Qualifying
Jeff Burton put his #31 Cingular Chevy on the pole in qualifying last week. Jeff Gordon was second quick in his #24 Dupont Chevrolet. Those two were locked in while the rest of the field was set during the Gatorade Duels on Thursday.
Elliott Sadler won the first Duel to take the inside of the second row. Kyle Busch finished second behind teammate Jeff Gordon in the second duel to earn the right to start on the outside of row two.
Drop The Green Flag
The bottom line started to move first when the green flag flew. This allowed Jeff Burton to lead the first few laps of the Daytona 500.
After an early caution when Martin Truex Jr. brushed the wall Tony Stewart took the lead and the lead pack of drivers settled in single file to put some laps on the books. This race quickly became a waiting game as drivers waited for the final laps to make their move.
Storylines
On lap 47 the two favorites to win today's race got into the wall as Jeff Gordon squeezed up into Tony Stewart sending both drivers into the wall in turn two. Neither driver hit hard enough to knock them out of the race, but both hit hard enough to bend their very sensitive front fenders.
Tony then stormed back through the field, proving that he was still going to be a factor. Jeff Gordon stayed out back, being a bit more cautious.
NASCAR sent Tony Stewart to the end of the longest line after he ran Matt Kenseth into the grass and into a crash. This came because NASCAR instituted a new rule where they can penalize a driver for anything that they deem "aggressive driving." This rule was put into effect after Tony Stewart complained about aggressive driving after the Budweiser Shootout last week. It is ironic that Tony Stewart would be one of the first drivers penalized under it.
Matt then got his own penalty under the same rule when he sideswiped Stewart coming off of pit road.
Chasing The Checkers
The final caution flew with just 4 laps to go setting up a green-white-checkers dash to the finish.
Jimmie Johnson lead them to the green over Ryan Newman, Casey Mears and Elliott Sadler. When the final green flag flew the battle for the 2006 Daytona 500 was on.
As they got ready to take the final green Mark Martin said "Ya'll get ready to build another race car because this one ain't coming back. I guarantee it." A clear picture as to how one veteran racer thought that the final sprint was going to go.
When the green flew they all stayed in line until the white flag flew. Dale Earnhardt Jr. jumped to the outside first to start the outside lane. Then Ryan Newman made a move to the outside from second place. Unfortunately Greg Biffle got caught in a wreck in turn three and the field was frozen, denying race fans the battle back to the finish line.
Note that since this race ended when the yellow flag flew NASCAR is still reviewing the videotape and the electronic scoring loops these standings are unofficial and subject to change.
Top Ten
- Jimmie Johnson
- Ryan Newman
- Casey Mears
- Elliott Sadler
- Dale Earnhardt Jr.
- Clint Bowyer
- Kasey Kahne
- Brian Vickers
- Tony Stewart
- Ken Schrader
The Points
Since this was the first race of the season the final finishing order closely resembles the points standings.
The points are now:
- Jimmie Johnson -0
- Ryan Newman -10
- Casey Mears -20
- Elliott Sadler -20
- Dale Earnhardt Jr. -20
- Clint Bowyer -35
- Brian Vickers -38
- Kasey Kahne -39
- Tony Stewart -42
- Ken Schrader -51
Next Week
Next week we get beyond the hype of Daytona and down to the grind of the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup season. California Speedway is next up on the schedule. The wide two-mile speedway is very fast with multiple racing grooves. The 2006 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup season is off and running.
