Ryan Newman Wins 2008 Daytona 500

The 2008 Daytona 500 was supposed to be dominated by the Joe Gibbs Toyota drivers and the Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolets. They had won everything else during Speed Weeks and were expected to sort out the 50th Daytona 500 between them. Apparently nobody told the Penske Dodge drivers Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch that they were not supposed to win the 2008 Daytona 500.

Qualifying

Hendrick Motorsports' Jimmie Johnson and Michael Waltrip's Toyota Camry were fastest in last Sunday's qualifying. They locked up the front row while the rest of the field was set during Thursday's Gatorade Duel qualifying races.

Hendrick Motorsports' Dale Earnhardt Jr. won one of the Duels and Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin won the other in his Toyota. This earned them the third and fourth starting spots. Reed Sorenson and Tony Stewart raced their way onto the third row and started fifth and sixth respectively.

Drop Of The Green

The inside line moved first and Jimmie Johnson lead into turn one. Then Toyota drivers Michael Waltrip and Denny Hamlin teamed up and pushed Waltrip into the lead. The end of lap one saw Michael Waltrip and Jimmie Johnson one-two at the line.

Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin hooked up nose to tail and Tony Stewart took over the top spot on lap six. They remained single-file with Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson and the early racing was decided among those four.

Storylines

Daytona Speed Weeks 2008 was headlined by Hendrick Motorsports drivers and Toyota drivers. Collectively they won the Budweiser Shootout (Earnhardt Jr.) the pole (Jimmie Johnson), both Gatorade Duels (Earnhardt Jr. and Denny Hamlin) and the Nationwide Series race (Tony Stewart). These two groups of drivers were the leading favorites coming into the 2008 Daytona 500.

Toyota lead 65 of the first 70. Hendrick drivers lead the other 5. Much of the race involved watching Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin rule the race. Those are all three of the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team.

Chasing The Checkers

Kyle Busch and his Joe Gibbs Toyota were fastest all day long. He took the final restart in second place with just three laps to go. Jeff Burton restarted out front with Busch, Tony Stewart, Ryan Newman and Dale Earnhardt Jr. lined up behind him.

The two Toyotas split Burton on the restart with Tony Stewart leading the outside line and Kyle Busch on the bottom line. Stewart took the lead with two las to go. Teammates Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch were lined up second and third.

Stewart held the lead when the white flag flew. Tony made his Toyota as wide as he could but the two Penske Dodge drivers got past on the outside line. Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch crossed the line first and second. The Toyota drivers Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch finished third and fourth.

Top Ten

1. Ryan Newman
2. Kurt Busch
3. Tony Stewart
4. Kyle Busch
5. Reed Sorenson
6. Elliott Sadler
7. Kasey Kahne
8. Robby Gordon
9. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
10. Greg Biffle

The Points

Winning the Daytona 500 gives Ryan Newman the point lead. The top twelve drivers in points will, obviously, look a lot like the finishing order from the 2008 Daytona 500.

The top twelve are now:

1. Ryan Newman
2. Kurt Busch -15
3. Tony Stewart -20
4. Kyle Busch -20
5. Reed Sorenson -30
6. Kasey Kahne -39
7. Elliott Sadler -40
8. Dale Earnhardt Jr. -47
9. Robby Gordon -48
10. Greg Biffle -51
11. Bobby Labonte -60
12. Jeff Burton -61

Next Week

The Sprint Cup series drivers head west next week as the series visits California Speedway.

The hype and pageantry of the 50th running of the Daytona 500 are now over. The Sprint Cup series teams can now get down to the business of winning the Championship. The rest of the season begins next week in California.