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[/media-credit]30 hours after the race was supposed to start, the drivers strapped into their cars and got ready to run the first Daytona 500 run at night. The rain delayed Daytona 500 also marked the first 500 that rescheduled for a day other than Sunday. The rain delay would be just the beginning for this race, though…..
Lap 1 Biffle leads Kenseth and Edwards
Caution Lap 2 – Johnson, Bayne, Patrick, Kurt Busch, Ragan – Sadler gets into Johnson as Johnson get loose, turning him into the wall followed by hard driver’s door contact from Ragan. Sadler passed along his apologies.
Restart Lap 8 as Biffle leads with help from Edwards over Kenseth
Lap 11 Regan Smith and Biffle run side-by-side for the lead
Lap 12 Biffle leads as Edwards and Smith run side-by-side for second
Caution as Newman goes for a spin as he has a flat tire…..Pit stops as everybody takes fuel….Newman loses tire leaving pit, Allmendinger runs in back getting enough damage to send him behind the wall
Restart lap 17 as Menard leads after staying out
Lap 18 Denny Hamlin dumps Carl in the sucker hole to take the lead
Lap 25 Top 10 are single file as Hamlin leads Menard, Smith, Logano, Burton, Ambrose
Lap 35 Top six single file as Hamlin leads Menard, Smith, Logano, Burton, Ambrose
Lap 44 Burton to the lead with help from Biffle and then they went to the bottom
Lap 54 Menard and Hamlin pit
Lap 55 Labonte, Bowyer and others pit.
Lap 57 The back group pits – Harvick, McMurray, Montoya,
Lap 58 Truex, Logano, Ky Busch and others pit
Lap 59 Half of the pack pits – Biffle, Burton, Edwards, Biffle and others. Stewart leads
Lap 60 Gordon, Blaney, Earnhardt Jr. pit
Lap 61 Stewart pits, giving the lead back to Burton.
Caution Lap 64 for debris as Landon Cassil gets the Lucky Dog…….Pit stops for fuel for some while leader Burton stays out
Restart Lap 68 as Biffle and Burton run side-by-side to the green. Biffle pulls ahead with from Ambrose.
Lap 70 Top 8 are single file with Biffle leading Ambrose, Kyle Busch, Bowyer, Logano, Burton, Reuitmann, Truex Jr., and Bowyer
Lap 79 Truex leads after Hamlin pushed him up the outside.
Lap 80 Truex leads the field as Hamlin and Biffle run side-by-side for second.
Caution Lap 81 Jeff Gordon blows up…..Everybody pits for tire as Biffle wins the race off pit road over Ambrose
Restart lap 85 as Biffle leads Terry Labonte
Caution Lap 89 Terry Labonte spins after contact from Ambrose, sending him for a spin but no contact with walls
Restart Lap 92 as Bile and Ambrose lead them to the flag side-by-side. Biffle leads the field through turns with help from Truex
Lap 94 Biffle leads while Ambrose and Truex run side-by-side
Lap 98 Top four are single-file as Biffle continues to lead.
Lap 100 Biffle leads Truex, Hamlin, Burton and Bowyer….Coming off turn four, Truex gets the lead with help from Hamlin. Truex gets the halfway payday of $200,000.
Lap 102 Stewart to the lead with help from Hamlin on the back shoot but Hamlin goes under Stewart going into the turn 3. Hamlin is the new leader.
Lap 116 Top 8 are single file as Hamlin leads Truex, Biffle, Burton and Bowyer. Elliott Sadler is blowing up.
Lap 121 Hamlin leads Truex, Biffle, Burton, Bowyer, Almirola
Lap 128 Bowyer is out of gas, misses pit road due to other cars, as Hamlin continues to lead.
Lap 129 Stewart, Mark Martin, Logano pit as the caution comes for Bowyer being stalled. Logano didn’t stop as he skipped his stall while Stewart and Martin finished their pit work. Burton comes on while pit road is closed as he is out of fuel………Everybody pits as they are all low on fuel so its four tires and fuel. Regan Smith wins the race off pit road followed by Biffle. Sadler couldn’t find his pit stall so he causes a mess and then begins to look at engine issue
Restart 68 to go as Mark Martin and Stewart lead the field to the green. Martin pulls down in front of Stewart in turn 1 and Martin leads the field with Stewart on his bumper. Biffle takes the lead out of turn four with help from Hamlin.
64 to go Biffle leads Hamlin, Martin, Stewart, Smith, Almirola, Truex, Harvick, Kenseth and Burton.
63 to go as the top eight continue to run single file.
58 to go Joey Logano took the lead from Hamlin after help from Biffle
54 to go Kenseth to the lead with help from Biffle
53 to go Kenseth leads Earnhardt Jr., Harvick and Biffle
49 to go Kenseth leads Earnhardt Jr., Biffle and Casey Mears as Keselowski and Logano run side-by-side for fifth
42 to go Caution as Stremme blows up……Pit stops as everybody needs fuel. Casey Mears leads McMurray, Harvick, Biffle, Logano and Earnhardt Jr. off………….Montoya’s car breaks and slides up into the jet dryer, causing the jet dryer and Montoya’s cars to catch fire…….Red Flag….Kyle Busch and Edwards to the back for pulling off a windshield tear off under the red……. Red Flag was 2 hours, 5 minutes, 29 seconds
The race is under yellow……..Casey Mears has run out of fuel on the apron
The top 4 – Blaney, Cassil, Gilliland – pit to give the lead to Kenseth.
Restart 34 to go as Kenseth takes the strong charge through one with help from Biffle
30 to go Kenseth leads Biffle, Earnhardt Jr., Harvick, Logano, Martin, Menard, Hamlin, Truex Jr and Burton. Top five are single file
25 to go Kenseth leads Biffle and Earnhardt Jr. as Hamlin and Harvick run side-by-side for fourth
Caution 23 to go Casey Mears and Marcos Ambrose go for a slide. Stenhouse went into Ambrose, who then hit Mears, sending him for a spin while and Ambrose spins in the aftermath. Clint Bowyer gets the lucky dog.
Restart 18 laps to go as Kenseth gets the jump on Biffle on the start, slides up in front of him and they pull ahead
15 to go Kenseth leads Biffle, Earnhardt Jr., Harvick as Menard and Harvick are side-by-side for fifth
Caution 13 to go- big wreck – Kahne, Smith, McMurray, Edwards, Keselowski, Stewart – McMurray had a cut tire and Logano made contact with him. McMurray actually just said on the radio that he felt that something was broken. So Biffle leads Kenseth, Earnhardt Jr., Hamlin, Harvick, Burton, Menard, Mark Martin, Newman, Truex Jr., Kyle Busch, Stenhouse Jr., Logano, Reuitmann, Stewart
Green flag with 7 to go as Earnhardt Jr. gives Kenseth a big push on the bottom while Biffle pushes Hamlin on the outside. Kenseth dumps Jr so its now Kenseth, Biffle, Harvick and Earnhardt Jr. now
Caution 4 to go Stewart spins due to contact from Stenhouse after he made contact with Logano, collecting Kyle Busch, Blaney, Newman, Reuitmann, Gilliland
Green – White – Checkered
Green flag as Kenseth and Biffle start the race lined-up. Kenseth gets the jump and moves up to pick up Greg Biffle, setting Earnhardt Jr. in third and Hamlin in fourth
Kenseth holds everybody off to win the Daytona 500 as Dale Jr. passes Biffle at the line for second
