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Filed under: Daytona Int'l Speedway, NASCAR

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Flashing his dimples, and looking even younger than his 20 years, Trevor Bayne grinned broadly, laughed and fidgeted as he conducted his first news conference as the youngest Daytona 500 winner in history.

One day after celebrating his 20th birthday Bayne drove the legendary No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford to victory Sunday in NASCAR's biggest race -- sharing the honor with the team's previous Daytona 500 winning drivers, A.J. Foyt, Cale Yarborough, Tiny Lund and David Pearson. Bayne wasn't even born when Pearson claimed the Wood Brothers' last Daytona 500 trophy in 1976.

Explaining how grateful he was for the opportunity, thankful for his good fortune and appreciative of his team's efforts, the good-looking, well-spoken Bayne sounded as mature and poised behind the microphone as he was behind the steering wheel in holding off three series champions and a handful of other veterans on the last two laps of Sunday's race.

The Knoxville, Tenn., native's biggest smile, however, seemed to come when he found out that his Twitter account expanded from 6,000 followers to 16,000 by the end of the race. And, he modestly conceded, he was going to need a friend to drive his Ford truck home. Seems that while most of Bayne's competitors flew in private jets to the race, he drove his Ford F150 pickup truck from Tennessee to Florida.

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Filed under: Dale Earnhardt Jr., David Reutimann, Jeff Burton, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Daytona Int'l Speedway, NASCAR Crashes, Sprint Cup, NASCAR

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- For all the talk of a new track surface, a different style of racing and promises of the "wildest" Daytona 500 ever, Sunday's much-anticipated NASCAR season-opener still ended up like so many of those that have preceded it -- decided in the final laps.

Making his first-ever Daytona 500 start, 20-year-old rookie Trevor Bayne held off Carl Edwards, David Gilliland and Bobby Labonte to earn the venerable Wood Brothers Racing team its fifth Daytona 500 victory and first since NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee David Pearson's win in 1976.

"Am I dreaming? Is this real? I don't even know where to go,'' a stunned Bayne exclaimed to his team on the radio as he crossed the finish line and drove his No. 21 Motorcraft Ford to victory circle, where he was too young to even drink the traditional celebratory champagne.

The race lived up to its billing, easily setting records for caution flags (16) and lead changes (74 among 22 drivers), but in the end it was a a great show of poise heading to the checkered flag that made Bayne the youngest winner of NASCAR's most prestigious trophy - one day after he celebrated his 20th birthday.

A five-car accident at the front of the field with four laps remaining in the 200-lap regulation period set up the first of two green-white-checkered overtime periods and all but eliminated several of the strongest cars, including Ryan Newman, Regan Smith and Clint Bowyer, who exchanged the lead in the closing 15 laps.

Robby Gordon's spin on the first restart sent cars scrambling, and fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s No. 88 Chevrolet was collected in the melee, setting up the final two-lap shootout among Bayne and the veterans.

 

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Filed under: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Daytona Int'l Speedway, Nationwide Series, Danica Patrick, NASCAR

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Up until the final few minutes of Friday's NASCAR Nationwide Series qualifying, it looked as if IndyCar star-turned-NASCAR newbie Danica Patrick may just have landed herself the pole position at stock car's most famous track, Daytona International Speedway.

Midway through the session Patrick laid down the fastest lap of the afternoon bumping veteran Carl Edwards off the top spot and igniting a buzz around the garage area. Had her lap stood, she would have been the first woman to win a Nationwide Series pole since Shawna Robinson did it in March 1994.

Instead, another newcomer, Landon Cassill, knocked Patrick out of the top spot only to have Sprint Cup Series veteran Clint Bowyer come in and better them both. Bowyer's lap of 180.821 mph in the Kevin Harvick-owned No. 33 Rheem Chevrolet earned the former series champ the pole position for Saturday's DRIVE4COPD 300 and stifled the building frenzy around a possible Patrick front row start.

Cassill will start alongside him while another late qualifier Dale Earnhardt Jr,. took the third position. He'll start next to Patrick on the second row; he owns both cars.

