Fireworks at the Beach
(DAYTONA BEACH, FL – FEB 17, 2019 – RIS) "The legacy still lives on with Joe Gibbs Racing," said Denny Hamlin in post-race interviews after winning an emotional (and fireworks-punctuated) second Daytona 500, in just the month after the passing of JD Gibbs, the eldest son of team owner Joe Gibbs. JD recruited Hamlin to drive for the team.
Corey LaJoie brought out the first caution with a blown right front tire. After leading the first three laps, pole winner William Byron got passed by Ricky Stenhouse Jr and faded, but after an early round of stops, worked his way back to fifth.
Early in the race, drafting appeared to be the way to advance or hold position with what appeared to be cooperation between some of the Chevy and Toyota teams.
As expected, in spite of a
Caution two started with a spin by Kurt Busch after getting close to Stenhouse in the banking and having air off of the Ford upset his Camaro. Bubba Wallace and Jamie McMurray got unavoidably involved in the incident but all continued after quick repairs in the pits.
Kyle Busch led Alex Bowman, Joey Logano, Daniel Suarez and Ryan Blaney across the line at the end of the first stage of 60 laps. Busch had led 27 laps on his way to the bonus points for leading at the end of the first stage of the race. Chase Elliott had to return to the pits after his stop because the airline for his rear tire changer accidentally got tangled up with the tire carrier on Eric Jones' car behind them in the pits.
On the restart, Daniel Hemric was the sole Chevy driver in the top ten, surrounded by a sea of Fords.
The highest-starting Toyota driver, Matt DiBenedetto, took a push from Kyle Busch and held the lead over his fellow Toyota driver, followed by Chevy drivers Alex Bowman and pole-sitter William Byron, then another Toyota driven by Erik Jones.
At lap 100, the top ten were DiBenedetto, Kyle Busch, Alex Bowman, Byron, Erik Jones, Chase Elliott, Daniel Suarez, Kevin Harvick, Ryan Blaney and Aric Almirola. Just six laps later, Parker Kligerman and Casey Mears got together entering Turn One to bring out a caution just before the end of the stage. Kyle Busch finished his pit stop and exited the pits into the lead, followed by William Byron. On the restart, Ryan Blaney led in the Penske Ford, moving up the track in front of fellow Ford and Penske teammate Brad Keselowski, with Kyle Larson running third after a first half of the race apparently struggling for grip.
Ryan Blaney headed the field at the end of the second stage leading to the final 80 laps of the race. William Byron told his crew that the No. 24 car felt as good as it has all weekend and led the pack off of pit road, followed by Erik Almirola, Ricky Stenhouse, Kevin Harvicvk and Blaney as the top five after the stage end.
On the restart, it appeared that Fords would gang up and draft around but Byron used a push from Kevin Harvick to keep inching back and forth with Almirolaon the inside land before he side drafted off of Almirola down to the inside lane and to the lead.
With 58 laps left, Jimmie Johnson drafted up to run side by side with Byron before running side by side with Stenhouse in second, swapping the position several times a lap, depending on a small gap, before Stenhouse moved ahead. Byron kept his Chevy in front of the Stenhouse -driven Mustang.
Codie Ware and BJ McLeod Tyler Reddick crashed entering the pits with Ware locking up and spinning into Tyler Reddick. Jimmie Johnson got run into by a spinning Reddick, badly damaging the left rear corner on Johnson's car, removing almost all the left rear sheet metal.
Byron finally pitted when the pits reopened after being closed for cars stalled and debris.
On the restart, Michael McDowell and Jamie McMurray were one-two, followed by Stenhouse, Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin. McDowell got the lead by being the only car in the first group to pit during the crash to escape the melee. Unfortunately, the caution came out just before McDowell and Stenhouse crossed the line entering the pits and they had to drop to the back of the lead lap cars.
McMurray's damaged car headed the pack under the flag with Kyle Busch moving up under his rear bumper and Denny Hamlin sweeping around the outside line into the lead.
