Jamie McMurray captures first Daytona 500 victory

Jamie McMurray claimed his first Daytona 500 victory Sunday, in the 52nd annual race. The win was surprising to many, since, at the start of the race, McMurray had only three previous NASCAR Sprint Cup victories. It was also the fourth Daytona 500 victory for Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing (previously Dale Earnhardt Inc.), of which McMurray is a member.

The Daytona 500, which took six hours to complete because of two red flags to repair potholes, between turns one and two, the race is to NASCAR as the Super Bowl is to the NFL – the most prestigious event of the year. McMurray set a new Daytona 500 record for fewest laps led; he led only two laps throughout the entire race – the final two.

The race lasted eight laps longer than the scheduled 200 due to accidents late in the race. The first caution on lap 194 set up three two-lap sprints. On lap 199, three drivers wrecked in turn three. On lap 203, a yellow flag was thrown for a wreck involving Kasey Kahne, Tony Stewart, Robert Richardson and Jeff Gordon. McMurray pushed his way to second, behind leader Kevin Harvick.

Spinning his tires on the restart on lap 207, McMurray got a push from Greg Biffle down the Daytona frontstretch and through turn one. McMurray took the lead from seventh-place finisher Harvick, and didn’t relinquish it. McMurray held off a latecharging Dale Earnhardt, Jr. to take the checkered flag.

The 2010 Daytona 500 featured 21 different leaders – another record for the race. Harvick led the most laps (41), and it was McMurray’s third Cup win at a restrictor-plate track. McMurray had a previous win at Daytona in the 2007 Pepsi 400, and at Talladega in the 2009 Amp Energy 500.

McMurray won by .119 seconds over Earnhardt, Jr. The official time of the race was 3:47:16.

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This entry was posted on Friday, February 19th, 2010 at 5:14 am and is filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.