This is only Patrick's 13th Nationwide Series start in her highly-publicized racing double as a full-time driver in the IZOD IndyCar Series and a part-timer in NASCAR's second-tier Nationwide circuit.

"It's been a fast car the whole time we've been here,'' Patrick said, as she watched the remaining few cars qualify. "No matter what happens now, it'll be a good starting position. This is a big deal and for it to come at Daytona, it's 10 times a bigger deal.''

 

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Filed under: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Daytona Int'l Speedway, Richard Childress Racing, NASCAR

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The white No. 3 decals are no bigger than a fist and sit just above and behind the driver's side window of all the Richard Childress Racing team's Chevrolets. Crew members wore black baseball caps with the same No. 3 logo and driver Tony Stewart strolled through the Daytona International Speedway garage Friday afternoon clutching one of the prized caps himself.

Friday marked exactly 10 years since the driver of the Richard Childress Racing No. 3, seven-time NASCAR champion Dale Earnhardt, was killed in Turn 4 of this track after crashing on the last lap of the Daytona 500. The speedway will remember the NASCAR icon with a moment of silence and fans will hold up three fingers on the third lap of Sunday's Daytona 500.

But for such an overwhelming event, it has been a subdued, subtle and suiting anniversary.

For the past week, Earnhardt's competitors, teammates and friends have shared emotional stories about that fateful Sunday afternoon. But the one person you won't see participate in any contrived memorial this weekend is Earnhardt's son, Dale Jr. No hat, no decal. None necessary.

"I'd personally rather just watch it and stand on the sidelines,'' Earnhardt said of the various tributes and memorials planned for the weekend.

"It's more fun for me hearing how other people reflect, hearing other people's stories. I know how I feel in my heart and I don't feel a real need to discuss that a lot.

"I want to do what's right and honor him, but I don't need to do it in front of a bunch of people. I feel like he carries his own weight and he doesn't need me being a part of the celebration or whatever you want to call it. I don't want to take away from it in any way.''

 

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Four-time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon returned again this year for another live FanHouse chat from Daytona International Speedway on Friday.

Gordon, driver of the No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet, is a three-time Daytona 500 winner and is looking for his first Cup title since 2001. He posted the second-fastest qualifying speed last Sunday and will start The Great American Race from the outside of the front row.

The champ chatted with FanHouse senior motorsports writer Holly Cain. See a 3-D photo of Friday's chat here.

 

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Filed under: Penske Racing, Daytona Int'l Speedway, NASCAR

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Brian Keselowski was still sitting in his race car on Daytona International Speedway's pit road well after the checkered flag when his little brother Brad leaned in for a hug and a congratulatory word. It wasn't a victory, but the Brothers Keselowski provided the unquestionable feel-good story of Thursday's Daytona 500 qualifying races.

Driving a barely-sponsored, five-year-old race car, Brian Keselowski will make his debut in the Daytona 500 Sunday, thanks to the kindest shove he ever received from the little brother he used to wrestle as a kid.

After spinning early in Thursday's Gatorade Duel qualifier, Brad Keselowski, 27, fell to the rear of the field and had to drive his No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge back up through the pack.

On his way, he dropped the famous Penske Racing "Blue Deuce" in behind Brian, 29, and literally pushed -- and willed -- his big brother's wayward No. 4 Dodge forward during the second half of the race. Brian finished fifth, Brad seventh, and for the first time in their lives, they will have the opportunity to compete against one another in NASCAR's Super Bowl.

"Oh, my God,'' an emotional Brian Keselowski said after climbing from his car. "He's got to be the best pusher here. ... I've watched him push others for the past three years and to push me into the Daytona 500 today. .. ''

"I'm gonna ask Roger (Penske) to help him out with a little better motor,'' Brad Keselowski joked afterward.

 

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Filed under: Kurt Busch, Dodge, Penske Racing, Daytona Int'l Speedway, NASCAR

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Kurt Busch had never won a restrictor plate race before this week and now it seems he can't lose.

