02-21-2011, 12:21 PM | #1 |
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Worst Daytona 500 finishes ever
Worst Daytona 500 finishes ever
NASCAR has had its share of great finishes at the Daytona 500. It has had its share of less than stellar finishes as well. It could have been the weather, an on track incident, a bad call by NASCAR or horrible luck for your favorite driver, but everyone has a list of worst finishes. Here's a roundup of the worst Daytona finishes in no particular order. 1976 Daytona 500 Fans of Richard Petty might call the finish of the 1976 Daytona 500 the worst finish ever. The fans had to sit there and watch The King trying to restart his wrecked car as David Pearson fans cheered, watching the Silver Fox limp his car along to take the win. 1990 Daytona 500 If you ask a Dale Earnhardt fan, one of the worst Daytona 500 finishes had to be the 1990 Daytona 500. Dale had dominated the race and it looked as if he finally was going to take home the most elusive win of his career. It wasn't going to happen that day. Debris on the track cut down Earnhardt's tire. The sick feeling sunk in as you saw his car slow with problems. Salt was added to that open wound with an unlikely win by Derrick Cope. 2001 Daytona 500 The worst Daytona 500 finish is one that will be remembered on lap 3 of this year's 2011 Daytona 500. Dale Earnhardt lost his life that day in 2001. Racing and NASCAR changed forever. Some of the changes in safety and performance have made racing better, but there is no changing how everyone felt when the #3 drove up into the wall on the last lap. Michael Waltrip should have been able to celebrate a great victory, but it will always be tarnished with what happened on the track that day. 2009 Daytona 500 Then there was the 2009 Daytona 500. More fans than not were disappointed with the race and the decisions by NASCAR to call the race due to rain with over 40 laps left. Matt Kenseth fans were probably happy with the call that gave him the win. The 2009 Daytona 500 has an argument for the worst finish ever. Calling a race due to rain is just part of racing sometimes. NASCAR does have a rule that states if the race has already made it to halfway, the results are official if it is called due to weather. This is the biggest race of the year though. It would be understandable if there were just a few laps left and there was no way to get them in due to inclement weather. NASCAR probably had their reasons. Kevin Harvick will always wonder, "what if?" 2010 Daytona 500 There are a good percentage of race fans who would agree that the 2010 Daytona 500 was one of the most disappointing Daytona races to ever be held. Pavement issues caused the race to be delayed and then stopped for a long time so track seepage could be addressed and fixed. The fix produced just as many problems as it resolved. Not many would argue that the finish of that race was disappointing. Jamie McMurray is a sentimental favorite to many and his emotional victory lane speech sealed his Daytona legacy. It helped that he backed his Daytona win up with the other two biggest races of the NASCAR Sprint Cup season. 2011 Daytona 500 Some guy nobody knows won the race. |
02-21-2011, 12:32 PM | #2 |
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I don't know how they call it a 500 mile race when they run so many laps under caution. I was kind of enjoying the 2 car drafting.
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02-21-2011, 12:33 PM | #3 |
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Maybe an unknown driver, but an iconic team the WOOD brothers being the winner was VERY cool.
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02-21-2011, 12:36 PM | #4 |
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Those are good memories in some cases.... but I was there yesterday, and I can tell you it was an awesome race to be at... I've been to a bunch of em and seeing it first hand without commercials was entertaining... broke several records, and the 21 went to victory lane there 35 years ago to the weekend with the Silver Fox. I am diehard Chevy... but he had a bad fast car... and I'm glad to see the Wood Bros win again... its good for the sport!.. they are pioneers of the sport and whatever ppl say... i think its what NASCAR needed.
Sent from my EVO 4G
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02-21-2011, 12:49 PM | #5 |
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I couldn't help but poke fun and add the 2011 one, should be obvious since its short
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02-21-2011, 04:57 PM | #6 |
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The race yesterday was one of the best Daytona 500s that has been run.
Nobody deserved that win more than Bayne. He pushed at least 5 people to the front to lead laps. And yet he never lead till the end of the race. And even at the end he was content with pushing someone else to the victory. Also it was amazing in the fact that he was never being pushed till the end of the race. That race car spent 95% of the race with the nose firmly planted in another cars rear. It is amazing that thing held up strong through the whole race. |
02-21-2011, 05:32 PM | #7 |
that was a great win for Bayne but that was a borring race.
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02-21-2011, 05:46 PM | #8 |
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02-21-2011, 05:59 PM | #9 | |
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Quote:
To me this was one of the best finishes ever. I guess if you root for the Hendrick cars ,then you might feel it was a bad finish. Great day for Ford. No doubt. |
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02-21-2011, 08:19 PM | #10 |
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Look at the bright side Camaro pace car got a lot of airtime because of all the cautions.
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02-21-2011, 09:06 PM | #11 |
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Great to see the Wood Brothers in the Winner's Circle!
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02-22-2011, 12:16 AM | #12 |
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The whole 2 car drift was boring as hell IMO.
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02-22-2011, 01:00 AM | #13 | |
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02-22-2011, 01:06 AM | #14 | |
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http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showpo...62&postcount=5 |
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