By John Lamm

Sunday’s Daytona 500 was both not particularly memorable and yet unforgettable. There was a lot of unexciting, single-file racing, and the winning edge was experience in the form of five-time NASCAR champ Jimmie Johnson giving the Chevrolet SS race car its first victory. Daytona isn’t Johnson’s favorite—for all his championships, he’d only won the 500 once before—but Daytona bridesmaid Earnhardt the Younger (Chevrolet) in second and Mark Martin (Toyota) in third underlined the need for years of knowledge at the speedway. So too did what happened on the last lap—and that gets us to the unforgettable part.

Danica Patrick was third at the beginning of that last lap but eighth to the finish line, later admitting she was uncertain what to do on that final run of the 2.5-mile banked oval. When she won the pole for the 500—a first for a woman—there were naysayers who were certain it was gamed, somehow a publicity stunt by NASCAR. They claimed Patrick would fade no later than lap 50. Now those cynics can take a hike, because Patrick was a factor from lap one, even leading during the race, which brought a roar from the crowd. That was another Daytona record she set, along with her finishing position, which bested Janet Guthrie’s 11th place finish in 1980. It also happens Patrick is one of only 13 drivers who have led both the Daytona 500 and Indianapolis 500. Mind you, the cut-and-thrust of racing at shorter tracks, such as Phoenix next week or Bristol two races after that, will be another challenge for Patrick.

Racing at Daytona is always close, but sometimes those long lines of cars running nose-to-tail-to-nose-to-tail (and on) can be a bit boring. It was possible to get much of the Sunday L.A. Times crossword puzzle done in those 200 laps. Apparently, it’s the new Gen 6 NASCAR stocker and its attendant learning curve that caused this type of racing and might have helped prompt the lap-33 crash, which seemed to happen at an odd time and an odd place.

So other than the joy of being in the winner’s circle, what did a Daytona victory mean to Jimmie Johnson? A very cool winner’s ring and $1,525,275. Junior’s second place crossing earned him $1,104,814, and that slip from 3rd to 8th also dropped Patrick to $389,464. The lowest take from the $19.3 million purse was for last-place-finisher Joe Nemechek, at $264,354.

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For all the fuss and fury that comes with a Daytona 500, everyone from drivers to owners to fans were thinking of the spectators who were injured in the finish-line accident at the end of Saturday’s Nationwide race. Kyle Larson’s Chevrolet was almost torn in half when it hit the catch fencing, the violence of the accident obvious at the sight of the car’s engine resting just inside the …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Car & Driver