53rd Daytona 500 Will Go Down As The Best In History

This is the type of race that will bring NASCAR’s ratings back up. Jeff Gordon’s 14 year reign as being the youngest driver ever to win the Daytona 500 was abolished today as Trevor Bayne, who was just making his second career Cup start, held off 2000 Cup Series Champion Bobby Labonte and a furious charge from Carl Edwards and David Gilliland to win the 53rd Daytona 500. Gordon was just 25 when he won back in 1997 and Bayne completely blew that out of the water by 5 years winning it at 20.

[media-credit name=”David Yeazell” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Many records were broken today and I honestly think that it is going to be extremely difficult to even come close to it again. There were a total of 74 lead changes, 22 leaders, and 16 caution flags over the course of 200 laps plus the two green-white-checkered scenarios. As a fan, I loved the race and it was so incredible to see Bayne win. At the same time, I was rooting for Bobby Labonte to get back in victory lane, but I knew that Labonte wouldn’t have pulled a move on a kid like Bayne to win the 500. Labonte finished second to Dale Earnhardt when he won his only 500 back in ’98. Tony Kornheiser would have considered this a fixed finish being the incompetent idiot he is.

This race will set the tone for the entire NASCAR season. All out exciting racing for 36 races of the year. While, I still voice my displeasure with the Chase system, I think the racing was much better than what we saw at last year’s Daytona 500. You have to have a fast car, know which people to draft with, and get lucky at times to pull such a feat off. Congratulations to Trevor Bayne and everyone on the Wood Brothers for an awesome win and the first win for the Wood Brothers since Elliott Sadler won the 2001 Food City 500. Their last win before that was in 1993 with Morgan Shepherd.

Let’s go through a recap of the race. Dale Earnhardt Jr. did win the pole, but after a crash in practice, he started from the rear. Jeff Gordon would start from the pole, but immediately would get passed because his car wasn’t very quick on restarts.

The first yellow flew early after Michael Waltrip spun around Kyle Busch going into Turn 1. Busch and Waltrip were both able to continue.

J.J. Yeley raced his way into the Daytona 500, but sadly only lasted 10 laps because his engine blew and about 12 laps after that incident we saw 2007 winner Kevin Harvick, who had led some laps at that point, lost his engine as well. It was shock to a lot of fans because Harvick won 3 of the 4 races held at Daytona last year, including the Budweiser Shootout.

A 14 car crash on Lap 28 was triggered when Michael Waltrip, yet again, spun out his own driver heading into Turn 3. Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson were among the drivers who suffered heavy damage. Johnson and Gordon finished 27th and 28th, respectively. Johnson has not finished inside the Top 20 in the 500 since his win back in 2006.

Brad Keselowski was later wrecked when he and Robby Gordon got together and that landed Brad in 29th.

A bump from Kurt Busch sent Regan Smith for a ride, but that also involved Ryan Newman, Denny Hamlin, and Clint Bowyer. It was really a tough break for Newman because he did lead the most laps in the race.

The race would come down to a pair of green-white-checkered finishes and David Gilliland got Robby Gordon super sideways, but he saved it. As he found a place back on the track, Ryan Newman was body slammed by A.J. Allmendinger right into Martin Truex Jr.(literally) and Dale Jr. had nowhere to go and spun and hit the outside wall. This eliminates the bogus theory from Tony Kornheiser that NASCAR is fixed.

Trevor Bayne held them off on the final restart to win the race, but you also have to feel for David Ragan, whom at the time was the leader at that first restart, but he didn’t maintain his position until he crossed the start finish line and his chances at winning were ruined. It was great to see Bobby Labonte back up there fighting for a win. Labonte hasn’t had a legitimate shot to win a race since 2005. To make things even better, Labonte and Carl Edwards are tied for the points lead going into Phoenix because Bayne is only earning Nationwide Series points for this season. I don’t think Labonte has led the points since his championship season in 2000.

With that being said, I cannot wait for next weekend’s race in Phoenix. I will be at a hockey tournament on the day before, so I will be able to make the race in time. If you have any questions, please drop me an email at therhino.ryan@gmail.com, Facebook, or my Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/RyanOHaraNASCAR Thank you and congratulations to Trevor Bayne!