The 50th running of the Daytona 500 will go into the record books with Ryan Newman as the winner. Certainly not thought of as many as being a strong contender to win, he was in the right place at the right time to take the checkered flag. Overall it was a good day for the Penske team with Newman's teammate Kurt Busch finishing second. Several surprise drivers finished in the top 10. Reed Sorenson finished 5th, Gillette Evernham teammates Elliott Sadler and Kasey Kahne finished 6th and 7th respectively, Robby Gordon finished 8th, and Greg Biffle was the highest finishing Ford, in 10th place. Ford struggled during the entire Daytona Speedweeks and it certainly showed in the race. Five of the seven Fords finished 26th or worse. On the other hand, Toyota was impressive. Six of the nine entered Toyota cars finished 18th or better, including 2 of the 3 Michael Waltrip Racing cars, which showed practically nothing in 2007.
Based on what we saw during this race as well as the entire speedweeks, 2008 has many interesting things to look forward too. Will the Car of Tomorrow prove to be successful for the entire 36 race schedule? Will Toyota's success at Daytona continue throughout the season? How will the Hendrick Racing team be affected with the addition of Dale Earnhardt Jr.? Will the wave of Indy talent be at all a factor during this season? And of course, who will win the 2008 Championship? Congratulations to Ryan Newman and the entire Penske Racing Team on their 2008 Daytona 500 victory.




more



Comment!