2011 Daytona 500 Race Results: 20 Year Old Rookie Trevor Bayne wins the Daytona 500

20 Year Old Rookie Trevor Bayne has won the Daytona 500

Improbably, unbelievably, 20-year-old Trevor Bayne has won the Daytona 500.

A kid who just left his teen years on Saturday won the Great American Race a day later, ushering in NASCAR’s newest star. Amazingly, Bayne has no full-time ride and isn’t even running for points in the Sprint Cup Series this year.

Somehow, Bayne sent the Wood Brothers’ famous No. 21 car to Victory Lane, with a retro David Pearson paint scheme along for the ride.

Runnerup Carl Edwards’ late charge – a push from third-place David Gilliland – was barely not enough to overtake Bayne.

There was a race record for both lead changes and caution flags resulted in one of the strangest Daytona 500s in the 53-year history of the “Great American Race.”

The two-car drafts were prevalent throughout the race – as expected – and there were plenty of crashes because of it. Several star drivers were collected in early wrecks, leaving just a few solid contenders at the end.

Get the  full race results for the 2011 Daytona 500 SBNation.com.

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Trevor Bayne

452.2000 Mhz

461.7250 Mhz

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Remembers His Father, Fans have moment of Silence

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — The white No. 3 decals are no bigger than a fist and sit just above and behind the driver’s side window of all the Richard Childress Racing team’s Chevrolets. Crew members wore black baseball caps with the same No. 3 logo and driver Tony Stewart strolled through the Daytona International Speedway garage Friday afternoon clutching one of the prized caps himself.

Friday marked exactly 10 years since the driver of the Richard Childress Racing No. 3, seven-time NASCAR champion Dale Earnhardt, was killed in Turn 4 of this track after crashing on the last lap of the Daytona 500. The speedway will remember the NASCAR icon with a moment of silence and fans will hold up three fingers on the third lap of Sunday’s Daytona 500.

But for such an overwhelming event, it has been a subdued, subtle and suiting anniversary.

For the past week, Earnhardt’s competitors, teammates and friends have shared emotional stories about that fateful Sunday afternoon. But the one person you won’t see participate in any contrived memorial this weekend is Earnhardt’s son, Dale Jr. No hat, no decal. None necessary.

“I’d personally rather just watch it and stand on the sidelines,” Earnhardt said of the various tributes and memorials planned for the weekend.

“It’s more fun for me hearing how other people reflect, hearing other people’s stories. I know how I feel in my heart and I don’t feel a real need to discuss that a lot.

“I want to do what’s right and honor him, but I don’t need to do it in front of a bunch of people. I feel like he carries his own weight and he doesn’t need me being a part of the celebration or whatever you want to call it. I don’t want to take away from it in any way.”

Read the Rest at Dale Earnhardt Jr. Remembers His Father in His Own Way — Motorsports FanHouse.

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NASCAR Daytona Opener: Kurt Busch Wins Budweiser Shootout

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Call it “Dancing with the Cars.” Saturday night’s Budweiser Shootout exhibition was a 200-mph tango of two-car drafts on the newly-paved, super-fast Daytona International Speedway.

In a photo finish, Kurt Busch won a predictably wild NASCAR opener on the new $20 million racing surface, pushed to the front by defending Daytona 500 winner Jamie McMurray a few feet before the finish line. Denny Hamlin took the checkered flag first, but was subsequently black-flagged for dropping below the yellow line on the track trying to pass Ryan Newman at the finish line.

NASCAR ruled the finish Busch, McMurray and Newman. Five-time defending Sprint Cup Series champ Jimmie Johnson and Greg Biffle rounded out the top five.

“What an unbelievable experience,” Busch said.

The race had set a record for lead changes (24) with 12 laps to go — there ended up being 28. The two-car drafts were easily reaching speeds of 206 mph — nearly 15 mph faster than last year’s pole-winning speed for the Daytona 500.

Read the Rest of  Holly Cain story at Motorsports FanHouse.

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