NASCAR: Trevor Bayne wins the 2011 Daytona 500
Monday, February 21, 2011
Image: Royalbroil.
Wood Brothers Racing driver Trevor Bayne, who qualified thirty-second, won the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series 2011 Daytona 500 held on Sunday at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. This became his first win of his career, and his first at Daytona International Speedway. Throughout the course of the race there were 16 cautions and 74 lead changes among 22 different drivers.
Bayne had only one start in the series before the race, and by winning it, became the youngest winner of the Daytona 500 in history at age 20. The win also gave Wood Brothers Racing their second Daytona 500 win, which their first was in the 1976 Daytona 500. Following Bayne, Carl Edwards finished in the second position, ahead of David Gilliland, Bobby Labonte, and Kurt Busch. Juan Pablo Montoya followed Busch in sixth, while Regan Smith could only manage seventh.
Kyle Busch, Paul Menard, and Mark Martin rounded out the top ten finishers in the race. Ryan Newman led the most laps during the race with 37, but finished 22nd. Following the race, Bayne described his enjoyment of winning the race, "I keep thinking I'm dreaming. Our first 500 -- are you kidding me? To win our first one in our second-ever Cup race, I mean this is just incredible. Wow, this is unbelievable. How cool is it to see the Wood Brothers back in Victory Lane? It's crazy to get my first win before a Nationwide win -- I didn't know how to get to Victory Lane."
Afterward, second placed Edwards said, "Look, right now this is going to be a long night for me. I'm going to go back to the motor home, I'm going to watch the replay, think about a hundred things I could have done, think about, 'Man, what would it have been like to [win] the race?" Following the race, Edwards was the Drivers' Championship leader with 42 points. Next, Gilliland and Labonte was tied for second, only one point behind Edwards. Kurt Busch was placed fourth with 40 points, ahead of Montoya and Smith in fifth and sixth. Kyle Busch, Menard, Martin, and A. J. Allmendinger rounded out the top-ten point positions.
The 2011 season will continue on February 27, 2011 at Phoenix International Raceway for the 2011 Subway Fresh Fit 500. The race will be televised on Fox at 3:00 p.m. EST.
Sources
- "Trevor Bayne wins Daytona 500" — ESPN Sprint Cup, February 20, 2011
- Jenna Fryer (Associated Press). "'Are You Kidding Me?!' Rookie Wins Daytona" — NBC Sports, February 20, 2011
- George Diaz. "Trevor Bayne makes improbable run to win Daytona 500" — Orlando Sentinel, February 20, 2011
- David Caraviello. "Behind Bayne, Woods turn improbability to reality" — NASCAR, February 20, 2011
- "Racetrax" — Fox Sports, February 20, 2011
- "Drivers' standings" — NASCAR, February 20, 2011
- "Schedule" — ESPN, February 20, 2011
