrecking goes down a bit.Lastly, Tony Stewart looks to be back on track after a tumultuous 2014 season. Stewart finished fourth in the first Budwesier Duel and has never won the Daytona 500. Don't be surprised if the three-time Sprint Cup Champion is in victory lane on Sunday.Hurley's top 5 favorites to win the Daytona 5001. Jeff Gordon2. Dale Earnhardt Jr.3. Carl Edwards4. Jimmie Johnson5. Tony StewartSleeper - Martin Truex Jr.