DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Recently elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, Ken Griffey Jr. will be the honorary starter for Sunday's Daytona 500.

Griffey, who lives in Central Florida, received a record 99.32 percent of the vote (437 of 440) by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. In his 22 seasons, Griffey was a 13-time All-Star, 10-time Gold Glove winner and 1997 American League MVP; he is also ranked sixth on the career home run list (630).

“We're honored to welcome baseball great Ken Griffey Jr. as the honorary starter for the Daytona 500,” Daytona International Speedway president Joie Chitwood III said. “We're looking forward to having such a legendary athlete wave the green flag on the first Great American Race in the world's first motorsports stadium.”

Vickers' struggles continue: Perhaps Stewart-Haas Racing needs a good group cleanse to get rid of the bad juju involving the No. 14 team.

Brian Vickers, the replacement driver for Tony Stewart, who is out indefinitely with an injured back, lasted 24 laps in Saturday night's Sprint Unlimited before he was taken out in a multi-car accident.

“It was a hard hit,” said Vickers, who was treated at the infield care center at Daytona International Speedway and released. “They are never fun. You blow a right-rear tire, you hit driver-side at 200 [mph], but that is part of racing. That is all the risk we take. I'm fine. I feel fine. I was having fun. I was having a blast, actually.

“It was just so much fun to get out there with those guys and rub fenders again and race hard. It's such a fun race. I hate we are not going to be able to put this Mobil 1 Chevy in Victory Lane. I think we really had a shot at it. I'm back racing, I'm having fun and the Daytona 500 is next week.”

Then it got worse on Sunday: Vickers and teammate Kevin Harvick were ruled to have non-compliant track bars and had their qualifying times disallowed. They will start at the rear of the field during Thursday's qualifying duel races.