He finds himself at the helm of the No. 32 Turner Scott Motorsports Chevrolet for the 2013 season without a single start in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. That alone speaks to his talent and the potential TSM sees in the 20-year-old driver from Elk Grove, Calif.

In the truck series, Larson had only four starts, but he's been impressive in those races notching three top-10 finishes, including a runner-up performance at Phoenix in the penultimate race last year.

On Monday night, he won the first race of the inaugural UNOH Battle At The Beach in a somewhat controversial last-lap finish on the .4-mile track situated on the backstretch of Daytona International Speedway.

However, racing on the shortened track is a lot different than going full throttle around the 2.5-mile superspeedway.

"It's hard to plan a strategy when it comes to these restrictor-plate races because things change so quickly every lap," said Larson.

Probably the most popular driver, with the Twitter followers to prove it, to step full-time into NASCAR Nationwide action this season is Travis Pastrana. Of course, his popularity comes primarily from his days as an extreme sports star and as producer of the popular MTV show, "Nitro Circus."

Pastrana will drive the No. 60 Ford for Roush Fenway Racing in 2013. In nine starts, his best performance was a 13th-place finish last season at Indianapolis.

In July 2011, he was scheduled to make his series debut at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis, but he broke his right foot and ankle a couple days prior to the race. He ended up delaying his debut until April 2012 at Richmond International Raceway. He finished 22nd in the race.

Saturday's race will be his first series race at Daytona International Speedway, but not his first competition on the track. His first win in the Pro Ranks was at Daytona in the AMA Supercross Series 125 East Class.

Although Pastrana is extremely competitive, he's going into the year with realistic goals and hoping to learn from his experiences.