The fans will stand in silence, three fingers raised toward the sky, on the third lap of the Daytona 500 in honor of the late Dale Earnhardt.

The tribute to mark the 10-year anniversary of Earnhardt's fatal accident is the only certainty going into today's season-opening race (9 a.m., KAYU, ESPN 700) at Daytona Beach, Fla. Everything from the style of racing, the dominant drivers and what it will take to win NASCAR's biggest race of the season remained a mystery after one of the more eventful Speedweeks in recent history.

Then again, the drivers have accepted that nothing ever goes as planned leading into the Great American Race.

"Speedweeks always seems to have a scenario that pops up and you have to adjust to it," said 2007 Daytona 500 winner Kevin Harvick.

The latest dilemma is a radically new style of tandem racing that has dominated the three events leading into the 500. Drivers figured out that hooking up in two-car packs is the fastest way around the freshly paved Daytona International Speedway, and boy were they right: Michael Waltrip topped out at 206 mph in the first race of Speedweeks, sending NASCAR scrambling to slow down the cars.

A smaller restrictor plate issued midweek brought the speeds back under control, but NASCAR has yet to break apart the two-car packs that are apparently the new norm. A series of technical changes have limited how long the cars can stay hooked in pairs before their engines begin to overheat, but the drivers have mastered a leapfrogging system that allows them to simply swap positions and resume the two-car push.

Establishing partners and figuring out whom to trust became the most important goal of every on-track session. Kurt Busch seemed to master the new style fastest, parlaying it into victories in both the exhibition Budweiser Shootout and the first qualifying race, while others learned valuable lessons.

"There weren't any single people left; they were all married," Greg Biffle said of becoming separated from teammate Carl Edwards in his qualifying race.

"I was kind of left out on that island. The rose ceremony ended quickly for me."

The drivers seem to like the new racing, but fans aren't sold, frustrated that the white-knuckle pack racing they love will be absent from today's race. How big of a concern is it? Clint Bowyer said he fell asleep on his couch while watching the first of Thursday's twin 150-mile qualifying races.

The competitors insist today will be unpredictable, in part because there has yet to be an event with all 43 cars on the track, and because there's too much at stake with the Daytona 500 title on the line.

"I still don't think we know exactly what's going to happen," Harvick said. "We know the two-car stuff is going to work, but we haven't been out there with the whole pack, so there's still some unknowns."

That includes what kind of day it will be for Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was scheduled to start from the pole and likely would have been leading the field during the Lap 3 tribute to his father. But NASCAR's most popular driver wrecked his car during an earlier practice session and switching to a backup means he'll go to the back of the field when the green flag falls.

Daytona 500 lineup

At Daytona International Speedway

Daytona Beach, Fla.

Lap length: 2.5 miles

(Car number in parentheses)

1. (88) x-Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 186.089.

2. (24) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 185.966.

3. (22) Kurt Busch, Dodge, 184.896.

4. (31) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 185.071.

5. (78) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 183.681.

6. (33) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 185.223.

7. (29) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 184.74.

8. (15) Michael Waltrip, Toyota, 183.966.

9. (17) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 184.102.

10. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 183.595.

11. (4) Kasey Kahne, Toyota, 183.602.

12. (92) Brian Keselowski, Dodge, 177.581.

13. (42) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 184.763.

14. (1) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 183.685.

15. (43) A J Allmendinger, Ford, 184.29.

16. (2) Brad Keselowski, Dodge, 184.008.

17. (5) Mark Martin, Chevrolet, 184.991.

18. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 181.316.

19. (27) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 185.422.

20. (56) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 183.456.

21. (39) Ryan Newman, Chev., 185.002.

22. (99) Carl Edwards, Ford, 184.475.

23. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 184.687.

24. (00) David Reutimann, Toyota, 184.019.

25. (14) Tony Stewart, Chev., 184.911.

26. (16) Greg Biffle, Ford, 184.911.

27. (83) Brian Vickers, Toyota, 183.557.

28. (37) Robert Richardson Jr., Ford, 181.466.

29. (09) Bill Elliott, Chevrolet, 184.532.

30. (7) Robby Gordon, Dodge, 182.12.

31. (47) Bobby Labonte, Toyota, 183.576.

32. (21) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 185.445.

33. (46) J.J. Yeley, Chevrolet, 180.977.

34. (6) David Ragan, Ford, 184.612.

35. (9) Marcos Ambrose, Ford, 184.748.

36. (77) Steve Wallace, Toyota, 182.574.

37. (71) Andy Lally, Chevrolet, 180.828.

38. (20) Joey Logano, Toyota, 183.206.

39. (34) David Gilliland, Ford, 182.697.

40. (38) Travis Kvapil, Ford, 184.271.

41. (87) Joe Nemechek, Toyota, 184.222.

42. (36) Dave Blaney, Chevrolet, 183.793.

