Daytona 500 Race Review

Daytona International Speedway -- 02/17/08

Author: Becca Gladden

Published: Monday Feb 18 2008 1:56am

Prior to the start of Sunday's Daytona 500, someone asked 2004 NASCAR Cup Champion Kurt Busch how he would feel about a 1-2 race finish for the Busch brothers - Kurt and his little brother Kyle. Kurt quipped that it would be fine with him, as long as he was "1" and Kyle was "2".

As it turned out, they almost pulled it off, though probably not the way either would have envisioned.

It was Kyle Busch who dominated most of the race, leading a race high 86 laps - more than twice as many as the next closest competitor in laps led, Denny Hamlin with 32. Tony Stewart, who led 16 laps, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. with 12 were the only other drivers to lead double digit laps.

Late in the race, Stewart had taken the lead on lap 198 and still had it with the white flag in the air. Protecting the yellow line, Stewart was hoping for a little drafting help from his new Joe Gibbs teammate Kyle Busch, but the 18 car couldn't get to the 20 in time. Instead it was a hard charging Kurt Busch on the outside who tucked up under his Penske teammate Ryan Newman's rear bumper on the backstretch and pushed him to the lead past both Tony and Kyle.

The fact that Kurt Busch was so instrumental in helping Newman beat Stewart - who seconds early had the win in his grasp - was especially ironic considering the way the two rivals started Speedweeks - with a wreck in Bud Shootout practice followed by a little extracurricular activity on pit road, a trip to the NASCAR hauler, an alleged punch connecting Stewart's fist to Busch's eye, and six weeks of probation for them both.

In this case, though Kurt Busch didn't win the race, he did have the satisfaction of keeping both Stewart and brother Kyle out of Victory Lane, as Newman repeatedly credited Kurt for the push that got him there instead.

While surprising to many, Newman's victory represented an even bigger shock to most pundits, that being the success of the Dodge cars in general, which haven't been considered favorites at Daytona for quite some time. Dodge placed six cars in the top 10 with Reed Sorenson (5), Elliott Sadler (6), Kasey Kahne (7), and Robby Gordon (8), joining Newman and Busch. The last Dodge in the winner's circle for the Daytona 500 was Ward Burton in 2002, but before that you have to go all the way back to Richard Petty in 1974. Curiously, Sadler and Kahne finished in the exact same spots this year as they did in last year's Daytona 500 - 6th and 7th.

Stewart and Busch were the only Toyotas to make the top 10 while Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s Chevy - the manufacturer that's dominated here for the past decade - had the lone bowtie in the top 10. Roush-Fenway Racing driver Greg Biffle ran in the top 10 for most of the race and came in 10th, the highest finish for a Ford.

There were very few caution flags for most of the race and no big wrecks. In fact the first caution was thrown at Lap 80, and it was for debris, as was the next caution 70 laps later. The third yellow flew on lap 161 when David Ragan hit the wall and took out teammate Matt Kenseth, who had been in the top 10 off and on before that.

Earnhardt Jr. was the highest finisher for Hendrick Motorsports, favored by many to contend for the win entering today's race. Jeff Gordon broke a suspension part, Jimmie Johnson spun, and Casey Mears crashed, finishing 39th, 27th, and 35th respectively. It is a curious position for Gordon, who now has four races to climb back up to the top 35 in owner's points.

Two drivers who briefly looked like contenders were the Richard Childress Racing teammates of Jeff Burton and Clint Bowyer. They had each led a handful of laps late in the race, but Bowyer spun out after getting tapped from behind by Juan Pablo Montoya, while Burton was past by Tony Stewart in the move that gave Stewart the lead as the race wound down.

Of course, being the first race of the season, the point standings pretty much match up with the finishing order of the race, though bonus points for leading a lap change things slightly. Earnhardt Jr., for example, finished the race in ninth, but is eighth in points.

Penske teammate Sam Hornish Jr. was the highest finishing rookie, running a relatively clean race and finishing 15th. Last year's Daytona 500 winner Kevin Harvick, who thought he had an engine failure early on, recovered to finish 14th.

Three-time Daytona 500 winner Dale Jarrett, running the last 500 of his career, finished 16th, while teammate Michael Waltrip, who started on the outside pole, came in 29th. The highest finished for MWR was David Reutimann at 18th.

Next week the circuit heads to California and the restrictor plates will be off, the golden anniversary hype will be over, and teams will have a chance to show how their cars perform at a downforce track.