The inside line showed more speed, with Hamlin, Kyle Busch and Erik Jones in front of the field in their Toyotas.
A caution for debris (a bumper cover) on the back straight came out on lap 174, calming the action temporarily, with the top five being Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Erik Jones, William Byron and Alex Bowman. David Ragan, in sixth, was the top Ford at the time of the restart.
Jones reported a few laps later that he had no fuel pressure and dropped to the inside but in slowing he trapped Byron behind him and Byron dropped back to twenty fifth before he could clear Jones.
At twenty laps to go, Kyle Larson spun out of 18thwith a flat left rear tire to bring out yet another caution. Somehow, this was only a one-car incident.
Byron pitted for four tires and an adjustment, with little to lose after running in the 'mid-20s' as opposed to the lead pack.
Sixteen laps remained at the restart, with Denny Hamlin leading in the No. 11 FedEx Toyota before Brad Keselowski spun out of Turn Four with 'lucky 13' laps to go. The No. 2 Ford needed a push start to continue so he could head back to his pit for service.
Ten laps to go and Matt DiBenedetto spun in the outside lane and initiated 'the Big One' with the entire outside lane and much of the inside row when Paul Menard gave him an off-center push to start the spin. Due to the huge amount of debris and the number of cars involved this brought out a red flag for the cleanup.
Kyle Busch led the field at the restart and the another multi-car crash started when Stenhouse tried to dive inside and collected Harvick and Larson, initiating another multi-car crash. William Byron and Ryan Preece both snaked through the melee and into potentially contending for top five finishes.
The restart came with two laps to run (a green/white/checker opportunity?) with Denny Hamlin outside of Kyle Busch, with McDowell behind Busch and Logano behind Hamlin.
Overtime racing will finish the Daytona 500 as Bowyer tried to move low but misjudged the move back into the upper lane, clipped McDowell and sent himself into Byron's car.
Erik Jones, earlier a victim of low fuel pressure, managed to sneak through the spinning cars and into seventh place. Denny Hamlin was scored as leading, with Kyle Busch second, Logano third, McDowell fourth, Ryan Preece fifth and Ty Dillon sixth.
Yet another red flag, with the overtime rules applying: any flag after the white flag ends the race.
Hamlin picked the outside lane with Busch dropping in behind him and Logano shoving Busch and then Preece giving Logano a mild push and Logano got around into second then Logano and Busch side drafted off of each other to leave Hamlin to take his second Daytona 500 with a one-two-three finish for Joe Gibbs Racing and a tribute race to JD Gibbs, Coach's son, who passed away recently after a long struggle with the aftereffects of head injuries.
Fireworks at the Beach and a JD Gibbs Tribute
(DAYTONA BEACH, FL – FEB 17, 2019 – RIS) "The legacy still lives on with Joe Gibbs Racing," said Denny Hamlin in post-race interviews after winning an emotional (and fireworks-punctuated) second Daytona 500, in just the month after the passing of JD Gibbs, the eldest son of team owner Joe Gibbs. JD recruited Hamlin to drive for the team.
Corey LaJoie brought out the first caution with a blown right front tire. After leading the first three laps, pole winner William Byron got passed by Ricky Stenhouse Jr and faded, but after an early round of stops, worked his way back to fifth.
Early in the race, drafting appeared to be the way to advance or hold position with what appeared to be cooperation between some of the Chevy and Toyota teams.
As expected, in spite of a
Caution two started with a spin by Kurt Busch after getting close to Stenhouse in the banking and having air off of the Ford upset his Camaro. Bubba Wallace and Jamie McMurray got unavoidably involved in the incident but all continued after quick repairs in the pits.
Kyle Busch led Alex Bowman, Joey Logano, Daniel Suarez and Ryan Blaney across the line at the end of the first stage of 60 laps. Busch had led 27 laps on his way to the bonus points for leading at the end of the first stage of the race. Chase Elliott had to return to the pits after his stop because the airline for his rear tire changer accidentally got tangled up with the tire carrier on Eric Jones' car behind them in the pits.
