The Rick Santorum campaign is sponsoring a Ford Fusion driven by veteran race car driver Tony Raines in today's Daytona 500.

GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum hopes the car his campaign is sponsoring in the Daytona 500 today can have the same come-from-behind success as his campaign.

The Santorum campaign is sponsoring Front Row Motorsports' Car #26, a Ford Fusion driven by veteran race car driver Tony Raines, in the premiere stock car event of the season taking place today in Daytona Beach, Florida.

"He was one of the final qualifiers, and I'm so excited," Santorum told me today on "This Week."

The car has been wrapped in Santorum's campaign logo, hoping to draw the attention of NASCAR fans watching the race as Santorum continues to campaign in Michigan before Tuesday's critical primary.

Santorum, who came from behind to win Iowa over Mitt Romney and the rest of the GOP field, and has now taken the lead in national polls, offered some advice to Raines for the race.

"I talked to him about a strategy. I recommended he stay back in the pack, you know, hang back there until the right time, and then bolt to the front when it really counts," Santorum said. "I'm hoping that for the first, you know, maybe 300, 400 miles, he's sitting way, way back, letting all the other folks crash and burn, and then sneak up at the end and win this thing."

We'll see if Santorum's political strategy can be as successful on the racetrack.