Was it a plan to begin with or simply a result of experience on racing?
Yes… Jeff Gordon overtook Danica Patrick on lap one of the Daytona 500 to lead it for the opening laps. Patrick seemed all too happy to ride along in the 2 spot between Gordon and Kyle Busch.
That was the start of the Great American Race as they turned those opening laps over an obvious light spot on the front stretch. That spot was the remnant of an airborne blender from the Nationwide Series race the day before. That incident was on everyone’s mind all morning long not because of the track damage so much as race fans were involved and injured. Drivers spin and crash as almost a matter of course but fans involved casts a shadow over it all…
In-race reports kept updates on those fans which still listed a few in the hospital but recovering well.
For the Daytona 500, early attrition took a few heavyweights out before it really even had a chance to settle in. Kevin Harvick, Tony Stewart, Kasey Kahne, Jamie McMurray and Juan Pablo Montoya were caught up with too much damage to continue and were out until the latter half. A touch or a check is all it takes at 200mph as Kyle Busch and Kahne ran close when the #5 went loose setting it off down the pack.
The restart put Matt Kenseth and his #20 Toyota ride to the front after a quick run by Jimmie Johnson.
Racing at Daytona was on with more incidents to come and the battle to simply stay in it became the race. Some Toyotas had engine trouble. Some other drivers were caught up in spins and crashes. With 20 to go there was still enough muscle to make the dash to the checkers a good run. Johnson, Keselowdki, Biffle, Hamlin, Gordon, Martin, Partrick and Dale Jr. were all tucked in the top 10.
Brad Keselowski and Jimmie Johnson were trading off on the lead until a debris caution with 9 to go grouped them back in. Johnson’s #48 looked almost showroom new compared to Keselowski’s #2 which had the front held down with hope and tape.
The winning finish for the #48 Chevy of Jimmie Johnson was a big change from a year ago when he was wrecked out of the rain delayed Daytona 500. It looked like it was Greg Biffle in the draft to make the move but Dale Earmhardt, Jr. jumped out of line in the 4th spot and took the line up to second. Pole sitter Danica Patrick lead a few laps, ran top 5/10 all day and was poised in third until the #88 made the move. With her #10 on the outside there was little to do but hang on to the front stretch for an 8th place finish.
The top 10 running order: Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Mark Martin, Brad Keselowski, Ryan Newman, Greg Biffle, Regan Smith, Danica Patrick, Michael McDowell, J.J. Yeley.
Daytona covered the unexpected with crashes, injured fans and the season points debut of the Gen-6 race car. The injured fans from the Saturday race are recovering. NASCAR is reviewing. Johnson is celebrating. Patrick is proving.
The season is on. Let’s go racing!
