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Daytona 500 Didn't Go According To Script

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By TONY FABRIZIO, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 19, 2008

Updated: 02/18/2008 11:12 pm

DAYTONA BEACH - The morning before the 50th Daytona 500, team owner Chip Ganassi sat at a table with a small group of reporters and agreed Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing had the cars and drivers to beat in the season's biggest race.

He also cited the perceptions that preceded Super Bowl XLII and the way the game turned out.

"That's why they're going to have a race," he said, pointing out the New York Giants' upset of the New England Patriots. "You still have to execute. You still have to do pit stops. You still have to have luck on your side. Your engine has to finish, and you can't get caught up in a crash. There's a lot that can happen. They just can't hand the trophy out."

Ganassi's lineup of Reed Sorenson, Juan Pablo Montoya and Dario Franchitti didn't produce a Daytona 500 victory, but another Dodge combination that hadn't been mentioned among the favorites - Penske Racing and Ryan Newman - did.

Newman's victory was a reminder that predicting outcomes in NASCAR is no more dependable than in other sports, and there should be no underestimating the depth of capable teams in NASCAR's top level.

History, preseason testing and Daytona's preliminary races painted Sunday's race as a showdown between the Hendrick trio of Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the fast Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas of Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin.

But when the final 100 miles began Sunday night, Hendrick's only hope was a struggling Earnhardt, and Stewart and Busch had their hands full with several unexpected contenders. And as it turned out, Earnhardt finished a quiet ninth.

At one point or another, Matt Kenseth, Montoya, Clint Bowyer, Greg Biffle, Sorenson, Kurt Busch, Kasey Kahne, Jeff Burton all looked liked threats to win.

Kenseth's hopes were undone when Roush Fenway Racing teammate David Ragan floated up the track like a driver who'd fallen asleep and drove him into the wall. Bowyer's shot ended when Montoya carried too much momentum into the corner and punted him from behind.

Burton got to experience the exhilaration of leading the Daytona 500 with three laps remaining, but on the final green-white-checkered restart, he had neither the car nor the drafting help to hold off Stewart, Newman and Kurt Busch.

The deciding factor in a frenetic final lap was Newman had teammate Kurt Busch pushing him in the outside lane, while Stewart's help on the inside from teammate Kyle Busch was late arriving.

"Kind of the moons just aligned," said Newman, whose previous results in the Daytona 500 included a spectacular flip in 2003 and a third-place finish in 2006.

Earnhardt often says it takes "pot luck" to win at Daytona. Certainly, Newman got a bowl of it when circumstances shifted his way in the final laps. But the skill and patience he exhibited in putting himself in position did not go unrecognized.

"Ryan drove a masterful race," said his crew chief, Roy McCauley. "When he had the car, he ran in the first five. When he didn't have the car, he'd find a slot somewhere between sixth and 10th and mind his time until we could get it right. I think that's the mark of being a smart driver and using your car when you can."

Sunday was supposed to be Hendrick vs. Gibbs. Instead, Penske Racing finished 1-2, and forgotten Gillett Evernham Motorsports placed Elliott Sadler and Kahne in the top seven. It was supposed to be Chevy vs. Toyota. Instead, Dodges finished first and second and fifth through eighth.

Daytona, as a restrictor-plate track, doesn't always provide an accurate forecast of what will happen elsewhere. But what Sunday's race suggests is NASCAR's big three of Hendrick, Gibbs and Roush Fenway may have more to worry about than each other.

Reporter Tony Fabrizio can be reached at (813) 259-7994

or afabrizio@tampatrib.com.

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