Fights, fiery crashes, and heart-stopping moments are simply a number of the featured finales accompanying the incomes of one in all NASCAR’s most prized trophies: The Harley J. Earl. It is what introduced nationwide consideration to the game, and has in a manner develop into an anticipated a part of Cup’s return to Daytona, particularly on the 500 because the stakes are larger, and the prize is among the most coveted. However not each calamitous finish is created equal, and a few have earned their very own honors as probably the most dramatic. Welcome to Motorsport.com’s countdown of the ten most dramatic finishes in Daytona 500 historical past.
10. 2021 Daytona 500 — Shock upset as teammates tangle in fiery crash
Joey Logano led Penske teammate Brad Keselowski on the ultimate lap of this race. Logano, already a 500 winner (2015), was attempting to disclaim Keselowski his first. Behind them ran Michael McDowell, who had been racing for over 12 years with out a single Cup win. Getting into the ultimate nook, an aggressive block by Logano resulted within the Penske champions colliding, and a path fashioned just like the parting of the Pink Sea. Logano spun low, Keselowski crashed excessive, and McDowell went up the center as an enormous fireball erupted behind him. All drivers have been okay and in the meanwhile of warning, McDowell — in his 359th NASCAR Cup Sequence begin — was lastly a winner.
Brad Keselowski, Crew Penske, Ford Mustang Low cost Tire and Austin Cindric, Crew Penske, Ford Mustang Verizon 5G wreck
Picture by: Nigel Kinrade / NKP / Motorsport Photographs
9. 1990 Daytona 500 — Earnhardt denied as soon as once more
Everyone knows the story of Earnhardt and Daytona. He received every thing there was to win on the 2.5-mile superspeedway apart from an important race of all of them. In 1990, it appeared like destiny had lastly smiled upon him in his twelfth try. Together with his nervous spouse watching on, he took the white flag in full management of the race. Down the backstretch, nobody might construct a run to problem him. However getting into the ultimate nook, catastrophe struck. Earnhardt’s black No. 3 slid up the observe, quickly dropping tempo. He held onto it however might solely watch helplessly as the sphere raced by. The stunning loss was the results of a blown tire, opening the door for Derrike Cope to take victory.
Race winner Derrike Cope
Picture by: NASCAR Media
8. 2011 Daytona 500 — A rookie places the Wooden Brothers again in Victory Lane
NASCAR loves an underdog story, and what higher race to have one than within the greatest of all of them? Trevor Bayne, who had just one Cup begin below his belt, was making his Daytona 500 debut within the iconic No. 21 for the Wooden Brothers. One of many oldest groups in NASCAR, they’d received the five hundred 4 occasions already, however none within the final 35 years. The truth is, it had been a decade since that received any Cup race. However the day after his twentieth birthday, this 500 rookie was about to return the Wooden Brothers to their former glory. With a push from Bobby Labonte within the period of the tandem draft, he surged forward on the ultimate restart, holding again a late cost from Carl Edwards to win the five hundred in an extremely emotional victory for all concerned. Bayne by no means received once more within the Cup Sequence, however he’ll without end be generally known as a Daytona 500 champion.
Victory lane: race winner Trevor Bayne, Wooden Brothers Racing Ford celebrates
Picture by: Alexander Trienitz
7. 1959 Daytona 500 — Days to determine the inaugural victor
The primary-ever working of the Daytona 500. The newly paved asphalt of this monstrous superspeedway was fully new to the drivers of that point, and a far cry from the earlier Daytona races that occurred on the town’s sandy seashores. On this race, Petty household patriarch Lee was battling Johnny Beauchamp to the checkered flag. They encountered the automotive of Joe Weatherly, who wasn’t eager on dropping a lap. All three battled to the road in a three-wide photograph end. Beauchamp was declared the winner, however there’s one drawback with that — it was the flawed name. It took two full days for the enduring photograph to emerge, exhibiting Petty’s No. 42 simply forward of the No. 73 of Beauchamp. Two years later, these two would discover one another once more at Daytona, however below very completely different circumstances. A crash throughout one of many qualifying races despatched each of their automobiles by means of the guardrail and off the observe. Miraculously, they survived, however it proved to be a career-ending crash for each drivers.
6. 1976 Daytona 500 — Crawling throughout the road
On this period of NASCAR, David ‘The Silver Fox’ Pearson and Richard ‘The King’ Petty have been the 2 greatest names within the sport. To at the present time, they maintain first and second on the all-time wins checklist. And in 1976, whereas Richard was in Petty blue, Pearson represented the purple and white of the enduring Wooden Brothers staff. It was a real conflict of titans, and conflict they did. Exiting the ultimate nook, Pearson (virtually) cleared Petty. Their bumpers linked and Pearson crashed into the wall. Petty fishtailed as he desperately tried to hold on with the checkered flag in sight, however he too, crashed and spun. Petty’s automotive screeched to a halt within the infield dust, simply shy of the end line. As his staff ran out to try to push the automotive throughout, Pearson got here limping by in his destroyed No. 21 machine, taking the checkered flag in what is definitely the slowest velocity ever recorded by a 500 race winner on the stripe.
