Rookie Trevor Bayne had a fast car and the patience to drive it all the way to the checkered flag in only his second career NASCAR Sprint Cup start.
Qualifying
Dale Earnhardt Jr. was the only driver to top 186 MPH in qualifying for the 2011 Daytona 500. Earnhardt's 186.089 MPH lap was good enough for the Daytona pole. He was joined on the front row by Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon who turned in a 185.966 MPH lap.
Earnhardt crashed hard on Wednesday and was forced to switch to a backup car. As a result Junior started from the back and Gatorade Duel winner Kurt Busch moved up to lead the inside lane to the green.
Drop Of The Green
Drivers immediately paired off and the two-by-two dancing began as the field entered turn one. Kurt Busch hooked up with Regan Smith to lead lap one over Kevin Harvick and Matt Kenseth.
Fox went silent and the fans held up three fingers on lap three in a nice tribute to Dale Earnhardt who was killed at the end of this race ten years ago.
In addition to Harvick/Kenseth some other pairs that were fast in the early going included A.J. Allmendinger and Mark Martin as well as former teammates Jeff Gordon and Brian Vickers.
Storylines
This new two-by-two didn't prevent the 2011 Daytona 500 from having "The Big One" that restrictor plate races are famous for. On lap 29 Michael Waltrip spun David Reutimann and 15 more drivers were collected. This included Daytona 500 favorites like Hendrick Motorsports drivers Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin and many more.
The yellow flag continued to rule the 2011 Daytona 500 since the closing rates and constant contact caused a large number of spins. This race set a Daytona 500 record for cautions with 16. On the bright side this race also set a race record for leaders with 22 and lead changes with 74 and that only includes the lead changes at the start-finish line.
This new style of restrictor plate racing is a conundrum. At times this race seemed painfully boring. However you can't argue that this was competitive. Statistically the 2011 Daytona 500 set a record for lead changes and featured an exciting finish.
Chasing The Checkers
The 2011 Daytona 500 featured two green-white-checkers finishes. David Ragan and rookie Trevor Bayne restarted side-by-side at the front with Kurt Busch third and Tony Stewart fourth. Kurt had brother Kyle Busch behind him in fifth when the green flag flew.
David Ragan was black flagged for jumping the start and then Robby Gordon got shuffled out of line. When Robby Gordon tried to shove his way back into line the drivers bottled up and were crashing again. This set up green-white-checkers number two with a different mix of drivers at the front.
Trevor Bayne and Tony Stewart restarted side-by-side for attempt number two with Bobby Labonte and Mark Martin tucked in behind.
Bayne and Labonte had the lead when the white flag flew. Bayne held the bottom and picked up the win in the Daytona 500 in his second career NASCAR Sprint Cup series start.
Top Ten
- Trevor Bayne
- Carl Edwards
- David Gilliland
- Bobby Labonte
- Kurt Busch
- Juan Pablo Montoya
- Regan Smith
- Kyle Busch
- Paul Menard
- Mark Martin
