Just as NASCAR annually kicks off the season by heading home to Daytona for the biggest event on the schedule, Winston Cup also finds its way to the hot and sunny Florida beach at the symbolic midpoint of the season.

Despite not being the mathematical halfway point of the Cup season, Saturday night's Pepsi 400 kicked off a grueling stretch of 20 consecutive races that lasts through the season-finale at Homestead-Miami in November, perhaps adding more importance to scoring a solid finish at Daytona International Speedway.

"We're running for a championship," said Jeff Gordon, who dropped to third in Winston Cup points after finishing 14th on Saturday. "That's where our focus is and as we get ready to enter this 20-week stretch, we need to maintain that focus and remember patience each week -- in each race -- in order to be a contender at the end."

	Things got messy in the 2002 Pepsi 400 at Daytona.

And while points-wise it was just another race, the track, the location and the history of the event made it a bit more than that.

"Obviously, we're going to a place that I consider very special," four-time Daytona winner Dale Jarrett (three Daytona 500s, one Pepsi 400) said prior to the race. It's a sentiment shared by just about everyone else in Saturday's field.

"Racing under the lights all weekend, a cool paint scheme, returning as defending race winner, a week with my family on the beach, the fans, my team. ... Man, why would anyone want to be anywhere else?" said Michael Waltrip, who entered the race as its defending winner and obviously looks forward to racing at NASCAR's superspeedways -- especially the 2½-mile one at Daytona.

But the same wacky fuel mileage action that helped Greg Biffle score his first career Cup win also played a role in Waltrip's failure to win his third consecutive Daytona race. And just like a win is more accentuated at Daytona, so too is falling short.

"It's disappointing, but it's not surprising," Waltrip said after his 11th-place finish. "We've been so fortunate. I'm just thankful that we've been able to have had the success (at Daytona) we've had. I had such a great car today, made a solid move for the lead and just had a really good night going. We just got messed up on that fuel mileage."

And does success at Daytona mean more than at other tracks? Well, a driver winning his first Winston Cup race is monumental no matter where it happens. But for a driver to achieve the milestone at Daytona ...

"It's unbelievable," said Biffle, competing in his rookie season on the Cup circuit. "It's just exciting to be in victory lane at Daytona. I never in the world would have thought we would win a race here. ... If you'd had asked me where I'd win a Winston Cup race, I would have never said Daytona. I can't put this into words."

For fellow rookie Jamie McMurray, Saturday's race was about finally getting the chance to compete in one of his favorite events.

"I'm really anxious about getting to Daytona," McMurray said heading into the event. "I can't wait to get to race under the lights at Daytona. I've watched this race on TV and always thought it'd be cool to get to race at night at Daytona, and now I get the opportunity."

However, this isn't just about competing in a "cool" race. Rather, the potential for one great day -- like the one Biffle experienced on Saturday -- dangles like a carrot before each driver.

"I'd love to win a race at every track, but there's a couple of places where a driver really wants to win, like Darlington, the Brickyard, and Daytona," said Ricky Craven. "Daytona is definitely at the top of that list, because of the history and the drivers that have won there. I'm fortunate enough to have a win at Darlington, so winning at Daytona is one of the brass rings I'd like to grab before I retire."

Craven puts Daytona into its proper perspective -- it can be the benchmark of an entire career. Just ask Derrike Cope. As for 2003, look at the races surrounding Daytona on the Cup schedule: Dover, Pocono, Michigan, Sonoma, Chicagoland, Loudon, Pocono again. A bunch of -- for the most part -- solid and competitive races, but races with far less history and, in the eyes of most fans and many drivers, less importance than the Pepsi 400.

Daytona is clearly the one event that jumps out in the eight-race stretch between the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte in May and the Brickyard 400 at Indy in August.

And with the added attention, the heightened pressure, tempers often can flare a bit higher than usual. Take Pepsi 400 pole-sitter Steve Park, who was taken out in a wreck as the race neared its midpoint.

"It's a shame. Half the race isn't even over and guys are running like it's the last lap," said Park, who was wrecked after Kurt Busch spun. Park did return to the track and ultimately finished 39th. "Restrictor plates don't cause crashes; race-car drivers do. I'm tired of hearing people say that restrictor-plate racing causes all these crashes. It didn't cause that wreck, I guarantee you."

But why is this race so important? For one, take a closer look at some of those other summertime races. Aside from a good points finish, there's just not as much on the line.

At Pocono, for example, it's not terribly difficult to rebound from a mistake. Depending on where it's made, drivers can often get in and out of the pits without losing a lap. But the racing is intensified at Daytona and the stakes, on a minute to minute, second to second basis, are higher.

Drama of huge packs of cars glued together thanks to a tiny piece of metal called a restrictor plate. One slip and 20 or more cars can spin, flip, crash and literally burn. From a solid race to total chaos to an early trip home in the span of a few seconds. Edge of your seat? That's an understatement.

"There are so many inputs to consider when you are plate racing, working the draft is thrilling but you have to trust your fellow drivers more here at Daytona than anywhere else," said Busch. "In a way, it comes down to a lot of luck and a lot of smart driving."

	“	I'd love to win a race at every track, but there's a couple of places where a driver really wants to win, like Darlington, the Brickyard, and Dayton. Daytona is definitely at the top of that list, because of the history and the drivers that have won there. ”
		— Ricky Craven

The general feeling is that the only safe place to run at a restrictor plate track is at the front. But even then, things can happen -- just ask Kevin Harvick, who was taken out (along with another 17 cars) when trying to move up from second place and pass Jeff Gordon for the lead in the 2002 Daytona 500.

"Gordon wanted the same spot I did," Harvick said at the time. Harvick did fare better on Saturday, leading the most laps and finishing ninth. "I tried to block ... he came up and all hell broke loose. That's the one downfall of this restrictor-plate package. You have to block, because if you get hung out you go to the back and start over again."

Jeremy Mayfield's had a similar experience.

"It's one of those things though where you can have the best car all day long but all it takes is one little mistake by someone and it can ruin your day," said Mayfield. "It happened to us (when starting from the pole at Talladega)."

Nowhere to go, nowhere to hide. It's all on the line from start to finish at Daytona. And in that respect, Daytona racing really isn't all that representative of your typical NASCAR Winston Cup race.

Strategy at other tracks includes fuel mileage, two- or four-tires, track position. And while all that comes into play at Daytona, none of those elements are as important as luck.

Sure, luck is important and necessary in winning a Winston Cup championship, and that title is the ultimate goal of many of the drivers in the 43-car field. But relying on luck isn't how one wins a championship.

Sometimes, however, it is how someone wins at Daytona.

(Someone not driving a DEI or RCR car, that is).

And if luck -- in this case, in the form of good fuel mileage -- is what it takes to get the "second half" of the Cup season off on the right foot, so be it. If somehow finding yourself in the top-10 at the end of the day is the boost a driver needs to get his championship chase moving in the right direction, good for him.

After all, maybe a Daytona race isn't all that unlike the quest for a Winston Cup championship. It's a wild ride in which the best car and driver usually -- but not always -- comes out on top.

And really, that is how a Winston Cup race is supposed to play out, isn't it?

Jonathan Baum is an RPM editor at ESPN.com.