The NASCAR season got off on a wild start on Sunday with the 63rd annual Daytona 500. The drivers of the NASCAR Cup Series have been itching to get back behind the wheel and start the 2021 campaign. The 500-mile race provided some wicked wrecks and surprising moments, including Michael McDowell taking home the win.
NASCAR Cup Series Race Recap | Michael McDowell
Daytona 500 | Stage 1
The drivers took the Daytona 500 green flag at about 3:06 PM ET (this only matters for context.) The race proceeded as normal until lap 14 when Christopher Bell got into Aric Almirola while running near the front of the field and caused a 16-car pileup. The wreck would take eleven cars out of the race completely. A few others managed to keep running the remainder of the race but the resulting damage took them out of contention for the win.
Three minutes after the first “Big One” of the day, the race was stopped due to lightning in the area which turned into a rain delay. After over five hours of delay, the race resumed under yellow for about 15 laps to completely dry the track. Lap 30 saw the green flag finally waived again. Not long after, the drivers would go single file on the top. That was the case until another brief caution came out, but then right back to it until the end of the stage. Denny Hamlin would claim the first stage of the Daytona 500 and 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season.
Daytona 500 | Stage 2
Not far into Stage 2, rookie Austin Cindric found himself leading in his first ever Daytona 500 race. Leading laps in “The Great American Race” was just another feather in the cap of the 2020 Xfinity Series champion. He also won Saturday’s Xfinity Series Daytona race to kickstart his championship defense. Cindric led a few laps before Hamlin took the lead back. Nothing significant really happened in this stage besides Christopher Bell going around and taking some more damage. Denny Hamlin won the second stage as well.
Daytona 500 | Final Stage
With 64 laps to go, the drivers took the green flag to begin the final stage, and Austin Dillon jumped into the lead. Once again, the superspeedway train formed. Drivers aligned themselves in single file formation on the high line for the majority of the stage.
Green flag pit stops saw manufacturers come together in an effort to ensure drafting partners when getting back up to speed. This arguably cost the Toyotas the Daytona 500 lead and the win. The five Toyotas in the race simply could not keep up with the greater number of Fords and Chevrolets. The decision of the Fords to pit first with 31 to go resulted in them taking over the entire top five after everyone cycled through.
On the final lap of the Daytona 500, Brad Keselowski tried to make a run for the lead but was blocked by his teammate Joey Logano. The two caused a huge, fiery crash involving many more cars behind them. The race ended under caution and in a major upset, Michael McDowell earned his first victory in the NASCAR Cup Series. He became the 40th driver to win The Great American Race and locked up a NASCAR Cup Series playoff spot for Front Row Motorsports and the No. 34 team as well. To put the upset into perspective, McDowell’s pre-race odds to win the Daytona 500 were 66-1.
Final Daytona 500 Thoughts
The race ended about 12:30 AM ET. Some fans didn’t like the result, but they need to realize that no one is letting off on the final lap of the Daytona 500.
On the whole, the Daytona 500 was pretty rough this year. This was mostly because the lap 14 wreck that took out a ton of good cars. Next, the NASCAR Cup Series teams will look forward to running on the Daytona Road Course next Sunday in the second race of the year. Follow along on FlurrySports for plenty more NASCAR content.
