They seem to carry that momentum throughout the season. It's the most prestigious race of the year, but it's also the first race of the year. With that much pressure right from the start, a team's mental preparation is every bit as important as its physical preparation. Our culture has decided that Daytona is so important that how you perform there will dictate how you feel about yourself. We tend to see each race individually, but that is not the way it works.
Motivation builds on itself from race to race.
Just as a strong finish can spark a team, a poor showing at Daytona can be a setback to a team's hopes at the beginning of the season. The guys have been waiting months to show what they can do at Daytona. It pulls at them more mentally because of all the distractions. Intuitively, we all want to perform well under any circumstance. Racers are racers they want to win.