Jarred Walker – In Motion Staff Writer
The 62nd running of the Daytona 500 was one for the ages with wrecks, controversy and a wild finish that left the jaws of viewers on the floor before being overcome with serious worry.
It all started on Feb. 16 with a sold-out crowd of 101,500 arriving at the Daytona International Speedway just down the street from Daytona State College. The security measures taken were drastic and arguably the most thorough they have ever been for a race at the Speedway. This was due to the attendance of President Donald Trump. It was the second time a sitting president attended the “Great American Race.”
Due to the increased security searches by the Transportation Security Administration and police, lines to get into the stadium were backed up and overflowed into lines around other parts of the track.
While fans filed in, Air Force One landed at Daytona Beach International Airport and Secret Service started to engulf the venue. Around 2:30 p.m., Trump delivered a speech in victory lane to the crowd, gave the command on pit road to the drivers to start their engines and ultimately took pace laps around the track in the motorcade. The crowd was excited and appreciative from start to finish, especially during the multiple flyovers by the United States Air Force Thunderbirds. Everything about this event screamed patriotism. After the motorcade pulled back into the infield, it was almost time for the green flag.
One more order of business before taking the start was a salute to Jimmie Johnson, who paced the field for a lap as the fans cheered in appreciation of the seven-time champion who was about to embark on his final full-time season in the NASCAR Cup Series. After that, it began to rain, and the start was delayed. After staying for a short period of time hoping to watch the start of the race, Trump eventually departed from DBIA.
At 4:20 p.m., former most popular driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. waved the green flag to begin the race. Oddsmakers had Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano as equal favorites to win at 10-1. After a very tame first 20 laps dominated by polesitter Ricky Stenhouse Jr., the rain struck the track again and began another multi hour delay. This delay would ultimately cause a postponement of the final 180 laps until 4 p.m. on Monday.
Despite the delays, Fox’s coverage drew nearly 11 million viewers, which was the most they had seen since 2015.
Monday saw 72% of the crowd return and sunny skies all around. At 4:14 p.m., the green flag was back out. Initially, there was intense racing, but most of the stage featured single file lap logging before a William Byron crash and fan favorite Chase Elliott stage win after 65 laps.
Stage two featured many new contenders at the front and very similar racing compared to stage one. Two-time 500 champion, Hamlin, would dominate and win this stage after 130 laps.
The final stage featured many changes especially with the setting going from day to night. The final 70 laps included fierce back and forth racing, tons of crashes and an abundance of chaos with everyone racing their hardest to win the biggest race of the year.
Notable drivers involved in wrecks late in the race include Stenhouse, Jr., Keselowski, Johnson, Kurt Busch, Logano and Elliott. Along with this, Kyle Busch exited the race with a blown engine after an extremely strong showing once again. This pandemonium caused multiple overtime restarts making it the longest 500 in history at 209 laps.
The final lap showcased a battle between Ryan Newman, Ryan Blaney and Hamlin. Hamlin was leading before being passed by Newman and Blaney before turn three. Coming out of turn four, Blaney would hook Newman sending him crashing into the wall and flipping. After landing on his roof, Newman’s driver’s side window would be plowed into by Corey Lajoie at nearly 200 mph sending him airborne and flipping again.
Hamlin and Blaney would have a photo finish at the start/finish line with Hamlin barely edging him out by .014 seconds, making it the second closest 500 in history. Hamlin won the closest in 2016 by .010 seconds over Martin Truex, Jr. The rest of the top 10 would be Chris Buescher, David Ragan, Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer, Brendan Gaughan, Lajoie, Newman and Kyle Larson.
Newman’s car was destroyed and would slide on its roof to the apron of the track before stopping with fuel leaking everywhere and fire burning. After initial hesitation, the safety workers ventured over to the car to immediately put out the fire and tend to Newman. After 20-30 minutes, droves of safety workers got the car on its correct side, extracted Newman out of the car and loaded him into an ambulance on a stretcher headed straight to Halifax Health Medical Center, located next to DSC.
Initial reports were unclear of his condition, but the status looked grim especially with the amount of time it took. The black wall barriers around the scene and the lack of replays shown on TV and at the stadium. No driver has died in NASCAR competition since Dale Earnhardt in 2001. His death started a revolution in NASCAR safety requirements such as the HANS device, SAFER barriers and safer cars. After initial extreme excitement, Hamlin went on to somberly celebrate his third 500 win in five years as everybody awaited the status of Newman’s health.
No updates were given for over two hours and most people were thinking the worst. People across the world were sending their thoughts and prayers. Media patiently gathered around Halifax awaiting word. At 10:04 p.m., NASCAR released a statement reading that Newman was “in serious condition, but doctors have indicated his injuries are not life threatening.”
He was released from the hospital on Feb. 19, two days after the crash, and was joking with staff and spending time with his two daughters.