2019 Daytona 500

The 2019 Daytona 500, the 61st running of the event, was a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race held on February 17, 2019, Contested over 207 laps -- extended from 200 laps due to an overtime finish, on the 2.5 mi asphalt superspeedway. After three multiple car crashes in the last 20 laps (including the Big One on lap 191 which involved 21 cars), only 19 of the 40 cars were running at the end of the race and only 14 completed every lap. It was the first race of the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season, and also marked the début of the Ford Mustang, which Ford brought in as a replacement for the Fusion. This race was the final career start for 2010 winner Jamie McMurray.

Report
Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida, that is one of six superspeedways, the others being Auto Club Speedway, Pocono Raceway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Michigan International Speedway, and Talladega Superspeedway.

Background


Daytona International Speedway is one of two superspeedways to hold NASCAR races, the other being Talladega Superspeedway. The standard track at Daytona International Speedway is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2.5 mi long. The track's turns are banked at 31 degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at 18 degrees.

First practice (February 9)
Martin Truex Jr. was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 45.937 seconds and a speed of 195.920 mph.

Second practice (February 9)
Darrell Wallace Jr. was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 46.149 seconds and a speed of 195.020 mph.

Qualifying
William Byron scored the pole for the race with a time of 46.319 and a speed of 194.305 mph.

Gander RV Duel
The Gander RV Duels are a pair of NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series races held in conjunction with the Daytona 500 annually in February at Daytona International Speedway. They consist of two races 60 laps and 150 miles (240 km) in length, which serve as heat races that set the lineup for the Daytona 500. Both races sets the lineup for positions 3–32. The first race sets the lineup for cars that qualified in odd–numbered positions on pole qualifying day. The second race sets the lineup for cars that qualified in even–numbered positions. Positions 33–36 are filled by the four drivers that posted the fastest lap in pole qualifying that didn't lock in a position in the Duel's. Positions 37–40 are set by the four cars highest in the 2018 owner's points that didn't lock in a position in the Duels and weren't among the cars that posted the four fastest timed laps in pole qualifying.

Third practice (February 15)
Kyle Busch was the fastest in the third practice session with a time of 44.936 seconds and a speed of 200.285 mph.

Fourth practice (February 15)
Paul Menard was the fastest in the fourth practice session with a time of 44.830 seconds and a speed of 200.758 mph.

Final practice (February 16)
Michael McDowell was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 47.012 seconds and a speed of 191.440 mph.

First stage
William Byron led the field to green alongside Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman. Byron led the first couple laps before shuffling it with two-time plate-race winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Matt DiBenedetto, who moved from the No. 32 with Go Fas Racing to the No. 95 with Leavine Family Racing in the offseason. The laps led were the first of DiBenedetto's career in a Daytona 500.

As Matt DiBenedetto took control of the lead, about half the field began making its first scheduled green flag pit stops of the season shortly after Lap 16. Before the second half could make its way down for tires and fuel, Corey LaJoie suffered damage which brought out the first caution of the day.

Stenhouse emerged as the leader on the restart trailed by Kevin Harvick and Aric Almirola. The No. 17 held the lead from the high line for a few laps before Kyle Busch worked his way into the top spot. Busch had started the race 31st, but benefited from the early caution.

As Kyle Busch cruised in the lead his older brother, Kurt Busch, got loose and spun out with less than 10 laps to go in the stage while trying to make a pass on Stenhouse. Busch made contact with Bubba Wallace in the spin. Jamie McMurray, in what could've been his final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start, couldn't avoid the No. 43 and suffered damage as well.

Kyle Busch remained atop the running order coming to green and led the final eight laps, going on to win the first stage of the season.

Second stage
Varying pit strategy saw Joey Logano lead the field back to green to start Stage 2. Logano led early before hitting pit road with a group of Fords a little after 10 laps in. While the newly unveiled Mustangs made their adjustments, Matt DiBenedetto resumed the lead. The new No. 95 driver went on to lead more laps in the first two stages than he had previously in his entire career with the No. 32 team.

Matt DiBenedetto put it in cruise control alongside a group of five other drivers -- Kyle Busch, Alex Bowman, William Byron, Erik Jones and Chase Elliott -- who operated under similar pit strategy and stayed out. Things then got dicey in the main pack, as Parker Kligerman and Casey Mears made contact away from the group and brought out the third caution with 14 to go in the stage.

While the six drivers who stayed out likely would have been knocked from contention for Stage 2 points, the caution allowed them to pit without issue and stay in the game. Kyle Busch capitalized on the opportunity, beating DiBenedetto off pit road.

Busch restarted fifth behind Ryan Blaney, Brad Keselowski, Ryan Preece and Kyle Larson. All four of those drivers stayed out during the yellow. Blaney and Keselowski held the top two spots on the restart, while Busch, Preece and Larson fell back through the pack.

Ryan Blaney had no problem holding off the pack for the final laps in Stage 2, claiming his first green-and-white checkered of the season.

Final stage
William Byron and Aric Almirola led the field to green for the Final Stage after staying out with a group of eight other cars between stages. Byron won the battle at the start-finish line and began pacing the field while his teammate and seven-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson moved his way into the top five.

Cars began making their way to pit road with around 40 laps to go. Things got ugly when teammates Cody Ware and B.J. McLeod collided near the pit entrance, sending the No. 52 barrelling like a wrecking ball into a crowd of innocent cars. Tyler Reddick got the worst of it, while Johnson was knocked out of contention after taking serious rear-panel damage. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was also involved, but got by mostly unscathed, however he did have to restart from the rear for pitting early.

Once the dust settled, Jamie McMurray emerged as the race leader on pit strategy despite taking damage earlier in the race. His run up front was short lived though, as he fell into the middle of the pack while Hamlin assumed the lead. Things were beginning to get interesting when NASCAR threw the caution flag for debris, allowing everyone to catch their breath. Denny Hamlin held serve on the restart ahead of Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Kyle Busch and Erik Jones. Shortly after, Jones slowed and brought his No. 20 into the pits from the third position citing fuel pressure problems. Then, with 20 to go Kyle Larson caught a tire rub, spun out and hit the wall hard to bring out another caution.

Denny Hamlin again restarted from the lead with his teammate, Kyle Busch, behind him. Just as we got under 15 laps to go, Brad Keselowski cut a tire and went spinning to bring out the ninth caution, meaning the Vegas total of over 8.5 hit.

On the next restart, CHAOS ensued. Paul Menard and Matt DiBenedetto collided, causing a pile-up involving more than half the field. Ryan Blaney and Aric Almirola were among the drivers caught up.

Once we got going again, Kyle Busch took the green flag but it was short-lived because the field wasting no time wrecking again. This time, it was Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who dove to the middle and collected Kyle Larson, Alex Bowman, Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski and Chase Elliott.

The carnage was so massive that NASCAR was forced to throw the red flag for track clean-up and to address the running order. It took nearly 30 minutes before transitioning back to yellow.

It didn't take nearly as long to get back to yellow once we went green. Just as the field approached five to go, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. got loose and collected six cars including Chase Elliott, Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski and Alex Bowman.

Clint Bowyer got aggressive on the green-white-checkered and spun the field before the white ever appeared, sending the race to overtime.

Attempt #1
The field then lined up for a green, white checkered finish but before we could get the white flag -- just as Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin were racing side-by-side -- Clint Bowyer made an aggressive move from the sixth position and caused another big wreck. William Byron and Chase Elliott took the brunt of it. This one sent the race to overtime, but not before another red flag.

Attempt #2
Denny Hamlin would go on to restart, take the lead and never give it back in overtime, winning the race at 10-to-1 odds. Luckily for the folks out in Las Vegas, Michael McDowell (fifth place) and Ty Dillon (sixth place) didn't win the race. SuperBookUSA had Dillon at 100-to-1 and McDowell at 80-to-1. If Dillon had won, bookmakers would have had to pay out $10,000 on a $100 bet.

Stage Results
Stage One Laps: 60

Stage Two Laps: 60

Final Stage Results


Laps: 80

Race statistics

 * Lead changes: 15 among 9 different drivers
 * Cautions/Laps: 12 for 47
 * Red flags: 2 for 39 minutes and 38 seconds
 * Time of race: 3 hours, 45 minutes and 55 seconds
 * Average speed: 132.792 mph

Television
Since 2001—with the exception of 2002, 2004 and 2006—the Daytona 500 has been carried by Fox in the United States. The booth crew consisted of longtime NASCAR lap-by-lap announcer Mike Joy, three–time Daytona 500 champion Jeff Gordon, and 1989 race winner Darrell Waltrip. Pit road was manned by Jamie Little, Regan Smith, Vince Welch and Matt Yocum.

Spanish-language network Fox Deportes aired the race live, with lap-by-lap announcer Jessi Losada and color analyst Rodolfo Landeros.

Radio
The race was broadcast on radio by the Motor Racing Network—who has covered the Daytona 500 since 1970—and simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. The booth crew was consisted of Alex Hayden, Jeff Striegle and 1989 Cup Series champion Rusty Wallace. Longtime turn announcer – and prodigy of MRN co-founder Ken Squier – Dave Moody was the lead turn announcer. He called the Daytona 500 from atop the Sunoco tower outside the exit of turn 2 when the field raced through turns 1 and 2. Mike Bagley worked the backstretch for the Daytona 500 from a spotter's stand on the inside of the track & Kyle Rickey called the Daytona 500 when the field raced through turns 3 and 4 from the Sunoco tower outside the exit of turn 4. On pit road, MRN was manned by lead pit reporter and NASCAR Hall of Fame Executive Director Winston Kelley. He will be joined on pit road by Steve Post, Kim Coon, and Dillon Welch.

Live Stream
Daytona 500 can be seen live on NBC Gold in the United States only. For watching it live outside the USA various services can be found on the internet.

Standings after the race

 * Drivers' Championship standings


 * Manufacturers' Championship standings


 * Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings.