You can almost hear their voices, can't you:

"Hey, Mark."

"Dale? What's going on?"

"I'm kinda tired, Mark."

"Well, take a nap. It's what I do during pitstops."

"No, not that kinda tired. Tired of people making fun of me 'cause I didn't run as well as you other Hendrick guys last year. You don't think I'm a bad driver, do you?"

"Weeeeell ... "

The scuttlebutt on the street is that just as the shops of Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson work together, so too will the shops of Mark Martin and Dale Earnhardt Jr. The idea being, of course, that if a guy like Mark Martin can come from out of nowhere and run second in the Sprint Cup, maybe he could help Junior in his long, slow slide from the upper echelons of NASCAR.

And while it's awfully early to start making sweeping generalizations, Mark and Junior are off to a good start. They'll be starting 1-2 in the Daytona 500, with the rest of the positions to be determined by the Gatorade Duels on Thursday.

Of course, nobody's won from the pole at the Daytona 500 since 2000, when Dale Jarrett did it. And nobody's won from the second spot in Daytona since 1993, when -- hey, wait a second -- Dale Jarrett also did it.

At our Bud Shootout chat, Junior Nation was ready to declare Dale back, while everyone else thinks that Junior's Beard has a better chance of making the Chase than Dale himself. (The chat also saw the creation of our first recurring characters of 2010: Junior's Beard and Brian Vickers, henceforth dubbed "Bull Juice." Don't ask why, just accept it.)

So what do you think, Junior fans and Junior haters? Does this portend good news for 2010, or is everybody just getting set up for even more heartbreak?

Well, that didn't take long. Less than two days after her successful performance in her very first stock car race, Danica Patrick will be running her very first Nationwide race this Saturday.

JR Motorsports folks had indicated that her entry in the Daytona race would be conditional on a strong performance in the ARCA event. And a sixth-place finish in a race that had more wrecks than a high-speed driver's ed class was apparently enough to impress the higher-ups.

"To be the one driving that Go Daddy car at Daytona means a lot to me," Patrick said in a statement. "Racing in the Nationwide Series race was my goal during this entire two-month preparation process, but we wanted to make sure it was the right thing to do.  The ARCA race was a blast, and I'm not ready for my first Daytona Speedweeks to end just yet.  I want more racing."

And she'll get it. Danica will be running against many of the best drivers in NASCAR, a field that could include just about everyone south of Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon. Dale Earnhardt Jr. will be running in the #88 car, and Danica will drive the #11, to be sponsored -- of course -- by GoDaddy.com. 

Of course, not everybody is thrilled about the Danica promotion. On his Twitter feed, Kelly Bires, who's gotten bounced from his seat to make room for Junior and Danica, issued this statement: "As everyone can see I will not be running Daytona. Very bummed out about it! I will be ready to make a statement in Fontana."

Saturday night, NASCAR season unofficially got underway with the Bud Shootout, pitting the best in NASCAR against one another in a 75-lap sprint for checkers, and a big ol' check besides. And while Carl Edwards dominated early, it was Kevin Harvick, who'd been ridden with the flu earlier in the week, who hung on for the win:

It's the second Bud Shootout win in a row for Harvick. Last year, he followed up his preseason with, uh ... the most disappointing season of his career. Shoot. Well, here's hoping history doesn't repeat itself any longer.

It's Super Bowl Sunday, which means that there's almost nothing going on outside football -- or, more properly, the hype surrounding football. So let's yield the stage to our football brethren, but not before taking a look at some good NASCAR-themed Super Bowl commercials of years past.

First, there's this Dale Earnhardt Jr. Road Warrior fiesta from 2007:

More below.

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Danica Patrick has run her first stock car race, and not only did she not embarrass herself or the sport, she came on strong, weathered a spin, and finished sixth. And all of a sudden, the Danica Experiment has gone from sponsor-driven gimmickry to legitimate racing operation. 

Patrick qualified 12th in the Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200, an 80-lap ARCA race which was intended to help her get comfortable behind the wheel of a stock car. She traded paint with a few of her fellow drivers, and at one point spun the car but avoided what would have been a race-ending collision with the wall. She demonstrated skill in race management in getting herself from the back of the pack back into the mix. And while she never really threatened for the lead, she certainly proved that she's got the skills to handle a stock car.

We also got a taste of what TV coverage will be like when Danica's on the track. SPEED's cameras focused almost continuously on Danica, touching on her progress every single lap. Danica wasn't the only driver in the race -- heck, she wasn't even the only woman -- but she drew the vast majority of media attention. After the race, she was swarmed by media in a way almost certainly unparalleled in ARCA history.

"I was pretty excited to go from last back to the top 5," she said after the race. "The car felt really good. That was fun!" Her finish was the best at an ARCA race in Daytona by a female since Shawna Robinson finished second in 1999. 

