It may not get a ton of love from the other sports fans around the country, but the Daytona 500 is one of NASCAR’s biggest races. This is because it is the start of the season and everyone showed up in droves for today’s historic race.
Rookie Chase Elliott, who took over the number 24 car for legendary racer Jeff Gordon, was sitting on the pole position, but he wrecked out early. This opened the door for some of the veterans to bring home the gold.
It was a close race. In fact, it was the closest finish in Daytona 500 history as Denny Hamlin edged out Martin Truex Jr. in a photo finish to win the race.
How close? @dennyhamlin edges @MartinTruex_Jr by .011 seconds for closest #Daytona500 ever. https://t.co/hKvk6xoupu pic.twitter.com/edReE4FSYI
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) February 21, 2016
It was a pretty epic celebration for the Joe Gibbs Racing team as Hamlin brought home his first Daytona 500 trophy, which is apparently pretty heavy.
The emotions of winning the #DAYTONA500 are close to those of winning the Championship! THIS IS HUGE! #ToyotaNation pic.twitter.com/s6lJKiQgvn
— Joe Gibbs Racing (@JoeGibbsRacing) February 21, 2016
The #DAYTONA500 trophy is heavy pic.twitter.com/aZgZrRAelt
— Busted Coverage (@bustedcoverage) February 21, 2016
It certainly looks like an exciting day and it could be a great way for Hamlin to build momentum off of the rest of the season.
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*Featured Photo (above) credit to USA Today Sports