43. (32) Terry Labonte, Ford, Past Champion.

n Failed to Qualify

44. (64) Derrike Cope, Toyota, 177.894.

45. (97) Kevin Conway, Toyota, 182.949.

46. (60) Todd Bodine, Toyota, 183.057.

47. (66) Michael McDowell, Toyota, 182.434.

48. (13) Casey Mears, Toyota, 182.867.

x-Earnhardt will start from position 43, after wrecking his primary race car in practice.

NATIONWIDE

Tony Stewart continued his domination of the Nationwide Series season opener Saturday, overcoming a late pit stop to fix a flat tire and catch Clint Bowyer at the finish line of the DRIVE4COPD 300 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla.

It was the fourth consecutive victory for Stewart in the opener for NASCAR's second-tier series, and he's won this event in six of the past seven seasons.

At Daytona International Speedway

Daytona Beach, Fla.

Lap length: 2.5 miles

(Start position in parentheses)

1. (14) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 120 laps, 125.9 rating, 0 points, $103,695.

2. (1) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 120, 125, 0, $87,650.

3. (2) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 120, 101.3, 41, $81,343.

4. (3) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 120, 104.4, 0, $60,750.

5. (16) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 120, 96.7, 39, $63,128.

6. (22) Jason Leffler, Chevrolet, 120, 98.9, 38, $58,453.

7. (8) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 120, 118.7, 0, $49,710.

8. (10) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 120, 96.4, 36, $55,603.

9. (26) Michael Waltrip, Toyota, 120, 92.2, 0, $53,853.

10. (7) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 120, 109.8, 35, $54,528.

11. (20) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 120, 87.6, 0, $45,335.

12. (6) Joey Logano, Toyota, 120, 117.7, 0, $44,960.

13. (30) Mike Bliss, Chevrolet, 119, 75, 31, $52,153.

14. (4) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 119, 89.9, 31, $50,728.

15. (18) Joe Nemechek, Toyota, 119, 83.7, 29, $51,453.

16. (29) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 119, 79.9, 28, $46,160.

17. (23) Bobby Santos, Chevrolet, 119, 67.3, 27, $43,310.

18. (36) Todd Bodine, Toyota, 119, 77.4, 0, $49,653.

19. (15) Aric Almirola, Chevrolet, 119, 71.5, 25, $49,528.

20. (21) Steve Wallace, Toyota, 118, 63.7, 24, $50,128.

21. (43) David Starr, Chevrolet, 118, 59.1, 0, $49,278.

22. (24) Shelby Howard, Chevrolet, 118, 70.4, 22, $49,153.

23. (33) Donnie Neuenberger, Dodge, 118, 46.1, 21, $49,378.

24. (35) Patrick Sheltra, Ford, 118, 50.3, 20, $42,385.

25. (41) Derrike Cope, Chevrolet, 118, 44.3, 19, $49,328.

26. (39) Morgan Shepherd, Chevrolet, 117, 41.2, 18, $48,578.

27. (5) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 116, 64.4, 17, $48,478.

28. (25) Kenny Wallace, Toyota, 115, 43.5, 16, $48,403.

29. (9) Carl Edwards, Ford, 107, 58.1, 0, $41,835.

30. (12) Brad Keselowski, Dodge, accident, 105, 100.8, 0, $42,710.

31. (31) Josh Wise, Ford, accident, 103, 55.6, 13, $48,703.

32. (38) Robert Richardson Jr., Dodge, overheating, 103, 53.5, 12, $47,928.

33. (34) Eric McClure, Chevrolet, 95, 39.4, 11, $47,878.

34. (11) Brian Scott, Toyota, engine, 70, 42, 10, $47,828.

35. (42) Scott Wimmer, Chevrolet, engine, 57, 31.5, 9, $41,210.

36. (17) Sam Hornish Jr., Dodge, accident, 53, 51.5, 8, $41,135.

37. (27) Mike Wallace, Chevrolet, 51, 47.4, 8, $41,070.

38. (19) Elliott Sadler, Chevrolet, 45, 49, 6, $41,010.

39. (13) Michael Annett, Toyota, accident, 26, 53.7, 5, $47,428.

40. (28) Jeff Green, Chevrolet, rear gear, 18, 32.4, 4, $40,910.

41. (37) Kevin Lepage, Ford, vibration, 12, 27.4, 3, $40,865.

42. (40) J.R. Fitzpatrick, Ford, accident, 10, 27, 2, $47,278.

43. (32) Kelly Bires, Ford, overheating, 5, 25.8, 1, $40,721.

Top 10 in Points: 1. L.Cassill, 41; 2. R.Sorenson, 39; 3. J.Leffler, 38; 4. R.Stenhouse Jr., 36; 5. T.Bayne, 35; 6. M.Bliss, 31; 7. D.Patrick, 31; 8. J.Nemechek, 29; 9. J.Clements, 28; 10. B.Santos, 27.