Busch improved to a fitting 2-for-2 at Daytona International Speedway, his No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Dodge claiming the win in the first of two Gatorade Duel qualifying races at the track Thursday afternoon. He won NASCAR's Budweiser Shootout exhibition race last weekend.

With a record 20 lead changes among nine drivers, Busch took the lead on the first lap of a green-white-checkered restart and led when he needed to thanks, in part, to the push from runner-up finisher Regan Smith in the No. 78 Furniture Row Chevy, whose effort earned him a third row starting spot in Sunday's Daytona 500.

Busch, however, will start the 500 from the pole position. He would have started third, behind fastest qualifier Dale Earnhardt Jr., but Earnhardt wrecked his car in practice Wednesday and will have to start a back-up car from the back of the field. NASCAR rules say that in that event, the third-place starter moves up to the pole.

Former Daytona 500 winners Kevin Harvick and Matt Kenseth finished third and fourth after establishing themselves as drafting partners in what was a race of two-car drafts and strategically picking your dancing partner. Kasey Kahne's Toyota and Juan Pablo Montoya's Chevrolet paired up for fifth and sixth place. Full results are here.

"You've gotta have a partner and Regan Smith was a great teammate today,'' Busch said. "It was almost like a roulette wheel was spinning and our numbers came up today.''

"We are going to ride this wave. We've made all the right decisions so far.''

In the second race, Jeff Burton captured his first victory ever at Daytona.

Despite a handful of technical changes to the cars -- including a smaller carburetor restrictor plate -- to lessen the opportunity of two-car packs, the two-car draft remained the norm and produced unexpected "friendships.'' Seldom did teammates run together. Instead, it was a friendship of convenience and proximity, like the Dodge-Chevy, Chevy-Ford and Toyota-Chevy combination of the top finishers.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., who won the pole position for Sunday's Daytona 500 last weekend, had to start from the rear of the field after crashing in Wednesday's practice and switching to a back-up car. He ran among the top-10 but ended up 13th and, according to NASCAR rules, will have to start from the rear of the 43-car 500 field anyway.

 

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Filed under: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson, Martin Truex Jr., NASCAR Crashes, NASCAR Testing, Sprint Cup, IRL, NASCAR

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s Daytona 500 pole-winning Chevy was involved in a crash Wednesday afternoon and sustained enough damage that the team had to go to a back-up car and will now have to start both Thursday's Gatorade Duel qualifying race and Sunday's Daytona 500 from the back of the field instead of from the front.

Earnhardt's No. 88 AMP Energy Chevy was riding second in a two-car draft behind Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson when they slowed to avoid traffic. The two cars behind them -- Martin Truex Jr. and Brian Vickers --- didn't react quickly enough and Truex hit Earnhardt from behind, sending both cars into the inside wall.

Because of the unique qualifying format for the Daytona 500, only the two fastest cars officially "qualified" for the 500 during Sunday's time trials -- polewinner Earnhardt and second fastest Jeff Gordon. NASCAR rules state that if a driver has to switch from the car he qualified in, then he must drop to the rear of the field for the green flag. When that happens, the third place starter -- which will be determined in Thursday's Gatorade Duel 150-mile qualifying race -- will move up into the first position alongside Gordon for the start of the Daytona 500.

Earnhardt, who had won his first career superspeedway pole, said he had a bad feeling about even running in the rain-delayed practice Wednesday.

"We've got the pole-sitting race car, we didn't need practice,'' an obviously frustrated Earnhardt said, 'I had a fast car and I didn't want to practice it.

"I had a bad feeling about it and we come running up on some guys that didn't have their heads on straight and got into an accident.''

And now, "Get the next one ready,'' he said shaking his head.

 

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Filed under: Daytona Int'l Speedway, Sprint Cup, NASCAR

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- As NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams were packing up their equipment from Sunday's Daytona 500 pole qualifying session, NASCAR officials issued a technical bulletin aimed at keeping the cars from the 206-mph, two-car drafts that dominated Saturday night's Budweiser Shootout 75-lap non-points race.

