Filed under: Denny Hamlin, Kurt Busch, Daytona Int'l Speedway, NASCAR
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.
Picking a dancing partner was nearly as important as having the fastest car. And "two-car breakaway" described the entire field. In an intense version of speed dating, Newman was pushed by Hamlin up until the final few feet while just alongside McMurray pushed Busch's No. 22 Pennzoil Dodge to Busch and Dodge's first Shootout victory.
"I went to the inside of Ryan Newman and I saw quickly a dart down to the bottom so I moved my car down to the bottom to avoid contact,'' Hamlin said. "I thought it was a great three-wide finish, but obviously, I used some pavement that we shouldn't have.''
Only 14 cars were still in the 75-lap exhibition with 24 laps remaining thanks to a handful of accidents caused when the two-car draft was just out of sync, a case of two left feet.
"There's plenty of film tonight for the highlight reels that's pretty much what we're filling up right now, SportsCenter,'' Kyle Busch said after his dancing, er, drafting partner, veteran Mark Martin, hit him from behind too hard and crashed them both out midway through the race.
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