Twenty years ago, Dale Earnhardt Sr. won his only Daytona 500. Austin Dillon was just 7 years old. Twenty years later, Dillon claimed the Great American Race in Earnhardt's No. 3.
The 27-year-old Dillon won the 60th running of the Daytona 500 in overtime on Sunday after spinning and passing Aric Almirola on the final lap. It's the second win of Dillon's career and means he will be heading back to the playoffs to compete for a NASCAR championship later this season.
The field was running single file with 10 laps to go as Ryan Blaney continued to pace the field after leading over 100 laps when William Byron went spinning near the start-finish line to bring out the caution and set up the finish.
On the restart, Blaney shuffled the lead with Denny Hamlin and 2017 Daytona 500 winner Kurt Busch before the big one came down. It appeared that Blaney got into the rear bumper of Busch, sending him into a tailspin and taking him out along with pole-starter Alex Bowman, Matt DiBenedetto, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ryan Newman and 2017 Cup champ Martin Truex Jr. The massive wreck sent the race into overtime.
Hamlin led the field to green in overtime but was passed by Almirola on the backstretch. Coming to the checkered flag Dillon got into the back of Almirola and spun him en route to the finish line.
2018 Daytona 500 results
- Austin Dillon
- Darrell Wallace Jr.
- Denny Hamlin
- Joey Logano
- Chris Buescher
- Paul Menard
- Ryan Blaney
- Ryan Newman
- Michael McDowell
- AJ Allmendinger
- Aric Almirola
- Justin Marks
- Trevor Bayne
- David Gilliland
- Clint Bowyer
- Jamie McMurray
- Alex Bowman
- Martin Truex Jr.
- Kyle Larson
- Gray Gaulding
- Jeffrey Earnhardt
- Mark Thompson
- William Byron
- DJ Kennington
- Kyle Busch
- Kurt Busch
- Matt DiBenedetto
- Brendan Gaughan
- Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
- David Ragan
- Kevin Harvick
- Brad Keselowski
- Chase Elliott
- Kasey Kahne
- Danica Patrick
- Erik Jones
- Daniel Suarez
- Jimmie Johnson
- Ty Dillon
- Corey LaJoie
Stage 1: Kurt Busch wins as multiple playoff drivers wreck
Kurt Busch led most of the laps throughout the first stage of the race and it continued on Lap 60 as a big wreck emerged behind him and Alex Bowman.
2017 Rookie of the Year Erik Jones got loose looking to make a pass on the final lap of the stage and took a host of other cars with him into the wall, including 7-time series champion Jimmie Johnson.
Big wreck in Stage 2
Late in the second stage, Chase Elliott went spinning on the backstretch and absolutely totaled his car, taking out Danica Patrick, Kasey Kahne, Michael McDowell, David Ragan and Vegas favorite Brad Keselowski in the process. Kevin Harvick also took on a considerable amount of damage in the wreck.
For Patrick, the wreck was career-ending. The Daytona 500 was the final NASCAR race of Patrick's career. Over five seasons, Patrick earned seven top-10 finishes and one pole coming during the 2013 edition of the Great American Race. The 35-year-old is the first woman to lead laps under green in the Cup Series as well as lead a lap and qualify on the pole.
"The guys -- the whole team -- did a really good job. I know we pulled this together not that long ago - a month ago - that's a tall order to get a car ready for a superspeedway that's competitive. But it was. I said earlier today that I feel like the whole thing was picture perfect with GoDaddy on the car and it being that green again," Patrick said. "But it just wasn't meant to be today. But I am proud - we raced the whole race -- other than a little bit at the end of that first stage when I just looked silly with all the cars with no tires and tires. Other than that, we raced it. It was competitive. That's all you can do. That's the gamble about Daytona."
Harvick attempted to come back on the track after the wreck, but timed out on pit road and is done for the day. Later on in the stage Ricky Stenhouse Jr. spewed steam out of his car but was able to bring it down pit road and get back out on the track.
Read More:2018 Daytona 500 results, leaderboard, winner: Austin Dillon takes the crown in OT - CBSSports.com
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