"I thought it was cool at the beginning, medium in the middle and when they hit 206, I wasn't thinking of the race anymore, I was thinking what we needed to do in the next couple days,'' NASCAR Vice President for Competition Robin Pemberton said of Saturday's race,

In response to the increasing speeds and two-car breakaways, NASCAR has regulated the front grille opening on all the cars to 2 1/2-inches by 20-inches and it will install a pressure relief valve in the water cooling system. Pemberton said the idea is to decrease the temperature that the engine water will boil. Some cars could run water as hot as 290-300 degrees. Pemberton would like to get that temperature down to 250 degrees.

Cars shouldn't be able to run in the two-car pack for a sustained period of time for fear of overheating, thus making it less likely they will reach speeds upwards of 200 mph like they did Saturday night.

Although NASCAR did not change the size of the carburetor restrictor plate, Pemberton said that remains an option and didn't rule out other technical changes in advance of the Feb. 20 season-opening Daytona 500. Officials are looking to see what the racing is like in the Gatorade Duel 150-mile qualifying races on Thursday. They issued the technical bulletin Sunday so teams will have a chance to make the necessary changes before NASCAR Speedweeks resumes with a practice session on Wednesday morning.

"The speeds are high because everyone did their job,'' Pemberton told reporters in a nearly abandoned Daytona garage late Sunday afternoon. "The track with the paving, Goodyear, the teams have done a great job and now we're (NASCAR) in the fold and trying to reel some of that back in. And we have the support of the race teams.

"There's a lot of pressure here,'' he continued. "I can't even begin to tell you the pressure from a large group of people that are expecting us to get it right (for the Daytona 500).''

 

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Filed under: Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, Daytona Int'l Speedway, Chase for the Sprint Cup, Hendrick Motorsports, NASCAR

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The roar from the Daytona International Speedway crowd confirmed it. On a brisk but sunny afternoon, all seemed right with NASCAR nation. Let the 2011 season begin.

The sport's favorite son, Dale Earnhardt Jr. will start his No. 88 AMP Energy Chevrolet from the pole position for the Feb. 20 Daytona 500 after posting the fastest lap of qualifying (186.089 mph) Sunday on the newly-paved 2.5-mile track. It is Earnhardt's first superspeedway pole and comes 10 years after his father, the legendary seven-time NASCAR champion Dale Earnhardt, was killed in the 2001 Daytona 500 -- a fact not lost on a largely sentimental crowd cheering him on Sunday.

Earnhardt's Hendrick Motorsports teammate, three-time Daytona 500 winner Jeff Gordon completes the other half of one of the most popular starting front rows in recent 500 memory. Rookie Trevor Bayne was a surprise third-place qualifier for the iconic Woods Brothers Racing team. Richard Childress Racing teammates Paul Menard and Clint Bowyer rounded out the top-five fastest speeds.

Only the front row is set for the race. The remaining portion of the 43-car field will be filled out according to the finishing order in Thursday's Gatorade Duel 150-mile qualifying races. Each of the Duels starting lineups will be assigned according to the qualifying results.

The last driver to win the Daytona 500 from the pole was Dale Jarrett in 2000.

"We're fired up,'' said Earnhardt, who started second and finished second in last year's 500. "I had a great car today. I didn't have a whole lot to do about it (winning the pole), just held on. The power and the body does all the work.

"It obviously gives you the idea you've got a great car. But anybody can win the race. The main thing for me is it takes the pressure off the (Gatorade Duel) qualifier, I don't have to worry about where I finish and I can just go out there and have fun.''

As for the timing of his first pole at the track coming on the 10-mark of his father's tragic death, Earnhardt deferred the irony.

"I'm here to race,'' Earnhardt said. "I understand the situation and I look forward to seeing how people remember and honor my father. But I don't really get into the hypothetical, fairy-tale ending stuff. I just need to focus on my job and what gets me closer to victory lane on Sunday.''

 

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