Qualifying
Mark Martin and Dale Earnhardt Jr. were fastest during last Saturday's qualifying to claim the front row. Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne each won their respective Gatorade Duels on Thursday to claim the second row starting spots. Kevin Harvick and Tony Stewart finished second by just inches in their Gatorade Duels and lined up in the third row for the start of the 2010 Daytona 500.
Drop Of The Green
The inside line moved frward first and Mark Martin lead the first lap with his teammate Jimmie Johnson pushing him from behind.
The first caution came on lap eight when six cars were collected near the back of the pack. Sam Hornish, Max Papis, Brad Keselowski, Boris Said, Mike Bliss and Regan Smith were all damaged when Keselowski spun up into the wall and came back down into traffic.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. took over the lead when the green flag returned on lap 13 and then Kevin Harvick took a turn at the front.
Drivers displayed some real patience then and the race remained green for the rest of the early racing.
Storylines
With 78 laps to go the race was red-flagged for one hour and forty minutes because a chunk of the race track came up. Track officials took their time patching the hole trying to get it right.
However, the red flag returned for 46 more minutes with 39 laps remaining as track officials had to make a second attempt to fix the same hole. The sun set during this red flag and the lights came up for a final 32 lap sprint to the checkers.
After these track troubles it seems likely that Daytona officials will be repaving the speedway soon. Maybe they can take out some of the bumps when they redo the surface
Chasing The Checkers
The caution flew when Ryan Newman slammed the outside wall off the nose of Elliott Sadler. This left just two laps of green flag racing to decide the 2010 Daytona 500.
Kurt Busch pitted out of third place and Jeff Gordon came in from eighth. The rest of the leaders stayed out.
The new Green-White-Checkers rule was put to the test as Bill Elliott, Joey Logano and Boris Said wrecked before the leaders made it to the white flag setting up an overdrive finish.
Greg Biffle, Martin Truex, Clint Bowyer and Kevin Harvick were the top four when the green flag flew.
Biffle picked the inside lane for the restart but Truex got a great push from Harvick on the outside until Harvick dove underneath and took the lead from his third place restart. There was contact between Harvick and Truex which rippled through the field and brought out a caution. Under the old rules the race would have been over but NASCAR now tries the green-white-checkers finish three times before calling the race official.
Kevin Harvick had command of the field for the final restart. Jamie McMurray restarted second with Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle in row number two.
Harvick held the lead on the bottom until Edwards tried the middle and both fell back. Biffle and Truex were side by side through turns one and two. Dale Earnhardt Jr. wiggled through the middle into second place behind Jamie McMurray. There was a wreck at the back of the pack in turn four but NASCAR left the green flag out as Jamie McMurray claimed the 2010 Daytona 500.
This was a long day at Daytona clocking in at six hours and ten minutes but NASCAR got the full race in and the two green-white-checkers finishes were thrillers.
Top Ten
- Jamie McMurray
- Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- Greg Biffle
- Clint Bowyer
- David Reutimann
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Kevin Harvick
- Matt Kenseth
- Carl Edwards
- Juan Montoya
The Points
Winning the Daytona 500 gives Jamie McMurray the point lead. The top twelve drivers in points will, obviously, look a lot like the finishing order from the 2010 Daytona 500.
The top twelve are now:
- Jamie McMurray
- Dale Earnhardt Jr. -15
- Greg Biffle -20
- Clint Bowyer -25
- Kevin Harvick -34
- David Reutimann -35
- Martin Truex Jr. -35
- Matt Kenseth -43
- Juan Montoya -51
- Carl Edwards -52
- Mark Martin -58
- Jeff Burton -60
