DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Those who stayed through more than two hours of red flags and waited as the Daytona 500 paused unpleasantly were treated to another breathtaking finish Sunday.
It ended with drama and without a massive wreck. There were blocks, pushes and the sport’s favorite son zooming his way through the field, going from 10th to second place on the second green-white-checkered restart. It was everything NASCAR wanted from its new rules package.
The race just took a while to get there.
One year after the season-opening race ended under a rain caution, a pothole in Turn 2 caused two red-flag stops that delayed the Great American Race for more than two hours. Jamie McMurray won the 52nd running, then kneeled on the grass painted with the words “Daytona 500” and pounded his fists on it.
The race ended more than six hours after it began.
“It is unbelievable,” McMurray said. “I can’t explain it. It is a dream. … I certainly thank the fans that stuck around.”
For a second straight year, weather affected the season opener, but this year in a very different way. After a problem-free first half of the race, a piece of the track lifted in Turn 2 with about 85 laps to go.
“We’re the world center of racing,” Daytona International Speedway President Robin Braig said. “This is the Daytona 500. This is not supposed to happen.”
Driving through the pothole about a foot in diameter and 2 inches deep damaged cars, and NASCAR red-flagged the race for 1 hour, 40 minutes to repair the track.
But after days of being hammered by rain and unusual freezing temperatures overnight, repairing the track became more difficult. The material DIS used didn’t hold on the first try, and NASCAR called a competition caution on Lap 162 to try again. That red flag lasted 44:35.
“I’ve been wanting them to repave it for years,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. said during the second red flag. “If they repaved it when I first asked them to, it would be just right now. It would be weathered, and we’d be having the race of our lives.”
The race restarted on Lap 168 of 200 and ran through the end. With bump-drafting restrictions lifted and drivers told they would be allowed to police themselves on the track, many felt free to push the limits.
NASCAR also changed its green-white-checkered finish rules last week. Instead of one attempt at a green-flag finish, the race could take three.
On the first attempt, Jeff Gordon bumped Kasey Kahne after being hit from behind, and a four-car crash ensued.
On the second, Earnhardt kept his head down, found holes where he could and pushed through the field. Then he looked up to survey the track.
“I looked up and said, ‘There’s just one car in front of me,'” Earnhardt said. “‘Jamie’s gonna win this damn race.'”
McMurray’s reaction was different. An Earnhardt in his mirror wasn’t exactly comforting.
“I looked in my mirror and saw the 88, and I was like, ‘Crap,'” McMurray said. “This guy has won a lot of races here, and his family. I believe everything happens for a reason. I was like, ‘I hope this isn’t his turn to win the Daytona 500. I hope it’s mine.'”
McMurray lost his ride last season, the odd man out at Roush Fenway Racing.
“It just means so much to be in the position that I was four, five months ago,” he said. “To have Chip (Ganassi) and Felix (Sabates) and Bass Pro Shops welcoming me into the organization, it means a lot.”
