Joey Logano Wins Daytona 500

Joey Logano made a promise to win the Daytona 500 before he started the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season and he fulfilled his promise.

The 24-year-old professional race car driver was still astonished by his accomplishment after he climbed out of the No. 22 Ford of Team Penske. He said at the Victory Lane that he was very nervous during the entire race. He became the second youngest winner of the Daytona 500 with Trevor Bayne being the youngest after winning in 2011 at twenty-years old.

Logano, who was nicknamed “Sliced Bread” since he was supposed the greatest things since the invention of the sliced bread, led the last thirteen laps of the race. He remained in front following a restart due to the spin of Justin Aligaier. The spin, which happened with only three laps left in the race that was scheduled for 200, resulted to the red flag and the track had to be cleared.

Logano revealed that he had the chance to take everything into consideration as he was parked on the track of the Daytona International Speedway. He was in the front row together with Denny Hamlin when the restart was done. However, he started in the outer lane right in front of Clint Bowyer, who was described by Logano as the best pusher during the entire race that day.

Joey Logano Wins Dayton 500 - Image Credit: LA Times

While Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kevin Harvick challenged Logano for the lead, they were unable to catch up with him. A major wreck behind the leaders resulted to waving of the yellow flag during the white-flag lap, which ended the race. Officials of NASCAR revealed that the caution flag was used before the cars in front can return to the checkered flag. This made it necessary for safety crews to quickly get into the track.

From #NASCAR on why final caution: When cars get disrupted and hit the wall hard like that, safety crew must be dispatched immediately.

— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) February 22, 2015

Three-time Daytona 500 Jeff Gordon was affected by the crash. He started from the pole and was in the lead for 87 laps. However, the wreck caused him to finish 33rd in the field. The race may be the final Daytona 500 of Gordon since he announced near the start of the year that this is his final full Sprint Cup Series season.

Logano was in the lead for 31 laps while Johnson led the race for 39 laps. On the other hand, Earnhardt led the race for 32 laps. The last time Earnhardt led the race was in the 145th lap before Logano overtook him. Joey Logano was in front in the final 55 laps of the Daytona 500 and emerged as the winner after no one was able to overtake him despite challenges from other drivers.

Rounding off the top five finishers of the Daytona 500 behind Joey Logano were Kevin Harvick, Dale Earnhardt, Denny Hamlin, and Jimmie Johnson.

Posted by Andre Monohan on Tuesday February 24 2015, 10:30 AM EST. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under World. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0