Earlier in the day, NASCAR president Mike Helton was enthusiastic about Danica's presence. "It’s given us all the things that any sport or business would love – the exposure, uplift," he said. "We have people following the sport that may have never looked at it for any other reason. So it’s huge."

Indeed it is. So what's next? Given this performance, which drew raves from team owner Rick Hendrick, Patrick could well run in next weekend's Nationwide race, where she'll get her first taste of driving against Sprint Cup-level drivers like Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards and her team owner, Dale Earnhardt Jr. From there, she's on to a 12-race schedule that she'll work around her day job in the Indy Racing League. For Danica, so far, so good. 

Oh, and congratulations to Bobby Gerhart. Who's he? The race winner, of course. Yep, that's how it's going to be this year. 

_______

For more daily NASCAR and automotive news throughout the 2010 season, click here to bookmark Yahoo! Sports' From The Marbles blog and follow us on Twitter. 

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While Danica Patrick grabs all of the headlines for today's ARCA race, there are actually four other female drivers in the field. No, really, it's true.

Of course, if it wasn't for this blog post, you may not know that, because none of the other drivers has the credentials -- or anything close to the marketability -- that Patrick does, and with the exception of Patrick and Alli Owens, none of them have a snowball's chance of winning today. Still, the Lucas Oil SlickMist 200 boasts the most female drivers in a single national stock car event, and that itself is pretty impressive.

Most famous for being a moving chicane in the IndyCar Series, Milka Duno is also dipping her toes in the stock car waters. The Venezuelan had to take a provisional to get into the field, so in a stunning resemblance to her IndyCar career, she'll be a nonfactor unless she gets caught up in a crash.

However, Duno will probably have some competition to be the first female driver in the garage. Jennifer Jo Cobb also had to take a provisional to get in the field, and her signature stock car moment is crashing into Denny Hamlin under caution during a Nationwide race at Kansas Speedway. Cobb is attempting to run the full season in the Camping World Truck Series, but that's totally dependent on funding, and you know how those situations tend to resolve themselves.

Leilani Munter also has some open wheel experience, having raced in the Indy Pro Series in 2007. Like Danica, Munter has posed for FHM, and she's part of the "sweetest team in racing," as you can see above.  She's also an ambassador for the National Wildlife Federation, and could be a dark horse for a top 15 finish.

There's also Jill George, who carries the distinction of being both a chiropractor and race-car driver. She reached a sponsorship agreement just days before the race.

If Danica won't be the top-finishing female, it could be Alli Owens. Owens has competed in the ARCA Series since 2008 and has steadily improved. She will be competing full time this year and is driving for Venturini Motorsports, one of the best teams in ARCA. Owens could reach victory lane for the first time in 2010 and will have one of the best cars in the field today. But if Owens finishes fourth, and Patrick finishes fifth, you can bet where the cameras will be.

Welcome to Yahoo! Sports live coverage of Daytona 500 qualifying. Stick with us and we'll fill you in on all the action.

1:28: Dale Earnhardt Jr. has clocked the fastest lap - 190.913 mph. He's sitting on the pole right now.

1:36: It's pretty windy here in Daytona. Drivers are getting a push down the backstretch, but it's making it squirrely for some.

1:38: Last year's pole winner Martin Truex Jr., driving for Michael Waltrip Racing now, is only ninth fastest out of 11 cars so far.

1:40: We've got a new pole sitter and it's Mark Martin, clocking a lap of 191.88 mph.

1:44: Walked through the Nationwide garage a little bit ago and there was a huge crowd standing outside Danica Patrick's hauler. She'll make her stock car debut this afternoon in the ARCA race.

1:45: Mark Martin just said, "I was flying, and I knew it. ... I can't wait to get started racing." Remember, he's never won a Daytona 500. "It's time," Martin said. "This is the best shot I've had."

1:47: Greg Biffle is 13th out of 14 cars so far. The Roush Fenway cars have not shown any speed so far in what limited track time we've seen.

1:57: Not a great run for Boris Said. He's dead last of the 17 cars that have gone so far. He'll get in regardless. He has the owner's points on the No. 26.

2:00: Just a reminder - they are only setting the top two spots today. The rest of the field is set by finishing order in Thursday's Duel 150s. So, if you're not No. 1 or No. 2 today, then your starting spot is not set. As of now, the front row is Mark Martin and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

2:19: Jimmie Johnson just put down the fifth-fastest qualifying lap. He wasn't terribly quick in practice. Mark Martin is still looking good. Probably the only driver left to qualify who can overtake Martin is his teammate, Jeff Gordon.

2:31: Carl Edwards is 16th-fastest, just behind his teammate, David Ragan, who is the fastest of the three Roush drivers to have gone out so far.