On the restart, Daniel Hemric was the sole Chevy driver in the top ten, surrounded by a sea of Fords.
The highest-starting Toyota driver, Matt DiBenedetto, took a push from Kyle Busch and held the lead over his fellow Toyota driver, followed by Chevy drivers Alex Bowman and pole-sitter William Byron, then another Toyota driven by Erik Jones.
At lap 100, the top ten were DiBenedetto, Kyle Busch, Alex Bowman, Byron, Erik Jones, Chase Elliott, Daniel Suarez, Kevin Harvick, Ryan Blaney and Aric Almirola. Just six laps later, Parker Kligerman and Casey Mears got together entering Turn One to bring out a caution just before the end of the stage. Kyle Busch finished his pit stop and exited the pits into the lead, followed by William Byron. On the restart, Ryan Blaney led in the Penske Ford, moving up the track in front of fellow Ford and Penske teammate Brad Keselowski, with Kyle Larson running third after a first half of the race apparently struggling for grip.
Ryan Blaney headed the field at the end of the second stage leading to the final 80 laps of the race. William Byron told his crew that the No. 24 car felt as good as it has all weekend and led the pack off of pit road, followed by Erik Almirola, Ricky Stenhouse, Kevin Harvicvk and Blaney as the top five after the stage end.
On the restart, it appeared that Fords would gang up and draft around but Byron used a push from Kevin Harvick to keep inching back and forth with Almirolaon the inside land before he side drafted off of Almirola down to the inside lane and to the lead.
With 58 laps left, Jimmie Johnson drafted up to run side by side with Byron before running side by side with Stenhouse in second, swapping the position several times a lap, depending on a small gap, before Stenhouse moved ahead. Byron kept his Chevy in front of the Stenhouse -driven Mustang.
Codie Ware and BJ McLeod Tyler Reddick crashed entering the pits with Ware locking up and spinning into Tyler Reddick. Jimmie Johnson got run into by a spinning Reddick, badly damaging the left rear corner on Johnson's car, removing almost all the left rear sheet metal.
Byron finally pitted when the pits reopened after being closed for cars stalled and debris.
On the restart, Michael McDowell and Jamie McMurray were one-two, followed by Stenhouse, Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin. McDowell got the lead by being the only car in the first group to pit during the crash to escape the melee. Unfortunately, the caution came out just before McDowell and Stenhouse crossed the line entering the pits and they had to drop to the back of the lead lap cars.
McMurray's damaged car headed the pack under the flag with Kyle Busch moving up under his rear bumper and Denny Hamlin sweeping around the outside line into the lead.
The inside line showed more speed, with Hamlin, Kyle Busch and Erik Jones in front of the field in their Toyotas.
A caution for debris (a bumper cover) on the back straight came out on lap 174, calming the action temporarily, with the top five being Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Erik Jones, William Byron and Alex Bowman. David Ragan, in sixth, was the top Ford at the time of the restart.
Jones reported a few laps later that he had no fuel pressure and dropped to the inside but in slowing he trapped Byron behind him and Byron dropped back to twenty fifth before he could clear Jones.
At twenty laps to go, Kyle Larson spun out of 18thwith a flat left rear tire to bring out yet another caution. Somehow, this was only a one-car incident.
Byron pitted for four tires and an adjustment, with little to lose after running in the 'mid-20s' as opposed to the lead pack.
Sixteen laps remained at the restart, with Denny Hamlin leading in the No. 11 FedEx Toyota before Brad Keselowski spun out of Turn Four with 'lucky 13' laps to go. The No. 2 Ford needed a push start to continue so he could head back to his pit for service.
Ten laps to go and Matt DiBenedetto spun in the outside lane and initiated 'the Big One' with the entire outside lane and much of the inside row when Paul Menard gave him an off-center push to start the spin. Due to the huge amount of debris and the number of cars involved this brought out a red flag for the cleanup.
Kyle Busch led the field at the restart and the another multi-car crash started when Stenhouse tried to dive inside and collected Harvick and Larson, initiating another multi-car crash. William Byron and Ryan Preece both snaked through the melee and into potentially contending for top five finishes.
