NASCAR Cup Series

For the second straight year, Dale Earnhardt Jr. found himself the bridesmaid in the biggest race of the year. His frantic charge on the last lap that came up short, ending in a second place finish in the Daytona 500 behind teammate Jimmie Johnson.

In late January, Rick Hendrick challenged his teams to return to championship form. Much of that challenge was seemingly directed toward the No.48 Lowes team.

Damage from an early wreck short-circuited Kurt Busch's performance in Sunday's Daytona 500 as the Furniture Row driver took the checkered flag in 28th-place.

When the caution came out with nine to go, Jimmie Johnson was just a nose ahead of Brad Keselowski, able to choose his line on the restart. He would choose the outside lane and would hold the field off to win the 2013 Daytona 500.

Five-time series champion Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet SS, won the 55th running of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday. It also marked the first victory for the recently introduced Chevrolet SS, which was making its NASCAR Sprint Cup Series debut.

Jimmie Johnson won the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday. Johnson, making his 400th career start, held off teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Mark Martin after the final restart with six laps remaining.

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET SS – WINNER OF THE 55TH DAYTONA 500 - THIS IS THE SECOND TIME YOU’VE WON THE DAYTONA 500, BUT IT’S BEEN A BIT OF A DROUGHT SINCE 2006. “It has. Plate racing is awfully tough racing form of racing and there’s a lot of luck involved."

MARK MARTIN, No. 55 Aaron's Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing Finishing Position: 3rd - How was today's race? "First of all, I want to thank all the fans for all their support. It was a great run for our Aaron's Toyota. The guys gave me a good race car. We tore a bunch up early in the week and they had me a good piece for the (Daytona) 500."

With a new crew chief at the helm of the No. 14 Hefty®/Reynolds® Racing team, Eric McClure headed to Daytona (Fla.) Int’l Speedway looking to improve on the team’s successes of 2012.

DAVID RAGAN – No. 34 Detail Doctor Ford Fusion – “We were going through a green flag cycle of pit stops and just kind of riding and all I saw was the 2 coming across the race track, so I don’t know if the 2 cut down a tire or if he spun or if someone hooked him. I just saw the 2 c oming up the race track and I hit the guy in front of me and the guy behind me hits me. It was just an unfortunate event. We had some speed in our Ford and had a fast car. I enjoyed racing hard and was hoping to set ourselves up for the finish, but it just didn’t work out.”