TREVOR WHO ? WINS DAYTONA 500

The planets aligned. Heck, the heavens stood still. And Trevor Bayne recaptured the magic of David Pearson in the Wood Brothers throwback No. 21 Ford, winning Sunday’s 53rd running of the Daytona 500. On the second attempt at a green-white-checkered-flag finish at Daytona International Speedway, Bayne crossed the finish line .118 seconds ahead of Carl Edwards, returning the Wood Brothers to Victory Lane for the first time since 2001. Bayne became the first driver to win the Daytona 500 in his first attempt since Lee Petty won the inaugural event in 1959. By winning in his second start in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series, Bayne tied Jamie McMurray for quickest victory at the start of a career. In a war of attrition that set track records for lead changes (74), number of different leaders (22) and number of cautions (16), David Gilliland finished third after pushing Edwards toward the front on the final two laps. Bobby Labonte was fourth in his first race for JTG/Daugherty Racing, and Kurt Busch, last Saturday’s Budweiser Shootout winner, ran fifth.

JUNIOR WINS AT DAYTONA: “This one’s for Daddy”

Dale Earnhardt Jnr. has taken an emotional victory at the Nationwide Cup round at Dayton Speedway. Driving the Number 3 made famous by his late father, who died in an accident at the same track, Earnhardt gave Chevrolet the perfect debut for their next generation Impala. Wearing the original blue & yellow livery of his fathers car, “Junior” held his nerve and his twitchy car to just edge out the Toyota of Joey Logano. Rookie driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was third in the new Ford Mustang. “A win was the only acceptable result.” said an emotional Earnhardt after the race. “if we hadn't of won then everybody would have been saying 'what's the point'.

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