The restart came with two laps to run (a green/white/checker opportunity?) with Denny Hamlin outside of Kyle Busch, with McDowell behind Busch and Logano behind Hamlin.
Overtime racing will finish the Daytona 500 as Bowyer tried to move low but misjudged the move back into the upper lane, clipped McDowell and sent himself into Byron's car.
Erik Jones, earlier a victim of low fuel pressure, managed to sneak through the spinning cars and into seventh place. Denny Hamlin was scored as leading, with Kyle Busch second, Logano third, McDowell fourth, Ryan Preece fifth and Ty Dillon sixth.
Yet another red flag, with the overtime rules applying: any flag after the white flag ends the race.
Hamlin picked the outside lane with Busch dropping in behind him and Logano shoving Busch and then Preece giving Logano a mild push and Logano got around into second then Logano and Busch side drafted off of each other to leave Hamlin to take his second Daytona 500 with a one-two-three finish for Joe Gibbs Racing and a tribute race to JD Gibbs, Coach's son, who passed away recently after a long struggle with the aftereffects of head injuries.
The top ten finishers were: Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Erik Jones, Joey Logano, Michael McDowell, Ty Dillon, Kyle Larson, Ryan Preece, Jimmie Johnson and Ross Chastain.
Unofficial Race Results: 61st Annual Daytona 500 - Feb 17, 2019
Daytona International Speedway
Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Pts, Status, Tms Led, Laps, Playoff Pts
1) 10, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota, 207, 6, , 45, Running, 2, 30, 5
2) 31, Kyle Busch, No. 18 M&M's Chocolate Bar Toyota, 207, 1, , 45, Running, 4, 37, 1
3) 28, Erik Jones, No. 20 Sport Clips Toyota, 207, 10, , 35, Running, , ,
4) 4, Joey Logano, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 207, 3, 10, 42, Running, 1, 11,
5) 34, Michael McDowell, No. 34 Love's Travel Stops Ford, 207, , , 32, Running, , ,
6) 22, Ty Dillon, No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet, 207, , , 31, Running, , ,
7) 26, Kyle Larson, No. 42 Credit One Bank Chevrolet, 207, 8, , 33, Running, , ,
8) 21, Ryan Preece #, No. 47 Kroger.com Chevrolet, 207, , , 29, Running, , ,
9) 17, Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Ally Chevrolet, 207, , 9, 30, Running, , ,
10)36, Ross Chastain(i), No. 15 Chevrolet, 207, , , 0, Running, , ,
11)2, Alex Bowman, No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet, 207, 2, , 35, Running, , ,
12)35, Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Discount Tire Ford, 207, , 4, 32, Running, , ,
13)5, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 Fastenal Ford, 207, , 5, 30, Running, 2, 16,
14)19, Ryan Newman, No. 6 Oscar Mayer Deli Fresh Ford, 207, , , 23, Running, , ,
15)25, * Parker Kligerman(i), No. 96 Gaunt Brothers Racing/Toyota Toyota, 205, , , 0, Running, , ,
16)20, Austin Dillon, No. 3 Dow Chevrolet, 205, , , 21, Running, , ,
17)18, Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, 200, 7, , 24, Accident, , ,
18)32, Corey LaJoie, No. 32 Old Spice Ford, 200, , , 19, Running, , ,
19)38, BJ McLeod(i), No. 51 Jacob Companies Chevrolet, 200, , , 0, Running, , ,
20)6, Clint Bowyer, No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/Mobil 1 Ford, 199, , , 17, Accident, , ,
21)1, William Byron, No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet, 198, , 2, 25, Accident, 2, 44,
