Joey Logano Wins The 57th Daytona 500

Joey Logano and the Penske Racing #22 Shell Pennzoil Ford took the spoils of victory at the 57th running of the Daytona 500 this Sunday. It’s the 24-year-old Connecticut native’s 9th career victory and 6th trip to victory lane since last April, but his first in NASCAR’s biggest race.

Logano charged up to the front in the late portion of the race and was at the head of the pack with 10 to go. As some of NASCAR’s biggest stars were going 3-wide behind them, Logano was able to pick and choose which lane to go on to help keep him in front. However, a late caution set up a green-white-checkered finish, NASCAR’s two lap overtime, to finish the race. As the front four tamed themselves to go single file on the final lap, Austin Dillion spun Jeff Gordon, running his final Daytona 500, to cause a multi-car accident on the backstretch. The caution flag waved to freeze the field before defending series champion Kevin Harvick and defending 500 winner Dale Earnhardt, Jr. could mount a charge, ensuring Logano his biggest win of his career. Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson rounded out the top five.

“I was so nervous pretty much the whole race,” Logano told reporters in victory lane. “We worked so hard in the offseason and this is my weakest race track, the superspeedways, and we worked so hard at them. I couldn’t be more proud.” He was also overwhelmed by the fact he had won the crown jewel of NASCAR’s schedule. “That is really amazing,” he exclaimed. “The Daytona 500. Oh my God. Are you kidding me?”

The exciting finish capped off a wild week in NASCAR. On Friday, Kurt Busch was suspended indefinitely after a ruling on a domestic violence charge brought up by his ex-girlfriend was made against him in Delaware. The next day in the XFINITY Series race, his brother Kyle was injured in a hard crash coming out of the tri-oval. Kyle Busch will likely miss several months with a leg injury, but avoided any other serious injuries. Regan Smith replaced Kurt in the #41 car and Matt Crafton did the same for Kyle in the #18, and both came away with solid top 20 finishes.

But the main storyline of the week was the fact that this was going to be four time champion and three time 500 winner Jeff Gordon‘s final Daytona 500. Gordon, who will be retiring from full-time racing at the end of this season, led a race-high 87 laps on the day. Unfortunately for him, his day ended badly after slipping in the pack and then being caught up in the final wreck. He would have to settle for a 33rd place finish.

Still, Gordon was all smiles after the race when talking with reporters. “I obviously enjoyed the first half more than the second half,” he said, “[but] this is an amazing week and an amazing day. I’m just in this different place that is so foreign yet so incredible, just soaking it all in.”

Meanwhile, Logano continues to rack up an impressive resume early on in his career. He was in NASCAR’s championship round last season and could’ve won the Sprint Cup Series title had it not been for a costly final pit stop. The Daytona 500 victory might be a sign of his momentum from last season carrying on to this year. Logano has also virtually locked himself into this year’s Chase for the Sprint Cup playoff, as a race victory all but guarantees a spot in the 16 driver showdown.

The victory was also legendary owner Roger Penske’s second win at the “Great American Race.” He also has won 15 Indianapolis 500’s as an owner.