Trevor Bayne was celebrating his victory in the Daytona 500 there were a few other storylines to wrap up the first week of the NASCAR Sprint Cup series.
Up in smoke!
Earnhardt Ganassi Racing engine program took a hit on Sunday afternoon. Kevin Harvick of Richard Childress Racing lost an engine first on lap 22. Then Jeff Burton lost an engine on lap 94. Jamie McMurray of Earnhardt Ganassi Racing drove the final 50 laps down one cylinder.
The engine program of Earnhardt-Childress Racing is considered one of the best programs in the garage. It had been well over two years since they suffered to engine failures in one race.
Wrecked…
The big one on lap 29 took out 17 cars total including Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Mark Martin. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was the only HMS driver to survive that wreck. Martin was able to get back three laps and go on to finish 10th. Johnson and Gordon sustained too much damage but were able to repair and get back on track to finish 27th and 28th respectively.
Earnhardt would survive the first big wreck but as the field attempted the first of two attempts at a green, white checker Earnhardt tried to avoid Robby Gordon and he hit the wall and finished 24th.
Lug Nuts…
*Bayne’s win was Ford Motor Company’s 600th win in NASCAR.
*All three winners this weekend are not running full time in the series in which they won the race.
*22 leaders, 74 lead changes and 16 cautions all set new race records.
*Bobby Labonte’s fourth place finish was his first top five since Martinsville in 2006.
* Steve Wallace finished 20th and last year’s winner McMurray finished 18th.
Written by:
