{"id":22778,"date":"2018-02-21T07:06:55","date_gmt":"2018-02-21T12:06:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/?p=22778"},"modified":"2018-02-20T10:07:34","modified_gmt":"2018-02-20T15:07:34","slug":"20-years-later-no-3-chevrolet-rules-daytona-500-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/2018\/02\/20-years-later-no-3-chevrolet-rules-daytona-500-again\/","title":{"rendered":"20 Years Later, No. 3 Chevrolet Rules DAYTONA 500 Again"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><u>20 Years Later, No. 3 Chevrolet Rules DAYTONA 500 Again;<br \/>\n<\/u><\/strong><strong><u>Austin Dillon Delivers Emotional Victory for Richard Childress Racin<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><em>Darrell \u2018Bubba\u2019 Wallace Jr. Finishes Second for Richard Petty Motorsports<\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong><em>Danica Patrick Crashes, Finishes 35th in Last DAYTONA 500 Appearance<\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><strong>DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Feb. 18, 2018)<\/strong>\u00a0<strong>\u2013\u00a0<\/strong>A historic day for the DAYTONA 500 produced an emotion-filled result that will stand tall alongside the many other epic finishes that have built the tradition of \u201cThe Great American Race.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Twenty years after Dale Earnhardt ended a career-long drought by winning the DAYTONA 500 in the famed No. 3 Chevrolet of Richard Childress, Austin Dillon \u2013 Childress\u2019 grandson \u2013 returned the No. 3 to Gatorade Victory Lane at Daytona International Speedway. And he did it with a last-lap, bump-and-run move that was absolutely Earnhardt-like, to boot \u2013 in the 60th running of the season-opening race for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><!--more--><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A Lap 199 late-race incident took out a number of front-running contenders and forced two extra laps of \u201cNASCAR Overtime.\u201d On the first OT lap, Tampa native Aric Almirola (No. 10 Smithfield Ford) assumed the lead and as the final lap transpired, he appeared headed toward the victory.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As the lead pack approached Turn 3, Dillion \u2013 with a considerable aerodynamic push from the No. 43 Click n\u2019 Close Chevrolet of Darrell \u201cBubba\u201d Wallace Jr. \u2013 made a run in his Dow-sponsored car for the front but was blocked by Almirola. Dillon kept going, tapping the rear bumper of Almirola, which sent the Ford into the wall. Dillon and Wallace continued on to the finish line, with Dillon winning by 0.260 seconds. Denny Hamlin (No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota), the 2016 DAYTONA 500 champion, finished third.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI did what I had to do,\u201d Dillon said. \u201cHe was trying to block me and I just turned him. We had a run and I stayed in the gas. It\u2019s so awesome to take the No. 3 car back to victory lane. This one is for Dale Earnhardt and all those Earnhardt fans. We\u2019re going to keep kicking butt for the rest of the year.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Wallace lived his own emotional experience\u00a0<span data-term=\"goog_3374017\">Sunday<\/span>. His presence was steeped in storylines. Series rookie \u2026 returning a Richard Petty Motorsports car to DAYTONA 500 contention &#8230; first African-American in the DAYTONA 500 since Wendell Scott in 1969. And now, a runner-up in NASCAR\u2019s biggest race. That is the best finish in the DAYTONA 500 by an African-American, besting the 13th-place finish by Scott in 1966. And there\u2019s more to Wallace\u2019s story: he got a surprise pre-race vote of confidence via a phone call from baseball hall of famer Hank Aaron.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI have so many emotions going on right now,\u201d Wallace said. \u201cThank you to \u2018The King\u2019 (Petty) for giving me this opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Attrition was the name of this DAYTONA 500 game, with a series of incidents that took out high-profile contenders. As those drivers were dropping out with stunning regularity during the sun-splashed afternoon, Dillon hung around \u2013 and hung tough.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At day\u2019s end, the 27-year-old who was a wide-eyed seven-year-old in Gatorade Victory Lane when Earnhardt won, had his own piece of DAYTONA 500 history.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And Richard Childress had a second, as far as the No. 3 is concerned.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe emotions are just flowing,\u201d a tearful Childress said. \u201cThis is just so special.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The DAYTONA 500 was run in three stages over its 200-lap\/500-mile distance on the 2.5-mile, high-banked DIS tri-oval. In NASCAR\u2019s stage-racing format, valuable extra points that count in the season-long series championship battle are awarded to the top-10 finishers in each of the first two stages. The first two stages were each 60 laps while the third was 80 laps.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Defending DAYTONA 500 champion Kurt Busch (No. 41 Haas Automation\/Monster Energy Ford) won the first stage which was bookended by significant developments. During the race\u2019s first caution period, Hamlin was penalized one lap for pitting outside his box, giving him a hill to climb the rest of the day. On the stage\u2019s final lap a nine-car backstretch incident ruined the hopes of several contenders including two-time race champion Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Lowe\u2019s for Pros Chevrolet). Also, former Monster Energy champion Kyle Busch (No. 18 M&amp;M\u2019s Toyota) crashed on Lap 51 in Turn 3, necessitating an extensive pit shop for repairs.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Stage 2 was won by Ryan Blaney (No. 12 Menards\/Peak Ford), Blaney led 48 of the stage\u2019s 60 laps, including the last 22 laps. He was among the drivers involved in the Lap 199 mishap, but rebounded to finish seventh.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Racing in NASCAR for the final time, Danica Patrick (No. 7 GoDaddy Chevrolet) started strongly but ended up 35th after her involvement in a dramatic Turn 3 crash on Lap 102. The accident started when Chase Elliott (No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet), one of the pre-race favorites, slammed into the Turn 4 wall after contact with Brad Keselowski (No. 2 Discount Tire Ford). The incident also ended the day for 2007 DAYTONA 500 champion Kevin Harvick (No. 4 Jimmy John\u2019s Ford).<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIt just wasn\u2019t meant to be today,\u201d Patrick said. \u201cI\u2019m grateful for everything \u2026 thank you to all the fans.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Motorsports action resumes at Daytona International Speedway on\u00a0<span data-term=\"goog_3374018\">March 10<\/span>\u00a0with the Daytona Monster Energy AMA Supercross,\u00a0an FIM World Championship. That event will open\u00a0the 77th annual Bike Week At DAYTONA which also includes the DAYTONA TT on\u00a0<span data-term=\"goog_3374019\">March 15<\/span>\u00a0and the historic, 77th annual DAYTONA 200 on\u00a0<span data-term=\"goog_3374020\">March 17<\/span>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>20 Years Later, No. 3 Chevrolet Rules DAYTONA 500 Again; Austin Dillon Delivers Emotional Victory for Richard Childress Racin Darrell \u2018Bubba\u2019 Wallace Jr. Finishes Second for Richard Petty Motorsports Danica Patrick Crashes, Finishes 35th in Last DAYTONA 500 Appearance \u00a0DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Feb. 18, 2018)\u00a0\u2013\u00a0A historic day for the DAYTONA 500 produced an emotion-filled result [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nascar","category-touring-series-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22778","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22778"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22778\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22779,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22778\/revisions\/22779"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/16\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}