"Are you kidding me?!"
That's the sentiment not only expressed by practically all of NASCAR and it's fans (in a good way), it's also what NASCAR rookie Trevor Bayne said over the radio in just his second Sprint Cup start as he took the checkered flag in the fifty third Daytona 500.
In just his second start.
Bayne's victory ties a record for the fewest starts between a win with Jamie McMurray (last year's Daytona 500 winner), who won as a replacement driver for Sterling Marlin back in 2002.
Also, at 20 years and 1 day old, Bayne obliterated the previous record for youngest Daytona 500 winner, long held by Jeff Gordon, who won the Great American race back in 1997 at 25 years and 196 days old.
While not the youngest winner of a Sprint Cup race (Joey Logano holds that distinction at 19 years and 31 days when he won a rain-shortened race in June 2009), he has the same number of career victories as Logano does: one. But this one is going to be too remarkable to forget, for both him and the sport.
Showing posts with label Daytona 500. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Daytona 500. Show all posts
Monday, February 21, 2011
Friday, February 18, 2011
I Was At the 2001 Daytona 500
I was at the infamous Daytona 500 ten years ago today, and it's a decision me and my family made that left a personal mark for me on this tragedy.
At the time, I was homeschooled by my mother in central Florida and my father had a lot of flexibility with his work schedule as a pharmacist. As such, we planned several "mini vacations" throughout the course of a normal school year. One of those decisions was to go up to Daytona Beach for the opening weekend of the NASCAR series. It included us getting tickets to see the NAPA Auto Parts 300 in the Busch Series (won by Randy LaJoie) and the aforementioned Daytona 500. We had seats maybe 20-30 rows up, and just to the right of the start/finish line looking out towards the race track.
As far as the Busch Series opener goes, it was marred by ominous gray clouds and a prolonged rain storm that eventually put the race out for about an hour and a half. Actually, we left about halfway through the red flag because my parents thought the delay would never end. It did, and we saw just 15 laps of the race. By the time we went to eat out and returned to our hotel room, the race was nearing the end of it's conclusion. Turns out, we missed a crash on the penultimate lap which all but secured the victory for LaJoie. I was disappointed that we saw so little of this race, and my parents decided that we'd see tomorrow's Daytona 500 in its entirety.
The following day had much better weather and, from the looks of it, was bound to be a great day.
At the time, I was homeschooled by my mother in central Florida and my father had a lot of flexibility with his work schedule as a pharmacist. As such, we planned several "mini vacations" throughout the course of a normal school year. One of those decisions was to go up to Daytona Beach for the opening weekend of the NASCAR series. It included us getting tickets to see the NAPA Auto Parts 300 in the Busch Series (won by Randy LaJoie) and the aforementioned Daytona 500. We had seats maybe 20-30 rows up, and just to the right of the start/finish line looking out towards the race track.
As far as the Busch Series opener goes, it was marred by ominous gray clouds and a prolonged rain storm that eventually put the race out for about an hour and a half. Actually, we left about halfway through the red flag because my parents thought the delay would never end. It did, and we saw just 15 laps of the race. By the time we went to eat out and returned to our hotel room, the race was nearing the end of it's conclusion. Turns out, we missed a crash on the penultimate lap which all but secured the victory for LaJoie. I was disappointed that we saw so little of this race, and my parents decided that we'd see tomorrow's Daytona 500 in its entirety.
The following day had much better weather and, from the looks of it, was bound to be a great day.
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