Busch drives past controversy to Daytona victory

But the other three drivers in that equation are all 24 years old or younger, with Elliott and Blaney in their second seasons.

But after less than 90 minutes of sleep Sunday night, it’s back to work for Gibson and the rest of the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing team as they prepare for this weekend’s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

A victory for NASCAR’s most popular driver, in his return to racing after a concussion sidelined him the second half of last season, would be a massive boost for the sagging series.

(INDYCAR)-IndyCar starts its 2017 season in three weeks with a race through the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida. Denny Hamlin (+1000): The defending victor and has the third-best driver rating, 91.0 3.

Though Penske and Hendrick have shown speed so far in Speedweeks, beating the Joe Gibbs Racing team will still prove a herculean effort.

Kennington, the St. Thomas speedster, will become the first Canadian to start the Great American Race since Calgarian Trevor Boys in 1988 and only the eighth Canuck driver in history, a list that includes late local legend Earl Ross of Ailsa Craig. He joins AJ Foyt, Jamie McMurray and Jeff Gordon in that club. We Will see how he does. The Canadian also avoided mistakes that befell other newcomers to the 500, including Corey LaJoie, who slid into a wall early in the race while trying to exit onto pit road.

The 3rd Row: Kevin HARVICK.

“It was a insane race, even crazier to sit and watch it from a pit box finally”, said Stewart. Joey Logano, who finished fifth, won the race in a Ford in 2015. He also owns a distinction he doesn’t want.

When asked about the adversity he went through, Busch replied during a post-race interview with Ashley at his side: “I have a lot of people that believed in me over the years”. Hamlin almost won the Clash on Sunday. “Thankfully, we have I guess a segment point out of this day”. It was on display during the Clash on Sunday when the Toyota entries ran 1-2-3-4 for most of the race. In the loopOne final stat NASCAR bettors should pay attention to when betting the Daytona 500 odds is loop data. So can Big Brother Kurt go to victory lane he hopes he can.

The 5th row: Matt KENSETH, the 2-time 500 victor had a top-5 finish in his duel race.

Between accidents a year ago, he did everything but win. I got my own drink, too. Veteran driver Greg Biffle, 47, announced last week that he won’t race full time in 2017.

Kurt Busch survived a demolition Daytona 500 on Sunday and much like he has throughout a controversial 18-year NASCAR career came away a victor, albeit with a few bumps, scrapes and dents. Newman has since struggled in the 500.

As I already mentioned, I have no issues rostering drivers starting up front in the qualifying races, especially a plate track stud like Keselowski. But he can charge to the front and can he win it. Even winning this race is bittersweet, because we know for the most part you have to have a tremendous amount of luck to win this race. Drivers Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano won three of four restrictor plate races previous year. Drivers, who might have otherwise held back in the pack waiting for race end to make moves were seen to jockey for position at the end of the stages.

“I told Raj Nair in Victory Lane ‘My last thing I did with Ford was win a championship with Alan Kulwicki and now the first thing I’ve done with Ford is win the Daytona 500, ‘” he said of his conversation with Ford’s executive vice president of global development and chief technical officer.

Larson’s experience gives him an edge in this NASCAR season filled with major changes – from the series’ name and championship format to how the individual races are run. He was leading when he wrecked with two laps to go in the race.