Chris O’Meara / Associated Press
Michael McDowell won the first Daytona 500 of his career and prevented history in the process.
It looked like Denny Hamlin would become the first NASCAR driver in the history of the sport to win the Daytona 500 three years in a row when he won the first two innings and had a lead in the series, but Joey Logano and other. overtook him with 25 rounds left to achieve a dramatic finish.
Hamlin joined Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough and Sterling Marlin as rugby champions at Daytona International Speedway, who failed to pass the Great American Race three-turf.
McDowell won the checkered flag at the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series on Sunday in an amazing way, as it looked like Logano would win in the final round. However, Logano and Brad Keselowski collided on the final push, resulting in a multi-car stack.
NASCAR reviewed the situation and determined that McDowell was the winner, which was the first victory in the Cup series in his career.
Here’s a look at the top five, per NASCAR.com:
Michael McDowell
2. Chase Elliott
3. Austin Dillon
4. Kevin Harvick
5. Denny Hamlin
It was a turning point, but it did not take long before chaos reigned in this year’s edition of the famous race.
Christopher Bell pushed Aric Almirola onto Lap 15, causing a massive pile of 16 cars that knocked out a number of competitors, including police officer Alex Bowman. Martin Truex Jr., Jamie McMurray, William Byron, Matt Dibenedetto, Ryan Blaney, Tyler Reddick and Ryan Newman were among those involved in the wreck.
Aric Almirola @Aric_Almirola
Completely bent over to wreck the # Daytona500 so early in the race. My team gave me an amazing car … one that could definitely win. Unfortunately, today was not our day. We will still have a lot of fast racing cars, and I look forward to taking advantage of these opportunities. https://t.co/CsBGPAS5Ax
In addition, a weather delay that lasted nearly six hours followed shortly thereafter.
Once the weather slowed down, Almirola, Bowman, Blaney, Newman, Derrike Cope, Daniel Suarez, David Ragan and Erik Jones were all out of the race. Chris Buescher, DiBenedetto and Anthony Alfredo were also rule when the race started, and Quin Houff got into trouble during Phase 1 and was eliminated.
Despite all the drama, the status quo prevailed earlier when Hamlin won Phase 1 and scored the corresponding playoffs.
This was appropriate as he was directly involved in two of the biggest storylines that came into the race. Not only did he go for a three-turf, but he and Michael Jordan are also the co-owners of 23XI Racing with Bubba Wallace behind the wheel.
Wallace, who is the only black full-time driver at the top level of the sport and made progress by successfully asking NASCAR to ban the display of confederate flags on racetracks last year, was also in the top 10 after the first phase.
Wallace almost won Phase 2 in a fight with Hamlin and Kevin Harvick, but the number 11 car kept him down and scored another playoff point. It was a testament to Hamlin’s ability, especially in Daytona, that he moved back to the front of the pack on the final lap of the stage.
The stage was defined by concerns about visibility in the fog; a wreck in which Bell, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Kyle Larson was involved; and Kaz Grala’s right rear tire catching fire. Larson’s car has damage to the right side and a flat tire, while Grala’s car needs fire extinguishers.
There was not much drama in the early part of Phase 3 with Hamlin sailing so well that he asked his team how many laps he had led.
However, he lost the lead over Logano and others with 25 rounds left and could never make up for the gap. McDowell was the best benefactor and achieved the first victory of the Cup series in his career.