DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Finally, it's almost showtime.

Most of the buildup is behind us and the Daytona 500 is just about here. And while most Daytona 500s are memorable, the race being one not to forget is about all you can expect on Sunday.

Many drivers have many ideas of what the story of the race will be, but really, it's anybody's guess.

"I don't have a clue (what the story will be)," said Dave Blaney, who was forced to take a provisional to make the race and will start 39th on Sunday. "Half the cars could crash on the first lap or it could be no cautions, trouble-free. You never know what's going to happen in this race, so you've got to be ready for everything."

Being ready for everything could include being ready to watch the Richard Childress Racing (RCR) and Dale Earnhardt Inc. (DEI) cars dominate the 500-miler. RCR teammates Jeff Green and Robby Gordon start first and third respectively, while their stablemate Kevin Harvick's No. 29 car was also strong and likely would have started in the top 10 had it not been for a pit lane incident with Kurt Busch during the second of Thursday's Gatorade 125 qualifying races (Harvick will start 31st).

Gordon isn't expecting anything out of the ordinary for Sunday's race. Or at least, nothing more out of the ordinary than Daytona usually presents.

	Ward Burton (22) won the 2002 Daytona 500.

"It will be a typical Daytona 500. He who gets in the right line at the end of the race will be in a position to win this deal," said Gordon. "You can't make any mistakes. It's a 500-mile race. There's going to be a lot of competition, obviously. Most important thing is not speeding on pit lane, not making any mistakes and keep the fenders on the race car. If we do that, we'll could in a position to win this deal."

As for the restrictor plate gurus at DEI, Dale Earnhardt Jr. starts second while teammate Michael Waltrip starts right behind him in the fourth spot. DEI driver Steve Park will start 32nd.

Can anybody catch the DEI and RCR contingents? It might be too tall an order, according to team owner Joe Gibbs.

"I don't know (if we can catch them). It doesn't look like it," said Gibbs. "They're pretty strong. They have been restrictor plate racing and right now I don't think anybody can catch them."

Gibbs owns the Bobby Labonte's No. 18 car (which will start 22nd) and defending Winston Cup champion Tony Stewart's No. 20 (which will start eighth).

"If somebody's that good (as DEI and RCR are), we'll just have to see in the race. It's a long race, a lot of things can happen. I'd say right now they're the class of the field."

Rusty Wallace isn't about to hand the win to one of the DEI or RCR drivers.

"The 8 and 15 have a secret figured out, but I'm going to give 'em hell until the living end," said Wallace, who will start 38th on Sunday after an illegal part was discovered in his carburetor following Thursday's 125s. "As far as a dark horse, anybody has a chance to win the race. A driver has very little to do with the outcome. All a driver can do is pick the right lane and hang on."

Childress himself wasn't exactly predicting victory, but he is expecting a close race.

"It's going to be a lot of competition," said Childress. "It's going to be a lot of side-by-side racing. It'll come down to the wire. We'll just have to see how it ends up."

Drivers may have gotten a taste of what's in store for them on Sunday during last weekend's Bud Shootout and Thursday's Gatorade 125s.

"It'll be a continuation of last Saturday night and Thursday," said Waltrip, the winner of this race in 2001. "Wild stuff, stay tuned, try to figure out what happens."

Even drivers with no Daytona 500 experience -- such as rookie Greg Biffle -- took some notes last week.

"It's going to be a great race," said Biffle, who starts 27th on Sunday. "The guys are slicing and dicing out there in the 125s and Happy Hour. It's going to be an exciting race. You're going to see three-wide racing pretty much all day. You can see that already."

Not that knowledge of the action in the 125s necessarily gives anyone a distinct advantage.

"I don't know (what the race will be like). I don't have any idea," said Bill Elliott, who starts 14th. "I think it's just going to be more of what the 125s were."

Further, the Bud Shootout and Gatorade 125s were missing a key element that will be present during Sunday's Daytona 500 -- a full field.

"I don't think anybody knows (what's going to happen)," said Jimmy Spencer, who starts 23rd after failing to qualify for the race in 2002. "It's a whole different ballgame. All 43 cars on the race track at one time."

Not knowing what to expect from Sunday's is a common stance among the drivers. (Mark Martin: "I don't really know, to be honest with you. I don't know.") But even without the ability to predict, drivers still need a game plan.

"You prepare the same as always," said Martin. "You do everything you can to give yourself the best situation you can. You have to evaluate things as you go and look at it and go with the flow."

Said Dave Blaney: "We just make our car as fast as we can make it. We're still working on that. And that's all you can do. Just try to be mistake-free on pit road as far as getting on pit road and getting out of your pit stall clean. Just going to try to go mistake free and hope you don't get caught up in something."

Getting caught up in something is a byproduct of the one element of restrictor plate racing drivers can always expect -- close, bunched up racing.

"It's going to be exciting," said 2000 Daytona 500 winner Dale Jarrett, who starts 11th on Sunday. "It's going to be two- and three-wide most of the time and everybody trying to catch the Chevrolets."

So with close racing on the tracks and close racing in the pits, do drivers have any idea on what might make a difference on Sunday?

"(Everyone's got) equal tires. I think it will come down to handling," said Spencer. "You can't make a mistake in the pits. We'll see a lot of green flag pit stops. Some cars can go further on fuel than others. It's going to be a very interesting race. It'll be exciting."

A lot of green flag pit stops? You can thank the small fuel cells for that one.

"I think it's going to be an interesting race," said Jeff Burton, who starts ninth. "I think the small fuel cell is definitely going to have a role in this race. Originally we all thought we were going to pit more and handling wouldn't be as important. The problem is that even though you are going to pit more, you're only going to be putting two tires on. As a result, you're going to end up with more laps on tires than what we're used to having here.

"I think that for the first part of the race, handling is not going to be an issue. But the middle of the race, handling could be a huge issue. That is going to make a major difference in how this race is run."

Kurt Busch was worried less about pit stops and more about the ability to stay low on the track.

"It's going to be holding the yellow line, said Busch, who starts 36th. "Whoever comes off is going to get passed."

Ah, yes, passing. That's important.

"I was kind of disappointed Thursday with the bottom line (not) working," said Elliott Sadler. "I saw some of it start to come back (Saturday), which is good. Hopefully, both grooves will be working. That'll make it a whole lot better Daytona 500 and just put on a better show for the guys and give us more opportunities to try to make passes."

With so many cars so close in setup and ability, passing could be at a premium. Regardless, there's likely to be the typical nail-biting action seen at Daytona and Talladega each time NASCAR rolls in.

"It's going to be a scramble," said Ricky Craven, who starts 25th on Sunday. "There are going to be 43 cars that are all very evenly matched. It's going to be the Daytona 500, the greatest race in the world."