DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Pete Pistone selects his winners and losers from the opening weekend of the 2018 NASCAR season at Daytona International Speedway.
Checkered Flags
Austin Dillon
There is a very short and prestigious list of drivers who have won “The Great American Race” and Dillon put his name in the record books with his memorable victory on Sunday. He brought back the iconic No. 3 to Victory Lane and did so 20 years after the late Dale Earnhardt scored his lone Daytona 500 win.
Bubba Wallace
Not a bad outing at all for the first time out in the Richard Petty Motorsports No. 43 Chevrolet for Wallace, who finished second behind Dillon on Sunday. It capped an intense week for Wallace and brought an emotional crescendo to his first Speedweeks as a Cup driver.
Chris Buescher
His second year at JTG Daugherty Racing got off to a great start with a top-five Daytona 500 finish. To make things even better for the team, AJ Allmendinger also scored a top-10 finish to cap off a successful outing.
Michael McDowell
The veteran driver’s first race for Front Row Motorsports ended in a top-10 finish and also came very close to turning out to be even better. McDowell was in the mix in the rush to the checkered flag and came within a few breaks going his way of scoring the upset win.
Xfinity Race Finish
It took some time getting to – like five overtimes – but the incredible photo finish between Tyler Reddick and Elliott Sadler was worth the wait for most people. It was the closest finish in NASCAR history and kicked off the Xfinity Series season in spectacular fashion.
Black Flags
Jimmie Johnson
To say it was a forgettable Speedweeks for Johnson is an understatement. Johnson went through three cars over the course of Daytona in the Clash, his Can-Am Duel and the 500. Johnson’s exit came at the end of the first stage and he was none too impressed with what he felt was overly aggressive driving from many rather than looking at the big picture.
Brad Keselowski
Many felt he had the fastest car at Daytona after Keselowski won the Clash. That car was destroyed in a Duel crash but Keselowski’s back-up appeared to have speed. Unfortunately he wasn’t able to show it much as he too was the victim of a 500 accident.
Joe Gibbs Racing
The good news for JGR is Denny Hamlin’s third place finish. After that is was a disappointing Daytona 500. Kyle Busch was eliminated of competing for the win after experiencing two cut tires. Erik Jones and Daniel Suarez both were saddled with DNFs after crashing.
Chase Elliott
He didn’t make too many fans on track with his aggressive driving both in Saturday’s Xfinity Series race as well as the 500. Unfortunately for Elliott he suffered the same fate both days punctuated by a very hard hit when he was eliminated a Sunday accident.
Aric Almirola
It wasn’t his fault but Almirola’s exit from the Daytona 500 had to be disappointing and frustrating. He did not point the finger at Dillon for making contact chalking things up to the last lap of the Daytona 500 and everybody trying to win. But there’s no doubt Almirola was boiling inside over what might have been.
The opinions expressed here are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the positions of the Motor Racing Network.
