Post-race report -- Daytona
Event: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Daytona 500 Race No. 1 of 36)
Venue: Daytona International Speedway; Daytona Beach, Fla.
Top-five finishers: Jamie McMurray, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Greg Biffle,
Clint Bowyer and David Reutimann
Race recap: Jamie McMurray took the lead on the next-to-last lap, leading just two laps on the day in winning the season-opening Daytona 500.
McMurray's victory came after a series of late-race caution flags jumbled the field and the finishing order. In a race where a Daytona 500 record 21 different drivers held the lead at one point or another, it was three accidents and the resulting green-white-checkered flag finishes that decided the winner. On a lap 199 restart, Clint Bowyer held the lead; on a lap 199 restart, Greg Biffle held the lead; and on a lap 206 restart, Kevin Harvick held the lead. What ultimately mattered, however, was the lap 208 checkered flag where McMurray had the lead, benefitting from a push to the front from Biffle a lap earlier.
And it was a new NASCAR rule that even opened up the possibility for the exciting finish. Up until last week, the race-ending rule allowed just one green-white-checkered flag finish after the scheduled distance of the race is completed. Now, teams are allowed three attempts at a finish under the green flag. McMurray was an early beneficiary.
The other lasting memory from this race will be the nearly three hours over two red flag delays to fix a hole that surfaced in the track. NASCAR worked feverishly to patch the hole, the first time making it 35 laps and the second lasting through the finish.
For McMurray, it was his fourth career Sprint Cup win. This one came in his first race with the Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing team. Before going to Roush-Fenway Racing for the past several seasons, McMurray actually won his first Sprint Cup race for the former Chip Ganassi Racing team back in 2002.
With Race No. 1 in the books, Race No. 2 of the 2010 Sprint Cup season is scheduled for California Speedway this coming Sunday.
Companion events: Tony Stewart (Nationwide Series) and Timothy Peters (Camping World Truck Series) won the NASCAR support races at Daytona on Saturday. Stewart led a race-high 38 laps en route to winning his third straight season-opener at Daytona. Carl Edwards was second, while defending series champion Kyle Busch was 18th. Peters passed Todd Bodine on the last lap to win the rain-delayed truck race. Bodine, who had won the last two truck races at Daytona, finished second. Defending champion Ron Hornaday was involved in a crash and finished 27th.
Goodyear quote -- Greg Stucker: "All the hard work last fall, including two tire tests, to develop the tire package for the Daytona 500 paid off on Sunday. Our new set-up added to the great racing seen throughout the day, and really held up well to the use on the aging track surface."
