2022 Daytona 500 viewers guide - What you need to know about this year's Great American Race

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Here at Daytona, the sun is shining, the seagulls are gulling, and the hotels are price gouging. All that means it must time for 64th edition of the «Great American Race,» the Daytona 500, the «Super Bowl of Stock Car Racing,» run at the «World Center of Racing» and apparently also the world center of nicknames.

Like the actual Super Bowl one week ago, a lot of people who might not watch another NASCAR race all year long tune in to this event. And like the big game, there is always that one person at the viewing party who believes it is their duty to wow the room with their surprising depth of knowledge. Perhaps you are one of those people who will be watching NASCAR's flagship event for the first time, or just for the first time since last year. Well, instead of having to listen to the know-it-all, why not become the know-it-all? Or at least fake it really well?

What do you need to know before the 500-mile, 150-lap, 200 mph event drops the green flag at 2:30 p.m. ET Sunday? Read ahead, and screengrab it all so you can sneakily look down at your phone and dictate these facts to blow your friends' motorsports minds.

Over seven decades of racing, NASCAR's Cup Series has used seven different primary styles of race car. The seventh makes its official debut this weekend and it is by far the most dramatic leap from its predecessor, from the electronics in the instrument panel to the way the car is constructed at the race shop.

There is a lot going on technically, including rack-and-pinion steering, independent rear suspension and even a rearview video camera. But what viewers will notice most on the track are the new body styles, which much more closely resemble their Toyota Camry, Chevy Camaro and Ford