On Sunday afternoon and evening, celebrating his reunion with owner Chip Ganassi with a victory in the first race of their second tenure together, Jamie McMurray won the 52nd running of the Daytona 500: The Stock-Car Racing Miniseries in three parts. The adrenaline rush of the final two laps, the second attempt at a green-white-checkered-flag finish under rules implemented by NASCAR before Thursday's Gatorade Duels, all but erased the frustration of almost 2½ hours of stoppages as track workers at Daytona International Speedway repaired potholes in the asphalt between Turns 1 and 2.
An accident on Lap 194 involving Elliott Sadler, Ryan Newman and Travis Kvapil, set up a succession of three two-lap dashes. Caution interrupted the first on Lap 199 when Bill Elliott, Joey Logano and Boris Said crashed in Turn 3, with Greg Biffle less than a mile from what would have been his first Daytona 500 victory. The field failed to make it to the white flag under green on a restart on Lap 203, because NASCAR called a caution for a wreck off Turn 2 involving Kasey Kahne, Tony Stewart, Robert Richardson and Jeff Gordon. By then, McMurray had rocketed to second position behind Harvick and restarted next to Harvick on Lap 207. McMurray spun his tires on the restart on Lap 207 but got a push down the frontstretch and through the first turn from third-place finisher Biffle. Securing the top spot from Kevin Harvick on the backstretch, McMurray led the final two laps. Those were the only laps he led, the lowest total for a Daytona 500 winner, crossing the finish line .119 seconds ahead of Dale Earnhardt Jr., who surged from the pack to chase McMurray to the stripe on Lap 208.
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