What Lincoln is Thinkin’ - 500 Wrapup
The storylines kept changing as quickly as the leaders did.Lap 178 - Dale Earnhardt Jr. takes the lead - Could the sport's favorite son win his second Daytona 500, and his first race as a member of Hendrick Motorsports? No.
Lap 181 - Clint Bowyer takes the lead - Could Richard Childress win just his third Daytona 500, and second in a row? Don't think so.
Lap 189 - Jeff Burton takes the lead - Could Burton join his brother as Daytona 500 champions, and win his first in 15 tries? Wrong again.
Lap 198 - Tony Stewart takes the lead - Could Stewart finally win the big race, after losing leads in five of his previous 10 tries at Daytona?
Nope to all of the above.
All of our expectations went out the window, with a wild finish at Daytona that saw Penske finish 1-2, and six Dodges finish in the top 10. Ryan Newman leaves an indelible mark on NASCAR that will never be erased, even if he never steps foot in a stock car again.
But the 50th running of the Great American Race left us with plenty of questions.
Where were the Hendrick boys? Jeff Gordon was out with engine failure, Jimmie Johnson spun out with 25 laps to go, and Casey Mears popped a tire with five laps left. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was left with no help, and finished ninth.
What about that Gibbs juggernaut? Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch and Denny Hamlin led for a combined 134 of the 200 laps, but could not close the deal at the end.
What happened to the old Dodges that struggled mightily in every Car of Tomorrow race last year? That's the question that's the hardest to answer.
Because if this is not a fluke, all of the Dodges will give Hendrick's Chevys and Gibbs's Toyotas a run for their money all year.
And this will go down as one exciting season.
Posted by on 02/17 at 10:07 PM
One the most boring races I’ve ever tried to watch. Very little “racing” until the last 50 laps. The pre-race show was too long. I was beginning to wonder if they’d ever start the race. Restrictor plates have ruined big track racing.