Qualifying
The field was set by a random draw and Dale Earnhardt Jr. drew the lucky number one to start on the pole.
Tony Stewart drew number two to lead the outside line to the green flag.
Drop Of The Green
Practice had shown that the cars worked best in pairs. Two cars seemed to be faster than a pack.
On the very first lap cars paired off and started jockying for position with Tony Stewart getting a push from Denny Hamlin to lead the first lap
The First Segment
This was a strange restrictor plate race. No more big packs of cars going three wide shuffling in and out of the draft.
Instead, restrictor plate racing has become a competitive dance. Two-by-two the cars hook up nose to tail and work as a unit to move forward or back. There is no such thing as a car, this week we can only speak in pairs.
Jeff Burton and Kevin Harvick made a run on the final lap of the first 25-lap segment to take the lead into the 10 minute intermission.
The Final Segment
The intensity was turned up for the final fifty lap segment. where the drivers started to push harder.
It took just two laps in the second segment for the "Big One" to unfold. Carl Edwards, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Joey Logano, Regan Smith, Juan Montoya and Kevin Conway were all involved and retired from the race.
Shortly after that Mark Martin and Kyle Busch spun in turn one and both cars were damaged, ending their shot at the win. Fortunately no others were involved.
Michael Waltrip was the next victim when Tony Stewart pushed him around in turn three. This isn't to accuse Tony of making a mistake, it's just the nature of these two car pushes. These things are going to happen, and will happen even more next week when there are twice as many cars on the track.
Chasing The Checkers
Four cars pulled away as the laps wound down. Ryan Newman, Denny Hamlin, Kurt Busch and Jamie McMurray were looking to settle the race among themselves.
They stayed like that until the middle of the back stretch on the last lap. Kurt Busch pulled out but there was nothing he could do.
As they came to the top of the stretch Denny Hamlin pulled out and broke the draft on Newman. Hamlin made the pass as they got to the line but this gave Kurt Busch and McMurray a chance to make a run on the outside. It was a photo finish between Hamlin and Busch.
Denny Hamlin crossed the finish line first by a couple inches but he was ruled to have passed below the yellow line. Kurt Busch was awarded the win, his first ever at Daytona.
Top Ten
- Kurt Busch
- Jamie McMurray
- Ryan Newman
- Jimmie Johnson
- Greg Biffle
- Jeff Gordon
- Kevin Harvick
- Jeff Burton
- Clint Bowyer
- Bobby Labonte
