Michael McDowell is a Daytona 500 winner.
McDowell won the rain-delayed Daytona 500 in 2021 after bumping Brad Keselowski against Joey Logano when Keselowski went on to make a potential race in his Penske team-mate.
While Keselowski and Logano were gathering a bunch of cars behind them, McDowell was in front of Chase Elliott when NASCAR issued a warning for the fiery wreck. The win is his first in the Cup series and the first Daytona 500 victory for Front Row Motorsports.
‘My plan was to stick to it [Keselowski]”McDowell said.” I knew he was going to win a race, and my plan was to get him moving and then from [Turn 4] try to get outside or inside. I knew I did not want to move too early, so I was committed to it. [Keselowski’s] bumper and when he makes the move, the hole opens. ‘
It also comes after McDowell was involved in a massive 16-car crash on the 15th lap before a rain delay of more than five hours. McDowell hit the wall in the crash, but his car did not have enough damage to slow it down.
Keselowski did an excellent job of going second with two rounds. He lies back on the back and picks up Kevin harvick to get to Logano’s bumper. He tried the same move again on the final lap and got a big run on Logano.
But Keselowski was shot by McDowell in Logano’s car. You can see below that Keselowski was sideways before making contact with Logano.
Logano also did not cover Keselowski as he moved to block the pass. You can see how Logano reacted slightly late to Keselowski’s move.
“I had a big run in the backstroke and was going to make the pass to win the Daytona 500, and it ended really badly,” Keselowski said after the race. “I do not feel I have made a mistake, but I can not drive everyone’s cars.”
McDowell is the eighth first winner to win the Daytona 500 and the first rider to achieve his first victory in the 500 since Trevor Bayne won the race in 2011. The last lap of the race was the only lap he led.
“[Keselowski] kept trying to back up to run and I kept trying to make a back up to him to prevent the runs from getting too big, and I think he backed up [McDowell] and it ended up being a very big run to me and it seemed like we all collided in one place. ‘
McDowell’s first win in 358 starts
McDowell is now likely to be in the playoffs for the first time in his NASCAR career.
McDowell is in his 14th season in the Cup series and has never passed for a top team. The 36-year-old has scored just four top fives and 12 top-10 finishes in his entire career and has never finished in the top 20 in the points table.
Until this year. As McDowell’s victory will (most likely) qualify him for the playoffs thanks to NASCAR’s win-and-win in 16-year-old system, he will finish no less than 16th in the standings in 2021.
He also becomes the driver with the next in the history of the cup series before his first victory. Only Michael Waltrip (463) started more in his career in the cup series before his first victory. Waltrip’s first victory came in the Daytona 500 in 2001 20 years ago.
“It’s amazing and I’m so grateful, but I’m thankful that I have a happy, healthy family and a beautiful wife and a wonderful family,” McDowell said. “Not everyone makes it to the winning track and for 14 years I have not, so it’s just so great to be here now.”
Denny Hamlin dominates the race, is moved back late
Denny Hamlin took part in the race on Sunday and is trying to become the first rider to win three Daytona 500s in a row. And it looked like that would happen for a significant portion of the race.
Hamlin led 98 of the 200 laps of the race. But he lost control of the race on the final lap of the green flag stop with less than 30 laps left.
Hamlin teamed up with teammate Kyle Busch and quasi-teammate Bubba Wallace for help. But the three drivers left the pits too far apart to pull together when they got back on track. While Ford and Chevrolet teams stopped in front of the Toyotas on their front lap, the cars were already at full speed when the three Toyota drivers left the pits. Hamlin eventually left the pits with a big lead. But the cars behind him ran much faster.
That speed difference meant the earlier pack of cars that were easily swept away by Wallace, Busch and Hamlin. Hamlin fell outside the top-10 as a result and never got the chance to work to the lead again before the end of the race, as riders within the top-10 were patient until the last two laps.
He finished fifth due to the giant accident at the end. He said after the race that he had spent the dwindling laps in the hope that the cars in front of him would make some movements so that he could try to work his way forward.
“Dominant car, dominant car,” Hamlin said. “Just one of those things where you perform too well and only train there.”
Bubba Wallace finishes 17th
Bubba Wallace’s chances of a victory ended after the round of the green flag pit stopped.
His team swapped two tires on the car, but one of the two wheels they put on the car apparently did not fully tighten. This caused a vibration that forced Wallace to come down the pit road for another stop.
That second stop caused Wallace to lose a lap to the field. While he had the speed to hang with the lead suit, he never got the chance to get the shot back. And then he finished part of the final round.
Bum end. I jerked backwards, saw the wreckage happening and crashed from behind. Had to bail earlier🤷🏾♂️
Fast car, can not have loose wheels.
Turn right
Bubba Wallace (@BubbaWallace) 15 February 2021
Huge book chair Daytona 500
The fiery wreck on the last lap took 185 laps and half a day after the stack of 16 cars, not long after the race started.
The round 15 accident started a lot in the same way as the accident on the last round. Christopher Bell got a push from Kyle Busch and knocked Aric Almirola in turn. The collision came in the wrong place on Almirola’s bumper and Almirola took care of Alex Bowman to cause the huge accident.
The crash claimed numerous rivals for the win and forced just five minutes before NASCAR to approach the thunderstorm race that every team on the track knows.
The delay for the rain lasted five hours and 40 minutes. It was after 9pm ET when the race resumed and early Monday morning in Daytona Beach when McDowell celebrated in the interior.
Derrike Cope’s NASCAR career ends in irony
Derrike Cope (62) started his first cup series in more than two years on Sunday. And what would have been the last race of his career lasted three laps.
The 1990 Daytona 500 winner got a flat tire on the third shot and hit the wall. It brought out the first warning of the day and Cope ended up in last place.
His day would have been a totally forgotten footnote if it had not been for the way Cope won the Daytona 500 in 1990. Cope took the win after Dale Earnhardt got a flat tire while leading the race on the final lap.
Sunday’s race was 20 years after Earnhardt’s death in the Daytona 500 in 2001. And while Earnhardt rode the iconic number 3 for most of his career, the third lap of the race was the designated tribute in Earnhardt’s honor.
Race results
Michael McDowell
2. Jaag Elliott
3. Austin Dillon
Kevin Harvick
5. Denny Hamlin
Ryan Preece
Ross Chastain
Jamie McMurray
9. Corey LaJoie
Kyle Larson
11. Cole Custer
12. Joey Logano
Brad Keselowski
Kyle Busch
15. Austin Cindric
16. Christopher Bell
17. Bubba Wallace
18. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
19. Chase Briscoe
20. Joey Gase
21. Cody Ware
22. Kurt Busch
23. BJ McLeod
Josh Bilicki
25. Martin Truex Jr.
26. William Byron
27. Tyler Reddick
28. Kaz Grala
29. Quin Houff
Ryan Blaney
Chris Buescher
32. Anthony Alfredo
33. Matt DiBenedetto
34. Aric Almirola
35. Alex Bowman
36. Daniel Suarez
37. David Ragan
38. Ryan Newman
39. Erik Jones
40. Derrike Cope
More from Yahoo Sports: