Nascar – Austin Dillon wins the Daytona 500

Austin DIllon (Chevrolet) won the 60th edition of the Daytona 500 (Florida) after a very eventful race. The Richard Childress Racing resident avoided the numerous crashes that punctuated the race to find himself in the position of contender at the last restart. The driver of the No. 1 Camaro ZL3 crossed Victory Lane after pushing the leader Aric Almirola (Ford).

“I’m sorry about No.10 but he would have done the same thing in my place. I dedicate this victory to Dale Earnhardt Sr. It is a great honor but also an immense pressure to drive with the number 3 on the door. Wallace Jr helped me a lot by giving me a stroller at the right time,” commented the grandson of the boss of the team of the same name which won 20 years after the seven-time champion's only victory at the Daytona 500.

Darrell Wallace Jr (Chevrolet) made a brilliant debut in Nascar Cup Series by snatching second place against Denny Hamlin (Toyota) for two thousandths in advance. Joey Logano (Ford) and Chris Buescher (Chevrolet) rounded out the top five.

This edition was marked by three “Big Ones” involving numerous headliners. Two of these accidents were indirectly caused by Ryan Blaney (Ford). The Penske driver alternated between bad and very good as the new recruit remained in the lead for more than half the race.

Danica Patrick (Chevrolet) was unsuccessful in her farewell to Nascar. The Premium Motorsports driver retired mid-race after being caught in a pile-up. She is far from being the only one not to have seen the checkered flag since 15 cars out of the 40 entered retired.

Discover the Daytona 500 report in AUTO issue 2153hebdo, available from Monday evening in digital version on all platforms, and from this Wednesday on newsstands.