Penske Cars Win Daytona 500 Shocker
by Russell Schmidt - Racin' With Russ
02/20/2008

Toyotas ran strong, but Dodge dominated the top ten

When all of the predictions were said and done as to who would win this year’s Daytona 500, the word Dodge was conspicuously missing. Most said it would be a Hendrick Chevy or Gibbs Toyota in the winner’s circle.

Until the final lap, they would have been correct until teammates Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman bolted past the strong Toyotas of Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch.

After a late caution flag set up a three lap dash-for-cash, it appeared Jeff Burton had a shot of winning. Instead, he was quickly shuffled back with Kyle Busch attempting to make a ‘too low’ pass on the bottom of the track. Stewart took off out front and it looked for all intentions like the two-time champ had a shot of winning the Great American Race.

Enter the Penske boys. Newman positioned himself right behind Stewart, then moved to the high side with teammate Busch in position to help out.

And help out he did, bumping the Alltel Dodge several times and zooming by Stewart for the drag race to the stripe and the first win for the team in over two years.

For most of the first half of the race, I had all I could do to stay awake with the first mystery caution for debris coming out on lap 80 (there was a second one later on…they never showed the debris or even said what it was). Round and round they went with Kyle Busch in the lead then and for most of the race.

So, the Dodge boys took the big prize and six of the top ten spots…certainly the sleepers of the race.

Rounding out the top ten for the 500 included Stewart in third, followed by Kyle Busch, Reed Sorenson, Elliot Sadler, Kasey Kahne, Robbie Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr and the first Ford driven by Greg Biffle.

Hendrick champions Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson had days to forget, Gordon with a front suspension failure and Johnson with handling problems and a spin. Gordon wound up 39th and Johnson 27th.

The best part about outside polesitter Michael Waltrip’s day was his NAPA commercials concerning the wrecked scale models a fan wanted him to sign…hilarious! He dropped like a stone back to a 29th place finish.

The opening weekend’s racing started with some exciting rock ‘em sock ‘em truck racing where Todd Bodine was able to hold off a hard charging Kyle Busch and Johnny Benson for his first Daytona win.

The New York driver proclaimed he’d been coming to the Florida track for 20 years and run second, third, been on fire, but never won until Friday night.

Earlier in the race, in fact, very early action saw Busch make a diving move to the bottom of the track tangling with Mike Skinner, setting off a multi-truck wreck sidelining several in the process. Busch can often be a weapon on the track and this race was no exception.

Others in the top five included David Starr and Rick Crawford.

On Saturday afternoon the action continued with the first official Nationwide series 300 mile event. Polesitter Tony Stewart led from flag-to-flag but not without help from teammate and blocker extraordinaire Kyle Busch. The Toyota’s proved very strong down the long chutes of Daytona.

Busch wound up second holding off the likes of Dale Earnhardt Jr, Brian Vickers and Matt Kenseth. Reigning champion Carl Edwards finished tenth.

From Rumorville - Don’t look now, but there’s about to be another Dale Earnhardt Sr movie written and produced. Unlike the previous movie “Dale” aired on ESPN without the blessing of DEI, this one will have the backing of DEI authorities. Stay tuned.

--- Ex-open wheeler Jacque Villenueve has been removed from his driving duties of the No. 27 Bill Davis Cup car. After failing to qualify for the 500, David has decided to replace the Canadian with Mike Skinner and Johnny Benson on a rotating basis. Supposedly, if Villenueve comes up with the backing, he’ll return behind the wheel. Jacque…don’t hold your breath.

--- Elliott’s last hoorah! Living legend Bill Elliott recently stated that 2008 will be his final year of racing. After 33 years, the one- time fan favorite will hang up his helmet in favor of spending more time with his family, most notably his 12-year-old son Chase.

Did you know? The car manufacturer car count difference between this year’s 500 and last year’s? Check out these stats…. 2007 - Chevy - 19, Ford - 10, Toyota - 4 and Dodge - 10. 2008 - Chevy - 16, Ford, - 7, Toyota - 9 and Dodge - 11.…what a difference a year makes. Obviously the biggest change is the number of Toyotas with more than double the first year.

That’s it for this week. Next week’s RWR will have the results from NASCAR in California and more racing news from around the globe.

Questions? Comments? Contact Russ at racinwithruss@comcast.net

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