Feb 15th, 2010 by T.C.
First, before I get into the meat of this post, I want to congratulate Jamie McMurray and his Earnhardt Ganassi crew. Jamie drove his butt off and the team did a heck of a job to bring home the 2010 Daytona 500.
Now, after tonight’s race I got to thinking about what it means for the season to win the Daytona 500. After doing a little research, I’m wondering if winning the 500 might be becoming a bit of a, dare I say, curse?
I went back and looked at the seasons for the previous ten Daytona 500 winners. They winners are, in chronological order: Matt Kenseth, Ryan Newman, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Michael Waltrip, Ward Burton, Michael Waltrip, and Dale Jarrett. This list stretches back to the 2000 season.
Over the previous ten seasons, only once has a driver that won the 500 gone on to win that season’s championship (Johnson, ‘06). And since 2000, only four times has a driver that won the 500 gone on to a top ten points finish. Two drivers, Burton and Waltrip, finished outside the top 20 in points.
Winning the 500 hasn’t meant that the particular driver hasn’t had success, as many have gone on to win many more races (see Dale Jr, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson). But it certainly hasn’t boded well for any championship hopes.
If you’ll remember last season, Kenseth jumped out early and won the 500 and again the next weekend at California. His team then began a 34 week slide that would see them miss the Chase and finish 14th in the points.
In 2008, Ryan Newman won the season opener, and then failed to reach victory lane again. He finished 17th in the points that year, and hasn’t won a race since. The ‘08 season would also be the last straw for Newman at long time home Penske Racing, as he moved on to Stewart-Haas for 2009.
Going back to 2007, Kevin Harvick was the Daytona 500 winner, and he too has not won a points paying race since.
Looking over the stats, I’m not sure we can quite call this a curse just yet, but the numbers don’t lie. Daytona 500 winners have not fared well following their big win.
I also think this brings up an interesting question, and it’s one in which I’d like to get some feedback from you on. If you could only pick one, would you rather win the Daytona 500 or a Sprint Cup Championship? Let that roll around, and let me know your thoughts.
