FONTANA, Calif. -- He met David Letterman, traded phone numbers with Larry the Cable Guy and got sick on a whirlwind media tour across the continent.

Daytona 500 winner Ryan Newman had plenty of time Friday to rehash his appearances this week in New York, Bristol, Conn., and Hollywood, as rain kept cars off the track at the newly renamed Auto Club Speedway.

The lack of activity also provided time to debate the merits of a Daytona hangover. Five of the last 10 Daytona 500 winners went on to finish 10th or worse in the points that same year. Six of those drivers won no more than one points race the rest of the season.

Newman doesn't worry about such things.

"I think it's no bluff,'' he said of his last-lap victory last weekend. "I think our team and organization showed by finishing first and second that we're capable of great things.''

Other drivers and teams held that belief after leaving Daytona with the trophy. Kevin Harvick nipped Mark Martin to win last year's 500 and then won only the all-star race the rest of the year.

"I think California kind of set the tone for our whole season,'' Harvick said of last season.

"Five laps to go, we get a flat tire and have a chance to probably win the race, and it just seemed like everything kind of went that way all year. Every time we had a good day, something went wrong, and every time we had a bad day it got worse.''

Flat tires doomed Harvick throughout the Chase, and he finished 10th in the points.

Jeff Gordon also knows such anguish. He won the 2005 Daytona 500 and went on to miss the Chase that season. He won three more times after Daytona but placed 11th in the points.

Daytona doldrums?

Gordon doesn't believe in it.

"The fact of the matter is that the championship is won on intermediate and short tracks,'' he said. "So, if you're strong at Daytona and you win that race ... it really doesn't give you a clear indication of what your car and your team is capable of doing throughout the whole year.''

That's what makes Sunday's race here and next weekend's race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway critical. These tracks are among the intermediate tracks NASCAR races. They'll give an early indication of who has discovered what makes these cars run well on such tracks.

Eight of the top 10 drivers in last February's California race went on to make the Chase. Seven of the top 10 at Las Vegas last March made the Chase.

If nothing else, Newman scored a much-needed victory at Daytona. He said before the season he needed to win to make the Chase -- Clint Bowyer was the only driver in the Chase not to win before the final 10 races last year.

Sunday's victory helped Newman put away the woes of the past two seasons when he went winless.

He said his confidence waned in 2006 before picking up late last season when he scored three top-five finishes in the final five races. While a fast car helps, Newman said confidence can be as key a factor in a driver's success.

"You can be the best driver in the world skill-wise, if you have no confidence or a lack of confidence you will not have the results that you're capable of or deserving of,'' he said days before the Daytona 500.

His victory gave him more than he could have imagined with a media tour that was a blur.

"I totally underestimated the work that goes into winning, especially afterwards,'' Newman said Friday.

"Can't wait to go home and fish.''