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Rookies hope to emulate Stewart

Five drivers are hoping to follow in the footsteps of last year's rookie of the year Tony Stewart in this year's NASCAR Winston Cup series.

This year five rookies - Dale Earnhardt Jr, Matt Kenseth, Mike Bliss, Dave Blaney and Scott Pruett - will be battling to emulate Stewart's 1999 achievement of qualifying on the front row in the Winston Cup's biggest race of the year - the Daytona 500.

When the drivers arrive for Speedweeks at Daytona International Speedway, the pressure will be on to make the Daytona 500.

Stewart said of last season's success, 'It was an awesome feeling.

'Anytime you can come here in your rookie season and sit on the front row and have all the pressures taken off of you to try and make the race, you know that everything you past qualifying is just practice.

'Being able to go on to the 125s and use that race as basically practice for the 500 was a big weight lifted from our shoulders.'

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