After landing a new ride, dodging potholes, and surviving the new green-white-checker rules, Jamie McMurray found himself in victory lane, winning the biggest race in his NASCAR career.

McMurray took the lead from Kevin Harvick on the final restart, then held off the sudden emergence of Dale Earnhardt Jr. to win the 52nd running of the Daytona 500. It was McMurray’s first race with Earnhardt Ganassi Racing and the No. 1 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet.

“Oh, I’m going to cry,” said a tearful McMurray in victory lane. “This is unreal. It’s unbelievable… I can’t explain it. To see where I was last year and for … Chip [Ganassi] and Felix [Sabates] to take a chance on me and let me come back means a lot to me. What a way to pay them back…It’s just very emotional.”

A pothole between turns one and two caused two red flag periods totaling over two hours as NASCAR and Daytona International Speedway officials frantically attempted to patch the track. The two long delays resulted in a total race time of over six hours.

The second red flag set up a 32-lap sprint to the finish. As the laps wound down, it became apparent that the race wouldn’t be decided until the closing laps, as seven different drivers officially lead a lap within the last segment, not to mention the countless lead changes that took place between the start/finish line.

When Elliot Sadler and Travis Kvapil wrecked with five laps to go, the caution set up the first opportunity for NASCAR to use it’s new green-white-checker rule announced earlier last week.

Under the old rules, only one attempt at a green-white-checker would be made, than the field would be frozen at the sight of a caution. With the changes made, you can now make three attempts at a green-white-checker before the race will end.
Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. seemed poised to work their way to the checkers, but made contact with one another, losing momentum between the both of them, and forcing them to fall back.

McMurray soon worked his way to the lead on the final restart. Earnhardt Jr. passed 10 cars in the final two-lap span to capture the second-place spot, after running mid-pack for a majority of the race. Greg Biffle was third in the 3M Ford, followed by Clint Bowyer’s Cheerios Chevrolet in fourth. The Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota of David Reutimann was fifth.

Truex Jr., of Ocean County, made his debut with Michael Waltrip Racing, starting 14th, and running towards the front of the pack for a majority of the race. Truex took the lead during the second of three green-white-checker sequences, but was nudged out by Harvick and fell back. He finished sixth.

Four-time defending Sprint Cup Series Champion Jimmie Johnson suffered a flat tire on lap 119, another flat tires alter in the race, and several other problems mechanical problems to finish 35th.

Nationwide Series:

Tony Stewart got a push from car-owner Kevin Harvick to overtake Carl Edwards and hold off the two to capture the first Nationwide Series race of 2010. But Stewart’s victory was overshadowed by the debut Danica Patrick, who was running mid-pack before being involved in a mid-race wreck. Edwards finished second, followed by Harvick in third, Justin Allgaier in fourth, and Brian Vickers in fifth.

Camping World Truck Series: Todd Bodine had won the last four restrictor-plate races in the Camping World Truck Series, and seemed poised to do it again last weekend at Daytona. But Timothy Peters spoiled that quest, following in Bodine’s path nearly the entire race before overtaking him late to capture his second career CWTS victory.

Bodine was second, followed by defending series champion Ron Hornaday in third, polesitter Jason White in fourth, and Matt Crafton rounding out the top five.

Coming Up:
The Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series head to the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California for the first West Coast event of 2010.

Bruce Knoll, 17, of Eldora, can be contacted by email at bknoll jr4cmcherald@yahoo.com

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