Penske wins 50th Daytona 500
Roger Penske finally got the Daytona 500 victory that had been eluding him for so long. Ryan Newman gave the captain his first Daytona 500 victory in 24 years of race trying driving, a frustratingly long time for someone who in most other cases has always managed to dominate big events.
He has won the Indianapolis 500 a record 14 times and wants to add one more to the bounty. Penske said that the win topped the charts as the team is used to the open-wheel style that is prevalent in the Indianapolis 500 and that they would try to get back to back victories with one in May too. He said that his next big challenge was to win the Indy 500.
The win came in a thrilling fashion when Newman teamed up with Kurt Busch for a last lap past which ended in Daytona glory. This ended an 81- match winless streak for him. Penske finally got his win in the 50th edition of the Daytona 500 and when he made his way to Victory Lane he was met by Rick Hendrick, owner of Hendrick Motorsports and NASCAR’s most powerful owner.
For 199 of the 200 laps the Penske cars were very unnoticeable and allowed Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Stewart and Kyle Busch race each other in a battle of the Toyotas and with one lap left it seemed that Stewart would finally win his first Daytona 500 in what was his 10th attempt at it. He held of the Penske cars while running out front in the high line but as the Penske teammates closed in on him he felt the need to have his own allies.
At the last second he dropped low on the track and line up in front of Kyle Busch. Joe Gibbs has always stressed on the importance of teamwork and Stewart thought he would need Busch to make it to the checkered flag. But he couldn’t coordinate with Busch in time and the Penske cars went past him to the top.
The stage was set for a battle with Hendrick Motorsports who never challenged anyone with both Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson out, Dale Earnhardt Jr. didn’t have much of a chance alone.
