RACING ROUNDUP

What a weekend in NASCAR! From Thursday's Can-Am Duels at Daytona to Sunday's Daytona 500.

Can-Am Duels at Daytona

The first bit of action that NASCAR fans got to see this past weekend was Thursday's Can-Am Duels at Daytona. So to sum up the "Duels at Daytona," they are two races that are 150 miles each and 60 laps. They also set up the field for the Daytona 500.

The first duel was a rather calm race, not a whole lot happened. There was four lead changes and a caution. However there was a feel good moment. Thursday marked the 15 year anniversary of the death of Dale Earnhardt Sr. In the first duel, one car stood out from the rest by leading 43 out of the 60 laps, and yes it was Dale Earnhardt Jr. He would go onto win the first duel. That would give him the third place starting position for the 500.

The second duel was very calm. Well, until the last lap when 6 of the 22 cars were crashing in turn one. The last lap took a lot of good cars out including Kurt Busch, Jimmie Johnson, Martin Truex Jr., Matt Kenseth, Danica Patrick, and AJ Allmendinger. They would all have a starting position at the rear of the field for the Daytona 500. Defending Sprint Cup Champion Kyle Busch would go onto win the second duel at Daytona, giving him the fourth place starting position in the 500.

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Moving onto a WILD FRIDAY NIGHT!!! The Camping World Truck Series was in action under the lights at Daytona. The truck series has implemented a new "Caution Clock" into their races. It's a clock that counts down from 20 minutes. When the clock reaches zero, a caution comes out. It's 50/50 thing for me, I'm not really sure if I like the idea.

Anyhow, in the first 16 laps of the race there was 2 cautions. As the race went on there was a lot of drivers not being able to keep their trucks straight (Let's keep in mind 90% of the drivers in the truck series are very young and inexperienced). The action started heating up on lap 42 when drivers had to come down pit road to get tires and fuel under green. Let's just say going from 180 mph to 55 mph is no easy task. Cody Coughlin, Spencer Gallagher, and Christopher Bell were all involved in a tangle trying to get to pit road. Fortunately, they did not have to attempt to pit under green again. With 19 laps to go in the race there was three wide racing seven rows back! That's like driving in three-lane traffic on the interstate at 180 mph! All the drivers were doing so well with the racing. Then the big one struck. Taking out 18 of 32 trucks. This wreck set-up a two lap shootout to the finish. After going back to green, the field made it around the track for one lap. Then, on the last lap there was a horrific six truck accident. It was such a violent crash that the four truck of Christopher Bell flipped 13 times. THIRTEEN!!! Luckily, Bell was able to climb out of his truck and walk under his own power. He was transported to a local hospital in Daytona and released the next morning. Johnny Sauter was able to capture the checkered flag and take home the trophy.

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On Saturday afternoon, Ty Dillon led the field to the green for the NASCAR Xfinity Series. After just six laps of green flag racing there was a three car wreck that set up a crazy restart. The field took the green flag and went three laps before there was the big one. Six cars were involved but surprisingly, took no one out of the race. Even Chase Elliott who was driving the 88 car for JR Motorsports was a part of the accident. A couple of cautions in the last 103 laps led us to a GREAT PHOTO FINISH. Chase Elliott and Joey Logano were beating and banging to the checkered and Chase Elliott won by only .043 seconds. It was a great win for Chase Elliott who has the pole for the Daytona 500.

Daytona 500

Time for the main event of the weekend. The 58^th running of the Daytona 500. Chase Elliott had the pole for the "Great American Race," and defending Daytona 500 champion Joey Logano was starting fifth.

The race was intense the whole way through. Chase Elliott led the first three laps of the event and then his teammate, Dale Earnhardt Jr. swiped it and held it for 14 laps. On lap 20 Chase Elliott lost control of his number 24 NAPA Chevrolet and went for a spin. The nose of the car dug into the grass and dirt and damaged the nose of the car, ultimately ending his day. During the caution Denny Hamlin was able to grab the lead and hold it for 34 laps. On lap 57 the cars of Brian Vickers, Carl Edwards and Trevor Bayne were all involved on the frontstretch. They were all able to keep going. Carl Edwards' team had to put a new right side on the nose of the number 19 Toyota. Going back to green Jimmie Johnson led the field til lap 78 when defending Sprint Cup Champion Kyle Busch took the lead. The Toyota's looked strong all day long. Perhaps the biggest surprise in the Daytona 500 was what took place on lap 171 when the 88 Chevrolet of Dale Earnhardt Jr. snapped sideways and slid all the way into the inside wall. This ended the day for Jr. after he was the popular pick to win the Daytona 500. After Jr. crashed out this meant it was ANYBODY'S race to win. Following a crash with 15 to go in the race, Matt Kenseth was looking like the who had it in the bag. Kenseth has won the 500 twice in his career. In the final 10 laps the first five cars were all Toyotas. All of them were associated with Joe Gibbs Racing. On the final lap it was Kenseth's teammate, Denny Hamlin, who made the bold move to the outside on the backstretch and taking a big push from Kevin Harvick to propel Hamlin's number 11 Toyota to the front of the pack to win the Daytona 500. He beat Martin Truex Jr. to the finish by .011 seconds! It was the first Daytona 500 win for Toyota and the first Daytona 500 win for Denny Hamlin. It was Joe Gibbs Racing's second Daytona 500 win the first in over 20 years. That definitely has to be a feel good moment for the Joe Gibbs Racing team members.

Well the Daytona 500 is behind us and we look forward to next week when NASCAR takes on Atlanta!