"Santorum Strategy" Succeeds Somewhat at NASCAR, but What About Michigan? As the hoard of rumbling cars rolled up to the starting line of the biggest race at NASCAR, the Ford Fusion enwrapped with "Rick Santorum President" was at the back of the pack. But as rivals crashed and burned, the steady-paced underdog sped ahead. Heading into the home stretch of the Daytona 500 on Monday, the car that began second to last had zoomed to the head of the pack. And when one opponent imploded, literally sparking a fireball on the track with a mere 40 laps left, the Santorum-sponsored driver, Toney Raines, was sitting in an impressive third place. "Hang back, let the other cars in front get in wrecks ... or drop out of the race, and then move up at the end," was the pre-race advice presidential candidate and NASCAR car sponsor Rick Santorum gave to Raines, who ultimately finished in 19th place. It's the "Santorum strategy," he said. And it seemed to work about as well on the race track as in the GOP primary. When Santorum announced his presidential bid, he entered a Republican field overflowing with White House hopefuls. To say he began at the back of the pack is an understatement. For the first six months of his presidential campaign, Santorum polled in the single digits, averaging a scant 2 percent support nationally. But he plugged on, plodding through every county in Iowa until, in January, the first polls showed him with double-digit support. Santorum's Iowa Caucus win showed he could hold his own, riding the bumper of front-runner Mitt Romney. Now, two months after that first breath of national recognition gained at the Iowa caucus, Santorum is in position to swing past Romney, capturing the open road ahead going into the 10-state Super Tuesday contest on March 6. When Michigan voters go to the polls today, they could easily slingshot that back-of-the-pack beginner to the top of the leader board as the Republican race heads into the most pivotal lap yet.