NASCAR Preseason Thunder: Big pack testing begins at Daytona

In retrospect it was a strategy more teams should have adopted, considering an 12-car wreck marred Friday’s afternoon session of practice at Daytona International Speedway.

But as often the case in the NASCAR garage, Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus were thinking ahead and could see what was on the horizon.

With the NASCAR season rapidly approaching, Dale Earnhardt Jr. made it clear what his expectations are for himself and his race team in 2013.

“We have an opportunity,” Earnhardt Jr. sad Friday at Daytona International Speedway. “Our time is now, we have a chance.”

As Clint Bowyer did earlier in the day, Jeff Gordon avoided specifics Thursday when asked about the duo’s New Year’s Eve encounter aboard P. Diddy’s $72 million yacht.

“We talked,” Gordon said at Daytona International Speedway where he is taking part in a NASCAR test session.

Citing her commitments as a full-time NASCAR driver in the Sprint Cup Series, Danica Patrick will not be competing in the 2013 Indianapolis 500, she acknowledged Thursday at Daytona International Speedway.

Instead, the priority that day for the highest finishing woman in 500 history will be focusing her attention on the Cup race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Michael Waltrip will drive in next month’s Daytona 500 behind the wheel of the No. 30 Toyota fielded by Swan Racing.

The move, which was announced during a NASCAR test session Thursday at Daytona International Speedway, will see the two-time 500 champion reunite with former crew chief Tony Eury Jr., who he worked with in 2005 when the two were at Dale Earnhardt Inc.