After over a month of preparation at Daytona International Speedway and months of preparing back at the race track; the NASCAR Sprint Cup series ran the 53rd Daytona 500 finally arrived.
It was a Hendrick Motorsports front row with Jeff Gordon starting second and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. starting first.
A practice crash forced Earnhardt to the rear for the start of the race and Duel race winner Kurt Busch would lead the field to green.
It didn’t take long for the field to pair up and for the two car tandem to develop.
On lap four, Kyle Busch was drafting with Michael Waltrip when he got spun running in the top 10. There was minimal damage to the car and he was able to continue on.
The field would restart with Kevin Harvick up front.
The next caution came only a few laps later after the restart when JJ Yeley engine gave way. There was nearly a wreck when Martin Truex, Jr. and Earnhardt were racing to yellow and Truex nearly turned Earnhardt.
Most of the field hit pit road for fuel only and some made minor adjustments on the car.
Caution waved when Kevin Harvick’s engine blown up and brought out the third caution of the day.
On lap 29, the big one occurred when Walktrip pushed David Reutimann and spun in front of half the field.
Drivers involved were Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin, Brian Vickers, Reutimann, Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth, Joe Nemechek, Brian Keselowski, Marcos Ambrose, AJ Allmendinger and Andy Lally among others.
The race went into a short stint of green flag runs with the two car tango taking center stage.Caution waved again when Robert Richardson, Jr. hit the wall hard to bring the field back together.
The action was heating up on the track as caution waved when Vickers attempted to turn around on the to head back to the garage after repairs. He could make it back and NASCAR was forced to to throw the caution so they move his car.
The field went green for about 15 laps until caution waved for debris on the track. Earnhardt continues to have stellar pit stops and took back the lead on pit road.
On lap 94 of 200, Jeff Burton engine blew making it the second Richard Childress Racing engine to blow. Caution did not wave and the field continued on.
The field was approaching green flag stops when caution waved when Juan Pablo Montoya spun after getting a flat tire.
This would bring the field to pit road and Robby Gordon who was pushed to the lead by Trevor Bayne.
Defending race winner Jamie McMurray was running in the top five but was told to drop back and pick up Montoya who lost the lead draft.
Travis Kvapil was running back in the pack but had a tire go down and hit the wall. The field hit pit road again and for what could be the second to last lap pit stop.
On the restart Bobby Labonte who was running fifth but then dropped to the rear with an issue. Kenseth who was a lap down with battery issues was trying to pass McMurray and Montoya when his teammate Biffle got into him.
Kenseth was sent hard into the wall which brought the field together and some of the lead lap cars hit pit road.
It wasn’t the last time Montoya or Biffle would tangle on lap 142, Montoya got into the back of BIffle. This sent Biffle spinning through the infield.
With less than 76 laps to go the field contenders were showing what they had. Some new faces made their way up front Ryan Newman and Denny Hamlin hooked up to move to the front.
Caution waved on lap 159 when Kvapil cut a tire and hit the wall. The entire field hit pit road some just fuel others took tires. This was the final stop of the day for most teams.
With 33 laps to go Brad Keselowski was running three wide with Paul Menard and Bowyer when he got loose and spun and hit the wall.
With the lap winding down business was about to pick up. With 19 laps to go Kasey Kahne had a tire go down and hit the wall.
Four laps to go the leaders were a pack of about eight cars when Smith got a push by Kurt Busch. This set off a chain reaction crash that included Bowyer, Hamlin and Newman.
The race would go to a green, white checker. Bayne and David Ragan were the leaders and on the restart Ragan went too early. NASCAR ruled he didn’t maintain his lane and black flagged him.
Meanwhile, Stewart had no car and pulled to the bottom lane in the process Gordon had a full head of steam.
The two bounced off each other and in effect caused a chain reaction crash that involved Truex, Earnhardt and Newman.
Sitting in the cat bird seat was Bayne and Bobby Labonte and on the restart Labonte pushed Bayne. Edwards and David Gilliand had a full head of steam but it was Bayne who would win the Daytona 500.
Bayne is the youngest driver to ever win the Daytona 500. The rest of the top 10 were Edwards, Gilliland, Labonte, Busch, Montoya, Smith, Busch, Menard and Martin.
The Daytona 500 saw a record 74 lead changes among 22 drivers. The previous record was 60 set back in 1974.
Next up for the NSCS is a date in Phoenix next Sunday 3ET on FOX.
Photo:nascar.com
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