Daytona 500 Race Recap....

Well as you can see Ryan Newan driver of the #12 Alltel Dodge for Penske Racing won the 50th Daytona 500. It was a great race. No he didn't lead that many laps but he lead the lap that counted. Here is what happened throughout the race.

Lap one was lead by Michael Waltrip. He lead till lap 3 which Jimmie Johnson lead. Then on lap 4 Denny hamlin took the lead. He lead till lap 6 when Tony Stewart took over. I found this radio conversation funny. This happened on lap 10 after Kevin Harvick radioed into his crew that he thought they were blowing up......

Kevin Harvick: "This is absolutely amazing. We run all week, we haul ass. They
drop the green and our car won't run."

On lap 15 Denny Hamlin took the lead back from Tony Stewart. He held that until lap 18 when Jeff Gordon took the lead. On lap 20 Denny Hamil retook the lead. He kept the lead until lap 39 when Dave Blaney (an Ohio native) took the lead. That lead was very short lived though cause on lap 40 Jeff Gordon took the lead back. At lap 41 Kyle Busch takes the lead after a round of green flag pit stops. Then on lap 49 Denny Hamlin claims the lead again. He kept that till lap 55 when Kyle took his lead back. Lap 65 Denny Hamlin retakes the lead only to loose it again to Kyle Busch on lap 68. On lap 76 Reed Sorenson took the lead. This was during the time that everyone was making green falg pit stops so he lost it quickly. On lap 77 Reed pits and hands the lead to Kyle Busch again.

Lap 80 we get our first caution for debis. Everyone again pits except for Reed Sorenson so he took the lead back. During that caution Dale Jr. radioed his crew to let them know that his shifter ball fell off his shifter. He was needing a new ball or something to put on there cause it was sharp and hurting his hand.

On lap 86 Kurt Busch took the lead from Reed Sorenson. On lap 108 Matt Kenseth took the lead only to loose it to his teammate Greg Biffle on lap 109. Lap 110 Kyle took the lead back. On lap 121 Kyle made his green flag pit stop and gave up the lead to Greg Biffle again. That was short lived though cause on lap 122 Greg Biffle made his green flag pit stop. He gave the lead to Michael Waltrip, only to have him make his pit stop a lap later on lap 123. That gave the lead to Ryan Newman. Kurt Busch was also penalized for speeding on pit road and had to serve a drive through penalty.

By lap 124 green flag pit stops were through and Kyle Busch claims the lead. On lap 145 Kenny Wallace is forced to go to the garage cause he couldn't go the minumim speed on the track. He was one of the drivers that raced his way in on Thursday.

On Lap 150 we had another debris caution. On lap 152 pit road opens and everyone pits. Since Clint Bowyer crossed the finish line on pit road he was credited as the leader. On lap 153 the pit stops are through and Greg Biffle won the race off pit road. Just one lap later Jeff Gordon took his car to the garage. His right-front bracket was bent.

On lap 158 Kyle Busch took the lead yet again. Then on lap 161 the caution comes out for the third time. This time it was due to David Ragan hitting the wall hard which also collected his teammate Matt Kenseth. Both cars went to the garage!

On lap 162 Dale Jr. takes the lead as all the other leaders pit and he stays out. On lap 169 Matt Kenseth comes back out and Kasey Kahne takes the lead. On lap 170 Tony Stewart takes the lead only to loose it on lap later to Dale Jr. He then one lap later on lap 172 looses the lead again to Tony Stewart. Then Dale Jr. tries to take the lead back but Tony Stewart edges him out.

The caution came out again on lap 176 when Jimmie Johnson spun coming off of turn two after Sam Hornish Jr. tapped him. That wreck also collected Martin Truex Jr. as well. Again everyone pits except for Dale Jr. He reclaims the lead for one lap. On lap 181 Clint Bowyer took the lead from Dale Jr.

Then on lap 183 Clint Bowyer went spinning after being clipped by Juan Pablo Montoya. Clint just spun but didn't have any damage. That handed the lead to Ryan Newman. On lap 188 Jeff Burton took the lead from Ryan. On lap 189 Kevin Harvick tapped Dave Blaney and sent him into the wall.

Then on lap 197 Casey Mears tries to block Tony Stewart and Casey ends up in the wall. Lap 197 is when Tony Stewart took the lead and lead all the way till Ryan Newman passed him on the back stretch. Ryan's teammate Kurt Busch drafted with him and gave him that push to pass Tony Stewart.

This is the first time since 2001 that teammates finished first and second. Michael Waltrip and Dale Jr. did it back in 2001.

This was also the tenth anniversary of Dale Sr.'s only Daytona 500 victory. To honor him all the teams stood on pit wall and held up three fingers during the third lap.

That about does it for this 50th Daytona 500!

Take care!