Daytona: McMurray at the top

The Daytona 500, with a final distance of 520 miles, was won by Jamie McMurray, driver of Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. But we had to wait a long time before knowing the verdict of the most important race of the season. Nascar. The fault lies with a 31-year-old coating, which suffered from the recent downpours which fell on the Florida ring. After 120 laps of the track, while Clint Bowyer was leading the race, the organizers waved the red flag, a hole in the surface, almost 50 centimeters long, having appeared in turn 2. After a long, very long wait, the pilots were able to resume after the makeshift repair of the pothole.

After a 1h40 stop, the Sprint Cup Series peloton returned to the track, the race then often changing leaders. Kevin Harvick was in the lead when the race had to be stopped again, the hole in the road having re-formed. After a 45-minute stop, the drivers set off again, hoping to finally finish the 500-mile race. The yellow flag appearing as the 200 laps approached, the organizers postponed the finish of the race, so that the Daytona 500 would not end under a neutralization regime.

Greg Biffle, a few minutes from the finish, thought he was best placed to win, before Kevin Harvick took the lead. The Richard Childress Racing driver was thus in a position to assert himself as boss of the Florida ring, one week after his victory during the Budweiser shootout, and three years after his first victory during the Daytona 500. But, slowed down by Carl Edwards , the Californian had to give up first place to Jamie McMurray, first driver in the outside lane, two laps from the finish. McMurray then moved to the inside to protect his position, before having to resist Clint Bowyer and the return of Dale Earnhardt Jr. It was therefore the driver of the No. 1 Chevrolet who won at the end of the 208 laps of this action-packed race, winning for the second time on a super oval, three months after his victory on the Talladega circuit. “ Oh my God !, exclaimed Jamie McMurray after the race. I can't believe I just won the Daytona 500. It's a dream. It?s unreal. »