Joey Logano wins his first Daytona 500
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Joey Logano picked up the biggest win of his still-young career Sunday, winning NASCAR's biggest race and putting his name alongside the sport's greats at just 24 years old. Logano, who drives for Team Penske, was a finalist for the Sprint Cup Series championship last year but came away disappointed when he finished fourth. Now he's a Daytona 500 champion.
RED FLAG: NASCAR red-flagged the race with five laps to go after Justin Allgaier's spin, setting up a green-white-checkered finish.
GORDON'S LAST 500: Jeff Gordon was involved in a multi-car crash on the final lap in his final start in a race he has won three times (1997, '99 and 2005). He started from the pole and said his attempt would be "all or nothing." The four-time champion announced before the season this would be his final full-time season in Cup.
"For some reason, I'm still smiling and enjoying every moment," Gordon said after the race "Obviously, I enjoyed the first half more than the second half, but this was an amazing week, an amazing day.
"I'm just in a different place, just taking it all in. Yeah, I'm sad I didn't win, but I'm just soaking it all up. I'll tell you one thing, I'm not going to miss those final laps that's for sure."
DEFENDING CHAMP: Dale Earnhardt Jr., who won this race in 2014, said"I had one of the best cars out there. It's real disappointing, cause the guys gave me the best car. I should have won." He said he made a bad choice in the draft at the close of the race and got sucked back in the draft.
0-FOR-17: Tony Stewart got tight on lap 40 and drifted up the track out of Turn 4, made contact with Ryan Blaney and found himself turned into the wall. Stewart, going for his first Daytona 500 victory in his 17th attempt, suffered a steering issue and right-front damage. He finished 42nd. Matt Kenseth also had damage in the incident, as well as Michael Waltrip.
BIG BOOM: Landon Cassill was running 15th when his engine suddenly blew up on lap 18. He said it was a "bummer" for his No. 40 Hillman Racing team, a small-budget organization which depends on Daytona's big prize money.
BIG BOOM 2: Brad Keselowski's No. 2 car went up in smoke with 40 laps to go, and he wasn't the only one impacted by the incident. Jamie McMurray slid into the wall after driving through the fluid from Keselowski's car, and Ryan Newman ran into the back of McMurray's No. 1 car as he slowed.
BIG BOOM 3: Rookie Ryan Blaney, making his first start in the 500 and just his third Cup start, blew a motor with 24 laps remaining, making the second expired engine from Ford.
CLEAN START: After grand marshal Vince Vaughn gave a rousing command for drivers to start their engines, U.S. women's soccer star Abby Wambach waved the green flag to start the 57th running of the Daytona 500 under sunny Florida skies.
MISSING: Kyle Busch watched the race with wife Samantha from his hospital room across the street at Halfiax Medical Center. He broke his leg and foot in an Xfinity Series crash Saturday. His car slammed head-on into an interior concrete wall that had no SAFER barrier. Busch had surgery on his leg; the prognosis for his foot still is to be will be determined. Team owner Joe Gibbs said Busch is out indefinitely.
MISSING 2: Kurt Busch missed the race after being suspended by NASCAR on Friday after a Delaware family court commissioner's supplemental written arguments for a protective order granted against Busch's ex-girlfriend were released. Busch's appeal was denied Saturday night.
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Full Daytona 500 results
Lap length: 2.5 miles(Start position in parentheses)
1. (5) Joey Logano, Ford, 203 laps, 125.3 rating, 47 points, $1,581,453.
2. (11) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 203, 116.3, 42, $1,157,470.
3. (3) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 203, 124.9, 42, $857,245.
4. (42) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 203, 109.9, 41, $680,758.
5. (2) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 203, 104.9, 40, $616,232.
6. (41) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 203, 63.1, 39, $470,640.
7. (9) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 203, 88.4, 37, $437,870.
8. (10) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 203, 98.4, 37, $405,297.
9. (13) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 203, 104.5, 35, $375,045.
10. (8) Greg Biffle, Ford, 203, 91.5, 35, $389,308.
11. (26) David Gilliland, Ford, 203, 61.3, 33, $348,458.
12. (38) Sam Hornish Jr., Ford, 203, 76.1, 32, $361,953.
13. (27) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 203, 74.4, 32, $330,945.
14. (30) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 203, 73.4, 30, $365,219.
15. (33) Aric Almirola, Ford, 203, 59.4, 29, $363,381.
16. (24) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 203, 69.3, 0, $340,558.