2:35: At 51, Mark Martin would be the oldest Daytona 500 pole winner. Dale Jarrett won the pole when he was 48.

2:39: Jeff Gordon is ninth-fastest. Gordon was probably the last driver who could challenge Martin for the pole.

2:51: Joe Nemechek is not guaranteed a spot in the Daytona 500, but he just clocked the 13th-fastest lap and the fastest of those drivers who need to qualify on time to get in. That should hold up for "Front Row" Joe.

3:10: For those unsure how qualifying for the Daytona 500 goes, you're not alone. It's confusing. But I'll give it a try: the top two qualifiers today are on the front row. The top 35 in owner's points from last year are in, however their starting position is determined by how they finish in Thursday's Duels. The top three or four drivers in today's qualifying who are not in the top 35 will also get in. That leaves four to five spots still up for grabs in the Duels. ... I think.

3:24: Two-time Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip was only 20th fastest, meaning he will have to race his way into next Sunday's race.

3:48: That's it. Mark Martin is your pole winner. Dale Earnhardt Jr. will start second. The rest of the field will be set in Thursday's Duels.

3:56: Aside from last year's top 35 in owner's points, who are locked in, Bill Elliott, Scott Speed and Joe Nemechek have also assured themselves spots in the Daytona 500.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Lance McGrew size up their options in the 2010 season. (Not on the options list for Dale: a razor.) What might the 88 team be saying? Make your best guess.

After the jump, Tony Stewart and Mark Martin talk about the future.

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Racing, she's a cruel mistress. She teases you with promises of glory and grandeur, and then, once you've given your life over to her, she turns her lusty eyes toward someone younger, someone still brimming with untapped potential. Someone like Sergio Pena, the only guy on earth who can both race well and make Joey Logano look like a grizzled vet.

Pena and Logano dueled last weekend at Irwindale Speedway's Toyota Shootout, the so-called "Daytona 500 of short-track racing." (At least they didn't call it the "Super Bowl of ... ") The race features a smattering of known and unknown drivers, and this year, Pena nearly pulled off the impossible.

He raced his way into a qualifying spot, then won the pole, then darn near won the whole 225-lap thing, posing the biggest scare Joey Logano has faced since he thought there were monsters in his closet way back in 2004.

Oh, and Pena is only 16 years old. Really. I'd bet there are Sprint Cup drivers who have burger wrappers and drink cups in their cars older than Pena. Now, Pena can't come over to the bigs until he's 18, but if he can run this well, we might be looking at the future of racing right here. Rookie of the year 2012, anyone?

Welcome to The Pace Lap, your Friday afternoon catchall preview post! Every Friday before race day, we'll get you started with a metric truckload of stats, facts, opinion and innuendo. Read on to see how you can be a part of it all, too. And now, we begin.

The race: The Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway

The TV: Fox, 8 p.m. Eastern

The specs: 75 laps, divided into two races of 25 and 50 laps, with a 10-minute break in between and one stop for fuel in the second heat. Confusing enough for you? Say yes, or they'll add a math component to it as well. 

Defending champ: Kevin Harvick, who springboarded off his win here last year to win ... um, nothing. But Harvick has the flu now, so maybe running badly will portend a good year for the 29.

The front row: Carl Edwards and Kevin Harvick, who achieved their positions by picking a flag out of a Budweiser bottle. Of course they did.

The history: The Bud Shootout is a lesson in gimmickry -- gimmickry that can work, but gimmickry nonetheless. The race dates to 1979 and was originally known as the "Busch Clash."  The race started as a collection of the pole winners from previous years, but as with so much else in NASCAR has mutated into a race where pretty much all the big names get in by one form of rule jockeying or another. This year, the eligibile drivers include the 12 Chase drivers, past Cup champions and previous winners of the Shootout as well as the Daytona 500 and the Coke Zero 400. (Which is how Ken Schrader, of all people, got in this race.) In 1987, Bill Elliott recorded an average speed of 197.802 mph in the Shootout, the fastest speed ever in a sanctioned NASCAR event.

The appropriate video: From last year -- Harvick hunts down Jamie McMurray, coming from way back to take the win and set off -- well, you'll see:

Guy with the most to gain: Joey Logano. It's time for Mr. Bread to prove that he's more than just a kid phenom, and what better way to do that than to beat the sport's best?

Guy with the most to lose: Nobody. This race doesn't mean anything, and while everybody will go at it fairly hard for at least the last couple laps, nobody's going to be too broken up if they don't win this one.

Sweet quote of the week: "I don’t think Jimmie (Johnson) has ever been in a position where he’s had to give it all he had to win a championship. I think he just kind of lets things come to him and watches other guys just crumble around him." --Denny Hamlin

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