David Pearson and Richard Petty crash after the end
Picture by: NASCAR Media
5. 1998 Daytona 500 — 20 years of attempting, 20 years of frustration
The end itself wasn’t probably the most dramatic, however it did not must be. In one of the vital emotional moments in NASCAR historical past, Dale Earnhardt received the Daytona 500 in 1998 after “20 years of attempting, 20 years of frustration,” as Mike Pleasure famously stated. No driver has ever been as profitable as Earnhardt at Daytona, however the 1998 Daytona 500 stays his solely win within the Nice American Race. Each man from each crew got here out to congratulate him within the final signal of respect, and a outstanding present of camaraderie. Three years later, Earnhardt tragically misplaced his life within the last lap of the race he coveted greater than some other. Now, his statue stands exterior the observe, formed within the picture of Earnhardt holding the trophy from his 1998 triumph.
Dale Earnhardt celeberate his victory
Picture by: NASCAR Media
4. 2016 Daytona 500 — The closest 500 in historical past
Toyota drivers dominated the 2016 Daytona 500 in one of many first and finest examples of a producer working collectively throughout its groups to regulate a contemporary superspeedway race. On the ultimate lap, it was virtually a certainty that Toyota would win, with Denny Hamlin hellbent on ensuring it was him. Charging ahead from the skin line, he faked out his teammate, Matt Kenseth, and shot up the center, practically inflicting a crash. He then drag-raced Martin Truex Jr. to the road in a surprising photograph end. On the checkered flag, it was Hamlin by simply 0.010s — the closest end in 500 historical past.
Matt Kenseth, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, Martin Truex Jr., Furnishings Row Racing Toyota
Picture by: Motion Sports activities Pictures
3. 2020 Daytona 500 — Heartbreak and horror on the excessive banks
Ryan Newman hoped to develop into a two-time winner of the Daytona 500 in 2020. Whereas lots of the finishes on this checklist might be described as ‘nice,’ there was nothing nice about what transpired. An skilled plate racer, Newman backed himself as much as get an enormous run down the backstretch for the lead. Ryan Blaney did the identical factor, backing as much as Hamlin and permitting the 2 to construct a brand new run to problem Newman, who was infamous for being one of many hardest drivers to cross.
Newman blocked Blaney from the highest to the very backside of the observe and it appeared that the five hundred was certainly Newman’s. Then, his automotive hooked to the fitting as Blaney shoved him ahead. It slammed the wall, flipping as Hamlin pulled alongside Blaney, who received in a photograph end. However behind them, Corey LaJoie had slammed into the roof of Newman’s now totally the wrong way up automotive, sending it flying by means of the air. Newman was unconscious and lots of feared the worst as his automotive continued to slip, the wrong way up, across the observe in flames and sparks. For a number of hours the storage waited, holding their breath till phrase got here down — Newman had suffered a head damage, however he walked out of the hospital together with his daughters by his aspect not 48 hours later.
Crash of Ryan Newman, Roush Fenway Racing, Ford Mustang Koch Industries
Picture by: Matthew T. Thacker / NKP / Motorsport Photographs
2. 2007 Daytona 500 — A cinematic photograph end for the ages
This end was one match for a Hollywood film script. Mark Martin, already generally known as the everlasting bridesmaid of NASCAR as a consequence of a number of runner-up championship finishes, had a shot to win the five hundred. He was holding again Kyle Busch whereas retaining management of his personal automotive across the outdated, bumpy observe floor. However it was Kevin Harvick whom he wanted to concern, as he led a cost from the skin, drawing even with Martin by means of the ultimate set of corners. Martin received unfastened however was holding onto it. Behind him, the identical couldn’t be stated for Busch, who misplaced management and spun in entrance of the sphere. Vehicles started spinning in each route, with out a single wave of a warning flag. Harvick and Martin have been left to settle it amongst themselves in an final drag race to the flag. On the line, Harvick was forward by simply 0.020s, making Martin a bridesmaid as soon as extra. Behind them, a lot of the subject was wrecked, and Harvick’s teammate, Clint Bowyer, really flipped the wrong way up, sliding throughout the road on his roof.
Kevin Harvick beats Mark Martin to the road to win
Picture by: Motorsport Photographs
1. 1979 Daytona 500 — The race that put NASCAR on the map
Let’s set the scene right here: Your complete east coast was fully snowed in on the identical day NASCAR was to have its first nationally televised 500-mile race. It was really the proper storm for the game with thousands and thousands of eyes on NASCAR. All they needed to do was ship an epic end, and ship they did. On the ultimate lap, Cale Yarborough pulled to the within of Donnie Allison. Yarborough was proper on the sting of the muddy grass as the 2 drivers slammed doorways as soon as, twice, and a 3rd time as the 2 automobiles turned caught collectively. Sheet metallic twisted collectively and so they crashed into the skin wall earlier than spinning to a cease within the subject. Richard Petty raced by, holding again Darrell Waltrip to take the victory. In the meantime, Bobby Allison pulled as much as the positioning of the accident to verify on his brother. Whereas accounts differ on who began it, cameras caught a lot of the mayhem as an all-out brawl ensued. Most of America watched in shock and awe on the drama unfolding on their tv screens. It was probably the most dramatic Daytona 500 end in historical past, placing NASCAR on the map and shaping the way forward for the complete sport.
Cale Yarborough holds his helmet in his proper hand whereas combating off Bobby Allison together with his left leg and Bobby’s brother Donnie
Picture by: RacingOne/Getty Photographs
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