17. (28) David Ragan, Ford, 203, 45.1, 27, $324,908.
18. (4) Matt Crafton, Toyota, 203, 54.7, 0, $383,124.
19. (36) Johnny Sauter, Toyota, 203, 50.2, 0, $318,970.
20. (40) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 203, 48.1, 25, $337,420.
21. (20) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 203, 69.6, 23, $331,628.
22. (19) Cole Whitt, Ford, 203, 54.8, 22, $318,065.
23. (6) Carl Edwards, Toyota, 203, 88.2, 22, $335,603.
24. (43) Bobby Labonte, Ford, 203, 39.3, 20, $326,103.
25. (21) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 203, 81.1, 19, $327,840.
26. (34) Michael Waltrip, Toyota, 203, 43.7, 18, $347,217.
27. (15) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 203, 79, 17, $349,398.
28. (31) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 203, 72, 0, $317,190.
29. (32) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 203, 72.3, 15, $325,778.
30. (37) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 203, 61.8, 14, $313,240.
31. (23) Michael McDowell, Ford, 203, 64.8, 13, $313,590.
32. (14) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 203, 39.2, 12, $314,228.
33. (1) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 203, 106.7, 13, $594,801.
34. (29) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, accident, 202, 54.8, 10, $344,381.
35. (35) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 202, 55, 9, $350,826.
36. (16) Mike Wallace, Toyota, 199, 26.8, 8, $313,883.
37. (18) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, accident, 197, 61.3, 7, $319,158.
38. (22) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 184, 43.2, 6, $317,261.
39. (12) Ryan Blaney, Ford, engine, 175, 52.2, 0, $281,003.
40. (25) J.J. Yeley, Toyota, 161, 43.8, 0, $273,790.
41. (39) Brad Keselowski, Ford, engine, 160, 76.6, 3, $318,331.
42. (7) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, accident, 72, 59.5, 2, $300,598.
43. (17) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, engine, 18, 26.4, 0, $262,390.
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Race statistics
Average speed of race winner: 161.939 mph.
Time of race: 3 hours, 8 minutes, 2 seconds.
Margin of victory: 0.219 seconds.
Caution flags: 7 for 26 laps.
Lead changes: 27 among 12 drivers.
Lap Leaders: J.Gordon 1; J.Johnson 2-13; J.Gordon 14-19; J.Yeley 20; M.Annett 21; C.Mears 22; J.Gordon 23-45; J.Logano 46-51; J.Gordon 52-86; C.Edwards 87; D.Hamlin 88; J.Gordon 89-107; A.Allmendinger 108; J.Gordon 109-111; D.Hamlin 112; J.Logano 113; D.Earnhardt Jr. 114-145; J.Logano 146-153; G.Biffle 154-155; J.Logano 156-157; J.Johnson 158-165; C.Edwards 166-167; J.Johnson 168-180; J.Logano 181; J.Johnson 182-187; M.Truex Jr. 188; D.Hamlin 189-190; J.Logano 191-203.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led): J.Gordon, 6 times for 87 laps; J.Johnson, 4 times for 39 laps; D.Earnhardt Jr., 1 time for 32 laps; J.Logano, 6 times for 31 laps; D.Hamlin, 3 times for 4 laps; C.Edwards, 2 times for 3 laps; G.Biffle, 1 time for 2 laps; C.Mears, 1 time for 1 lap; M.Truex Jr., 1 time for 1 lap; M.Annett, 1 time for 1 lap; A.Allmendinger, 1 time for 1 lap; J.Yeley, 1 time for 1 lap.
Wins: J.Logano, 1.
Top 16 in Points: 1. J.Logano, 47; 2. K.Harvick, 42; 3. D.Earnhardt Jr., 42; 4. D.Hamlin, 41; 5. J.Johnson, 40; 6. C.Mears, 39; 7. C.Bowyer, 37; 8. M.Truex Jr., 37; 9. K.Kahne, 35; 10. G.Biffle, 35; 11. D.Gilliland, 33; 12. S.Hornish Jr., 32; 13. M.Annett, 32; 14. A.Dillon, 30; 15. A.Almirola, 29; 16. D.Ragan, 27.
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NASCAR driver rating formula
A maximum of 150 points can be attained in a race.
The formula combines the following categories: Wins, Finishes, Top-15 Finishes, Average Running Position While on Lead Lap, Average Speed Under Green, Fastest Lap, Led Most Laps, Lead-Lap Finish.