By John Schutt
Who would have thought two Cup races in two weeks would give us two first-time winners. Added to that was first-time winner Ty Gibbs in the Xfiinty cars Saturday.
NASCAR, Cup Series, O’Reilly Auto Parts 253 at Daytona, Daytona Road Course, Daytona Beach, Fla., Sunday, Feb. 21.
The O’Reilly Auto Parts race was held on the road course at Daytona track infield. With three stages of exhausting racing, Christopher Bell in a Toyota got past Joey Logano in the last two laps to win his first Cup race. Favorite, Chase Elliott, led the most laps and won the first stage. Other leaders were Logano, Kurt Busch, and Hamlin, who won stage two.
In the final stage the drivers in the top five all went off the track or were pushed off. Kyle Busch, Bubba Wallace, and Keselowski, were some of the drivers who missed turns.
With four laps to go in the final stage, Bell passed Kurt Busch who was in second with Logano four seconds ahead. Logano had worn tires and it started to rain lightly, which allowed Bell to catch Logano in the final two laps. Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing’s new driver, won his first Cup race. He won in the Xfinity Series.
NASCAR, Xfinity Series, Super Start Batteries 188 At Daytona Presented by O’Reilly, Daytona Road Course, Daytona Beach, Fla., Sunday, Feb. 21.
Ty Gibbs, Joe Gibbs’ grandson, won the race and his first Xfinity Series victory.
Pole winner, Austin Cendric, and AJ Allmendinger each spun out when going for the win in the first stage. Allmendinger did not make it across the finish line and had to start second stage in the back of the field.
Eventual winner, Gibbs, won second stage over Harrison Burton.
NASCAR, Cup Series, Daytona 500, Daytona International Speedway Daytona Beach, Fla., Sunday, Feb. 14.
The Daytona 500 ended Monday morning, Feb. 15, due to a more than a five-hour rain delay.
First-time winner, Michael McDowell, dodged the wreckage to win the Daytona 500. Following was Chase Elliott in second place, Austin Dillon in third, Kevin Harvick in fourth, and Hamlin in fifth.
The race started and at lap 15 a caution was issued after a big wreck caused by Kyle Busch who collided with Aric Almirola. There were 16 cars involved which was followed by a red flag then a more-than-five-hour rain delay.
Denny Hamlin won both the first stage and second stage.
The end included a fiery crash between to Penski teammates Logano and Keselowski. Keselowski in second made a move on Logano at the last lap of the race. Logano tried to protect his position and moved out to block, but he hit Keselowki and they each spun out and burst into flames. With the two lead cars out of the race, McDowell got by the wreckage with a caution out was declared the winner!
It was McDowell’s first Cup Series victory, and what a way to do it on the Daytona 500 long track! McDowell was racing for Front Row Motorsports in a Ford, and it was the first victory for the team since Martin Truex, Jr. left the team