Daytona Weekend

Hey folks! Here's my take on the Daytona weekend.








Friday was the Truck race. Tyler Reddick won with 46 laps led, followed by rookie Erik Jones, Scott Lagasse, Jr., rookies Austin Therialt with 9 laps led and Ray Black, Jr. Rounding out the top 10 David Gilliland with 1 lap led, Brian Silas, Matt Crafton with 1 lap led, Daniel Suarez with 5 laps led and Johnny Sauter. Pole-sitter Ty Dillon led 37 laps and finished 11th. Tyler Young led 1 lap and finished 13th. Ryan Ellis was 16th after an accident late in the race. Matt Tift was 19th due to a rear hub problem. John Wes Townley, Cameron Haley, Timothy Peters, Chris Fontaine, rookie Daniel Hemric and Todd Peck were involved in an accident on lap 48.  Ben Kennedy wrecked on lap 20. Rookie Justin Boston wrecked after 18 laps. Austin Hill and Donnie Neuenberger wrecked after 13 laps. Justin Marks drove 12 laps before he crashed out.






Saturday was the Xfinity (was Nationwide) race. Ryan Reed won with 14 laps led, followed by Chris Buescher with 12 laps led, Ty Dillon with 16 laps led, pole-sitter Austin Dillon with 1 lap led and Brad Keselowski with 13 laps led. Rounding out the top 10 were David Starr, Aric Almirola, Kyle Larson with 4 laps led, Ross Chastain and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Rookie Darrell Wallace, Jr. was 12 with 18 laps led.  Kyle Busch led 27 laps and was 26th after an accident in which he broke his right leg and left foot. Brian Scott, JJ Yeley, Chase Elliott, Brendan Gaughan and rookie Cale Conley also crashed out. Regan Smith led 15 laps before he crashed and was 35th. Justin Marks, Chad Boat, Scott Lagasse, Jr. Ryan Sieg and rookie Daniel Suarez also wrecked at the time.




Sunday was the Cup race. The Daytona 500, as this race is called is a big deal in NASCAR. All a driver wants is to win the race. A Daytona 500  win and a championship are a driver's biggest dreams. Joey Logano won with 31 laps led, followed by Kevin Harvick, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. with 32 laps led, Denny Hamlin with 4 laps led and  Jimmie Johnson with 39 laps led. Rounding out the top 10 were Casey Mears with 1 lap , Clint Bowyer, Martin Truex, Jr. with 1 lap led, Kasey Kahne and  Greg Biffle with 2 laps led. Michael Annett led 1 lap and finished 13th. AJ Allmendinger led 1 lap and was 20th. Carl Edwards led 3 laps and was 23rd.  Jeff Gordon led 87 laps and finished 33rd. JJ Yeley led 1 lap and finished 40th. Justin Allgaier hit the wall late in the race due to an engine issue and had a blown tire after the wreck. This led to a caution and then red flag. There was a green white checkered restart. Daytona is a track known for the Big One, which came late this time. There was a big wreck on the last lap. Austin Dillon hit Jeff Gordon and many drivers, including Kyle Larson, who was unable  to finish Trevor Bayne, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. and others. Tony Stewart wrecked out with 72 laps complete. Trevor is a full-time Cup driver with Roush in the AdvoCare 6 Ford Fusion this year.




Come back next week from my Atlanta recap