For the 2nd year in a row Tony Stewart opened the NASCAR Busch series season with a win in the Daytona 500 prelude. This crash filled race left quite a bit of carnage on the track, which many hoped wasn't a preview of Sunday's race.
Stewart started the race with an ill handling car and was holding back just to make it thourgh the race. However, late in the race he was in the position to take the lead and wasn't about to disappoint the over 100,000 fans in attendance. With 13 laps to go, Stewart took over the lead from Dale Earnhardt Jr, but once there the fight was not over yet. Despite 2 of the race record 11 cautions being thrown in the next 4 laps, the action slowed but was by no means over. With 5 laps to go, the green dropped yet again with Stewart in the lead pursued by Earnhardt Jr. Thats when things got interesting. Earnhardt and DEI teammate Michael Waltrip both raced for the lead, 3 wide around the track, twice, bring the audience to their feet. However, each time Stewart led to the line. On lap 118, rookie teamate Burney Lamar shows up behind Stewart seemingly out of nowhere. This would prove to be the assistance Stwart needed to take over the lead for good.
As Stewart raced to the checkered flag, the largest melee ensued behind him, involving 10 cars and delaying the placing of the rest of the filed for at least an hour. After reviewing multiple angles of vidoe footage NASCAR determined that Stewarts teammate, Lamar was 2nd followed by Clint Bowyer, Jon Wood, and Kevin Harvick rounding out the top-5.
Next weeks race is the Stater Bros 300 at California Speedway on February 25, 2006 with broadcast to be on FX starting at 6:00pm EST.
RESULTS
1 16 #33 Tony Stewart Chevrolet Old Spice 185/5 120 Running $112,650
2 21 #77 Burney Lamar * Chevrolet Dollar General 170/0 120 Running $98,425
3 3 #2 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet ACDelco 170/5 120 Running $88,620
4 34 #47 Jon Wood Ford Clorox/American Red Cross 160/0 120 Running $72,925
5 17 #29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Hershey's Kissables 155/0 120 Running $58,875
6 24 #32 Jason Leffler Chevrolet Lucas Oil Products 150/0 120 Running $63,900
7 19 #06 Todd Kluever * Ford 3M 146/0 120 Running $52,625
8 1 #18 J.J. Yeley Chevrolet Vigoro/The Home Depot 147/5 120 Running $62,950
9 13 #41 Reed Sorenson Dodge Discount Tire 138/0 120 Running $60,900
10 41 #4 Mark Green Dodge GEICO 134/0 120 Running $56,200
11 27 #1 Jason Keller Dodge Miccosukee Gaming & Resorts 130/0 120 Running $59,050
12 35 #25 Ashton Lewis Ford U.S. Marines 127/0 120 Running $52,975
13 30 #22 Kenny Wallace Ford AutoZone 124/0 120 Running $52,850
14 18 #20 Denny Hamlin Chevrolet Rockwell Automation 121/0 120 Running $59,700
15 42 #99 Michael Waltrip Dodge Aaron's 118/0 120 Running $47,450
16 36 #64 Jamie McMurray Dodge Top-Flite Golf 120/5 120 Running $46,400
17 20 #8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet Kraft Foods 122/10 120 Running $46,150
18 8 #50 Danny O'Quinn Jr. * Ford World Financial Group 109/0 120 Running $46,025
19 22 #36 Tim Sauter Chevrolet Lester Building Systems 106/0 120 Running $49,920
20 39 #14 Tracy Hines * Dodge Bluegreen Resorts 103/0 120 Running $50,545
21 43 #49 Steve Grissom Ford Advil Liqui-Gels 105/5 120 Running $47,800
22 25 #88 Mark McFarland * Chevrolet U.S. Navy 97/0 120 Running $45,525
23 40 #58 Donnie Neuenberger Chevrolet Cayman Islands 94/0 120 Running $47,700
24 37 #34 Paul Tracy Chevrolet SportClips 91/0 120 Running $49,245
25 9 #5 Kyle Busch Chevrolet Lowe's/Shop-Vac 88/0 120 Running $45,200
26 32 #35 Regan Smith Ford McDonald's 85/0 120 Running $48,995
27 31 #59 Stacy Compton Ford Kingsford/Bush's Beans 82/0 119 Running $48,895
28 6 #90 Elliott Sadler Ford CitiFinancial 79/0 119 Running $44,800
29 38 #12 David Reutimann Dodge Supercuts 76/0 111 Accident $48,720
30 15 #21 Jeff Burton Chevrolet U.S. Coast Guard 78/5 101 Engine $44,825
31 10 #16 Greg Biffle Ford Ameriquest Mortgage 75/5 94 Accident $44,425
32 26 #157 Brian Vickers Chevrolet Ore-Ida 72/5 93 Accident $44,550
33 12 #9 Kasey Kahne Dodge Ragu 69/5 93 Accident $44,300
34 5 #10 John Andretti * Ford Freedom Roads/Camping World 61/0 92 Running $46,250
35 4 #00 Johnny Sauter Chevrolet Yellow Transportation 58/0 89 Running $53,720
36 29 #66 Ken Schrader Ford Duraflame 55/0 89 Running $44,025
37 23 #27 David Green Ford Kleenex/Walgreen's 52/0 81 Running $53,495
38 14 #11 Paul Menard Chevrolet Menards 49/0 78 Running $47,945
39 11 #60 Carl Edwards Ford Ameriquest Mortgage 46/0 65 Running $43,885
40 7 #87 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet VFW 43/0 51 Accident $43,835
41 28 #195 Steadman Marlin Dodge Sadler Bros. Trucking & Leasing 40/0 49 Accident $43,755
42 33 #- Anthony Foyt Unknown No Sponsor 37/0 39 Accident $53,225
43 2 #43 Aaron Fike Dodge CayClub.com/CA Perf. Grp 34/0 28 Accident $45,910
* Denotes Rookie
