Designed as a way to gather a greater slipstream, the bump drafting that occurs in the NASCAR series has recently come into criticism from a number of drivers, who consider it dangerous and potentially lethal.

Nonetheless, ahead of the Daytona 500, many drivers are predicting that there will be plenty of drama concerning the action, where drivers 'bump' the car in-front for better momentum.

Jimmie Johnson knows who he is expecting the main offenders to be. "It's hard to not look at the normal guys – Jeff (Gordon), Tony (Stewart) and Junior (Earnhardt)," he said. "I think that Michael Waltrip is going to do a great job. With his knowledge of the draft, he's going to be somebody to contend with all day long. Carl Edwards showed a lot of ability in the 150's. And another guy, Elliott Sadler, really understands the draft and is doing a good job.

"I'm hopeful just to get out and ride and stay toward the front. It'll be easier on the front tires and easier on the handling of the car and just of go from there. The funny thing is, you have different friends at different points during the race. At the beginning of the race you might work well with someone and that partnership dissolves and then you find a new one."

Bud Shootout victor Denny Hamlin is also expecting there to be clashes, although he admits that it will depend on the often regular green flag periods.

"I don't think [the bump drafting] is going to be any different than it is normally," Hamlin claimed. "I think if we get some long green flag runs, it's going to be pretty spread out so I don't think you'll see too much of it anyway. Right now, everybody is being calm. But that'll end on Sunday."

Nonetheless, most of the drivers are expecting the final few laps to be particularly frantic as the drivers jostle for position to scramble over the line in first place. Jeff Gordon, one of the great advocates for bump drafting, is ready for that though.

"You are going to see it on the straighaways," he said, "but you're not going to see it in the corners. I think guys know what lessons are learned. And you know what? It might happen early on and somebody does it and NASCAR makes a call and gets people's attention.

"Nobody has said you can't bump draft. You just have to do it in a respectful way down the straightaways. Don't be excessive with it and don't be aggressive with it and don't do it in the corners."

Johnson is also expecting plenty of incident with the chequered flag in sight. "It's all about those last three laps and who you have that's going to work with you. We'll just try to make some friends during the 500 and see what we have in the end."