On Sunday, Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the Daytona 500. This was his 2nd win of this race, which is the first race of each NASCAR Sprint Cup racing season. His first Daytona 500 win was in 2004. The win also snapped a 55 race losing streak by Earnhardt.
As the 12-time winner of the Most Popular Driver Award on the Sprint Cup circuit, what could be better for NASCAR? How bout a race that lasted less than 10 hours from start to finish?
There was a 6 hour and 21 minute rain delay, which caused the race to turn into a marathon. Because of this, the television ratings dropped 44% from last year, down to a 5.6 overnight rating this year.
Earnhardt who is 39 years old, led the most laps, with 54, but not the first lap. The pole position and first lap was led by rookie Austin Dillon, in the return of the #3 car to Sprint Cup. This was the first time #3 had raced in Sprint Cup since the death of Earnhardt’s father, the Intimidator, Dale Earnhardt Sr. Dillon is the grandson of Richard Childress, who owns the #3, and was the car owner for the last 6 of Earnhardt Sr.’s 7 championships. Earnhardt Jr. supported the return of the #3 car with Dillon as the driver.
Dillon was caught up in one of the 4 multi-car accidents that occurred in the race. He still managed to finish in 9th place. Danica Patrick, another fan favorite, was involved in the same accident, on lap 145, but she hit the wall, and that was the end of the race for her, finishing 40th.
Denny Hamlin finished 2nd in a close finish, with Brad Keselowski in 3rd place. Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson finished in 4th and 5th place respectively. Chevrolets finished in 1st, 4th and 5th places, while Hamlin drove a Toyota, and Keselowski drove a Ford.
During the 6 hour plus rain delay, FOX television network showed the 2013 Daytona 500, which was won by 6-time Sprint Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson. After the re-broadcast ended, Johnson was inundated with congratulations over social media. They didn’t notice that the race ended exactly like last year, or where they were told that the race from last year?
With the win, which was the 19th of his career, Earnhardt Jr. has already qualified for the new format of the Chase for the Sprint Cup. Among the new changes, 16 drivers qualify, and the last 4 drivers are eliminated after the 3rd, 6th and 9th race of the 10-race Chase schedule. This leaves only 4 drivers competing for the championship at the last race of the season, at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Earnhardt Jr. is still seeking his first Sprint Cup Championship.
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