DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — How the 60th annual Daytona 500 played out Sunday at Daytona International Speedway:
Dillon wins Daytona 500
Winner: Austin Dillon won NASCAR's most prestigious race, driving the No. 3 to victory lane 20 years after Dale Earnhardt Sr. captured his lone Daytona 500 title in the same car. Dillon drives for grandfather Richard Childress, who was the team owner for Earnhardt during six of his record-tying seven Cup Series championships. Dillon took the checkered flag in overtime when race leader Aric Almirola crashed after being pushed by Dillon while taking the white flag. The final lap was the only one Dillon led the entire race.
"I did what I had to do at the end; I hated for the 10 (Almirola's Stewart-Haas Racing) guys," Dillon said immediately after performing a series of burnouts. "It's so awesome to take the 3 car back to victory lane 20 years after Earnhardt did it. "This is for Dale Sr. and all those Earnhardt fans. We're going to keep kicking butt the rest of the year." Childress was visibly overcome with emotions during a TV interview with Fox.
"Being able to win with the 3 car 20 years after Dale won in ’98, is so special," Childress said. "I can’t let the fans know enough how special this is." Darrell Wallace Jr., driving for seven-time series champion and seven-time Daytona 500 winner Richard Petty, finished second.
"I got so many emotions right now," Wallace said. "All in all a great day. Just an incredible experience for me to be here. Thank you to The King (Petty) for giving me this opportunity. Hell of an ending for us tonight. P2 for my first Daytona 500, I'll take it." Denny Hamlin finished third, followed by Joey Logano and Chris Buescher.
Big One at the end: Defending Daytona 500 champion Kurt Busch tried to pass race leader Hamlin with two laps to go but contact from behind by Ryan Blaney turned Busch, leading to a huge multi-car crash. Alex Bowman, Brendan Gaughan, Matt DiBenedetto and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. were also invovled. The race then headed to overtime with Hamlin and Aric Almirola on the front row.
Blaney captures Stage 2: Blaney, 24, in the No. 12 Ford for Team Penske, collects the 10 points for winning the second stage. The caution flag was out for eight laps.
Huge crash brings out fifth caution: A major wreck on turn 3 of lap 101 involved Chase Elliott, one of the favorites, Danica Patrick, racing for the final time in NASCAR, Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick, David Ragan and Kasey Kahne. The caution flag was out for laps 103 through 108. So far, 11 cars are out of the race. Keselowski was not happy. “The 24 got loose and spun out in front of us all and I got caught up in it," the pre-race favorite said. It just really sucks. We had a great car and were in a great position. I guess that’s the way it goes. I went to pass the 24 on the bottom and he came down. I can’t tell if I made contact or not, but obviously he turned and there was nothing I could do. We were all wrecked.”
Fourth caution flag: On lap 93, the caution flag came out for debris on the track, from William Byron's No. 24 car. The caution lasts from lap 94 to 97, four laps. Martin Truex Jr. took the lead after choosing not to make a pit stop.
Major wreck ends stage 1: 2017 Daytona 500 winner Kurt Busch won Stage 1, his first stage win ever, which is worth 10 points toward seasonal standings. But he missed his box coming in to the pits and was penalized. The crash during lap 60 involved seven cars, including Byron, Erik Jones, Ty Dillon, Daniel Suarez, Jimmie Johnson, Truex and Kyle Larson. It was the third car Johnson wrecked this week. Johnson, Suarez, Jones and Dillon are out of the race. "It is disappointing for this Lowes team and everyone at Hendrick Motorsports for all the work they put into it," Johnson said. "But we'll get this Camaro ZL1 dialed in for Atlanta and take it over there." Said Suarez: “It looked like the 17 (Ricky Stenhouse Jr.) just got freed up there by the 12 (Blaney), unfortunately. We tried to check up and everybody got stacked up, and caused a big wreck. It’s unfortunate because the DEWALT Camry was definitely fast – we just didn’t get to the end to see what we could really do. We were in position I thought to have a good race. We were staying upfront and out of trouble, it just didn’t work out.”
Second caution flag: Kyle Busch spun out, apparently due to the same tire problem he had on lap 30. The first 10 cars did not stop to pit, waiting instead for the end of the first stage,
Busch flat: On lap 30, Kyle Busch's left rear tire went flat, and he dropped from 5th to 38th to get the tire changed.
First caution flag: Came on lap nine as Corey LaJoie apparently blew an engine in Turn 2. Hamlin's 11 car was penalized one lap for pitting outside the box during the caution. The flag was out for three laps.
Joey's new spotter: Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s longtime spotter T.J. Majors is now the spotter for Joey Logano, which is why Earnhardt picked Logano to win the race.
Patrick's finale: Patrick looked to be fully focused on the task at hand as she was introduced for the final NASCAR race of her career and the first half of the "Danica Double." She is expected to get a ride in the Indianapolis 500 in May. Patrick was dressed in her familiar green Go-Daddy driving suit and tweeted “Ready to go!!!!!!” a few hours before the race at Daytona International Speedway. Patrick posted a photo on Instagram on Saturday of her and her new boyfriend Aaron Rodgers with her family at the beach. She wrote ”Doing Daytona with all the people that mean the most to me.” An emotional Patrick hugged and kissed her family before strapping in for the final time to her Go-Daddy Chevrolet for Premium Motorsports.
Honorary starter: Academy Award-winning actress Charlize Theron was selected as the honorary starter for the race, and waved the green flag. She said she was pulling for Patrick, 35, the only woman to start the Daytona 500 from the pole position and is the highest-finishing woman in the race's 60 years. "As a woman, that just seems pretty incredible,” Theron said Sunday. ”For me to be able to witness her last race, that feels very special. The girl in me is secretly obviously cheering for her."
Junior and Peyton: Earnhardt Jr., the most popular driver in NASCAR for the last 15 years, is the grand marshal, and gave the order, "Drivers, start your engines." And future NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning drove the pace car.
Hammerin' Hank to Bubba: Darrell "Bubba" Wallace Jr., the first African American full-time NASCAR Cup driver since 1971, received a phone call from baseball legend Hank Aaron. "From one Mobile (Ala.) son to another, always believe in your dreams and anything is possible, Aaron told Wallace, who is driving the iconic No. 43 Chevrolet for Richard Petty Motorsports.
