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.
Under a pit stop with 20 to go, Kyle Busch would take fuel only and have a solid pit stop to come off pit road in the lead. He would lead the rest of the way to win his first Budweiser Duel in four years. It also marks the second fastest Duel in NASCAR History with Busch completing the race with an average speed of 193.966 mph.
When the field came up on Brian Keselowski to put him a lap down on lap 38, Kevin Harvick used it to his advantage as he made the pass on Greg Biffle to take the lead. Harvick would then hold the lead through pit stops and on the final restart with three to go to take the victory in the first Budweiser Duel at Daytona International Speedway.
Kevin Harvick would take the lead on lap 38 and hold serve through the pit stops to win the first Gatorade Duel. It gives Harvick his second win in a row after winning the Sprint Unlimited last Saturday night.
Danica Patrick backed up her two fast practice speeds that she had on Saturday with a slightly faster speed during her second qualifying lap on Sunday at Daytona International Speedway.
When the season started, there were some concerned that Kevin Harvick would not have a good season after announcing that he would leave Richard Childress Racing at season's end to make the move over to Stewart-Hass Racing.
Kevin Harvick ran two very impressive practice sessions in preparation for the Sprint Unlimited this evening. He was the fastest in the first session and backed up that speed with a fourth quickest time in the final practice for the race to put his average at 2.5 for the weekend.
With a thrilling block on the last lap, Kevin Harvick would take the victory in the Sprint Unlimited as he heads into his final season with Richard Childress Racing.
Johnson was leading the race and the championship until lap 213 during a schedules green flag pit stop. The pit crew left off a rear lug nut and Johnson had to come back in to pit again. Johnson lost a lap and the title started fading at that point. Then on lap 226 Johnson slowed and went to the pits for repairs……the championship was over for Johnson and the No.48 team.
Darlington Raceway will celebrate its 75th Anniversary with a special Throwback Weekend on April 4th and 5th and promises to deliver another exceptional racing experience.
It's throwback weekend for the NASCAR Cup Series as Noah Gragson and the No. 4 Ford Mustang Dark Horse team head to the Darlington Raceway for a 293-lap shootout at the historic track.
The celebration of Darlington Raceway’s 75th anniversary season will get underway this weekend with the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series partaking in the sport’s annual ‘Throwback Weekend’.