22)16, Jamie McMurray, No. 40 McDonald's/Cessna/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet, 198, , , 15, Accident, 1, 6,
23)30, * Brendan Gaughan(i), No. 62 Beard Oil Distributing/South Point Chevrolet, 197, , , 0, Accident, , ,
24)27, Landon Cassill, No. 00 PERMATEX Chevrolet, 196, , , 13, Accident, , ,
25)12, Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Chevrolet, 196, , , 12, Running, , ,
26)3, Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Busch Beer Car2Can Ford, 194, 9, 7, 17, Accident, , ,
27)39, * Tyler Reddick(i), No. 31 Symbicort Chevrolet, 191, , , 0, Accident, , ,
28)9, Matt DiBenedetto, No. 95 Procore Toyota, 190, , 6, 14, Accident, 2, 49,
29)7, Paul Menard, No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford, 190, , , 8, Accident, , ,
30)24, David Ragan, No. 38 Select Blinds Ford, 190, , , 7, Accident, , ,
31)14, Ryan Blaney, No. 12 Menards/Peak Ford, 190, 5, 1, 22, Accident, 1, 13, 1
32)8, Aric Almirola, No. 10 Smithfield Ford, 190, , 3, 13, Accident, , ,
33)23, Daniel Suarez, No. 41 Haas Automation Ford, 190, 4, 8, 14, Accident, , ,
34)29, Daniel Hemric #, No. 8 Bass Pro Shops/Caterpillar Chevrolet, 190, , , 3, Accident, 1, 1,
35)11, Martin Truex Jr., No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota, 190, , , 2, Accident, , ,
36)33, Matt Tifft #, No. 36 Speedco Ford, 190, , , 1, Accident, , ,
37)15, Chris Buescher, No. 37 Kleenex Wet Wipes Chevrolet, 190, , , 1, Accident, , ,
38)13, Bubba Wallace, No. 43 Aftershokz Chevrolet, 169, , , 1, Accident, , ,
39)37, Cody Ware #, No. 52 Winn Dixie Chevrolet, 155, , , 1, Accident, , , 40, * Casey Mears, No. 27 Chevrolet, 104, , , 1, Accident, , ,
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie
Time of Race:3 Hrs, 45 Mins, 55 Secs.
Total Race Length:207 Laps - 517.5 Miles
Average Speed:137.44 MPH
Margin of Victory:.138 Seconds
Race Comments:Denny Hamlin won the 61st running Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway, his 32nd victory in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. Prior to the start of the race, the following car(s) dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reasons indicated: Nos. 27, 42 (transmission), 40 (rear gear).
Failed to Qualify:(2) 71 Ryan Truex(i), 66 Joey Gase(i).
Caution Flags:12 for 47 laps; Laps: 22-24 (Debris Turn 2 [52]); 51-53 (#43, 1, 40, 17, 31, 3 Incident Turn 2 [52]); 62-65 (Stage 1 Conclusion [1]); 108-111 (#27, 96 Incident Turn 1 [36]); 122-125 (Stage 2 Conclusion [38]); 160-167 (#31, 17, 51, 52, 48 Incident Pit Road [37]); 175-177 (Debris Turn 3 [48]); 182-184 (#42 Incident Turn 3 [48]); 188-190 (#2 Incident Frontstretch [20]); 192-194 (#95, 21, 20, 12, 36, 41, 3, 6, 10, 38, 17, 47, 37, 8, 19, 9, 48, 24, 13, 22, 42 Incident Turn 3 [Red: 24:57] [2]); 196-198 (#17, 42, 9, 88, 4, 13, 2 Incident Turn 3 [20]); 200-205 (14, 34, 9, 00, 24, 40, 2, 62, 34 Incident Turn 3 [Red: 14:41] [6]).
Lead Changes:15 among 9 drivers; W. Byron 1-2; R. Stenhouse Jr. 3-6; M. DiBenedetto 7-21; K. Busch 22; R. Stenhouse Jr. 23-34; K. Busch 35-61; J. Logano 62-72; D. Hemric # 73; M. DiBenedetto 74-107; K. Busch 108; R. Blaney 109-121; W. Byron 122-163; J. McMurray 164-169; D. Hamlin 170-190; K. Busch 191-198; D. Hamlin 199-207
John Davison
Long-time RIS staffer, beginning in the mid-80s. Charlotte, NC area local contact.