Jimmie Johnson wins the Daytona 500; Danica Patrick finishes in 8th position
Apparently, my previous Daytona 500 thread about Danica Patrick qualifying pole position (that meant she started the race in 1st place) didn't capture any attention, so I decided to make a new one now, and hopefully this one will get your attention.
Anyway, Jimmie Johnson, who drives the #48 car, won the Daytona 500 for the first time since 2006, which makes this his second Daytona 500 victory. Since his 2006 victory, he's had very lousy finishes at the race, most particularly last year, when he crashed out on the second lap of the race. This was also his 400th career start, which means that he has run 400 races in his career so far. Only 5 other NASCAR drivers in history have won on their 400th start, two of them being Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt. This was also Johnson's 61st career victory. Dale Earnhardt Jr., Johnson's teammate in the #88, finished second, and Mark Martin, who drives the #55 car, finished third.
Danica Patrick, who drives the #10 car, qualified pole (1st) position, ran at the front of the pack for much of the race, and ultimately finished the race in 8th position. She managed to lead 5 laps, becoming the first woman to lead a lap in Daytona 500 history. Her 8th-place finish was also the highest finish for any woman in its history. She is also dating fellow NASCAR driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr, who drives the #17 car, who finished the race in 12th position. She is also older than he is, as Patrick is 30, and Stenhouse is 25. They are also the only two contenders for the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Rookie of the Year.
Michael Waltrip, who is a notable mention for driving a special #26 Newtown-themed race car to honor the 26 victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, started the race in 29th position, and while he managed to lead a few laps, he ultimately fell back and finished the race in 22nd position. A few weeks ago, a number of NASCAR executives, including president Mike Helton and chairman Brian France, along with Michael Waltrip and the Swan Racing team, visited Newtown to meet the Sandy Hook students, families, and faculty. They decided to run a special Newtown-themed car in the Daytona 500, with Waltrip in the driver's seat, and was unveiled to them in a private ceremony. They later unveiled the paint scheme publicly at their NASCAR media day in Daytona Beach, Florida, during Speedweeks, which leads up to the Daytona 500.
The previous day, a violent last-lap crash in the DRIVE4COPD 300 that sent parts of one car into the grandstands injured about 30 fans, but thankfully, no one was killed. In that wreck, the #32 car of Kyle Larson hit the wall and was torn in two, sending some of his engine parts and one of his tires flying into the grandstands, and damaging the catch fence. Repair crews worked overnight to repair the catch fence in time for the Daytona 500.
In addition, rapper Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson attended the race, and had an awkward encounter with field reporter Erin Andrews, in which he tried to kiss her. He also met with Mark Martin, who joked that if he won the race, 50 Cent would have to change his stage name to "55 Cent" for the rest of the day.
This race went by rather quickly, in comparison to last year, which was first rain-delayed to Monday night primetime, and then was further delayed when Juan Pablo Montoya, who drives the #42 car, collided with a jet dryer that spilled tons of ignited jet fuel onto the track, delaying the race for two hours, and it finally ended at 1am on Tuesday (Matt Kenseth was the winner, and he left Roush Fenway Racing for Joe Gibbs Racing this year, and had an engine problem late in the race). This was also the first race with the "Generation 6" car, which "puts the stock back in stock car racing." There's a phrase that goes "win on Sunday, sell on Monday," referring to the stock cars now looking identical to their street counterparts.
