2011 Daytona 500 Race Results: Trevor Bayne Wins A Thriller

Edit: If you’re looking for this year’s coverage, be sure to check out our 2012 Daytona 500 results StoryStream.

Improbably, unbelievably, 20-year-old Trevor Bayne has won the Daytona 500.

A kid who just left his teen years on Saturday won the Great American Race a day later, ushering in NASCAR’s newest star. Amazingly, Bayne has no full-time ride and isn’t even running for points in the Sprint Cup Series this year.

Somehow, Bayne sent the Wood Brothers’ famous No. 21 car to Victory Lane, with a retro David Pearson paint scheme along for the ride.

Runnerup Carl Edwards’ late charge – a push from third-place David Gilliland – was barely not enough to overtake Bayne.

There was a race record for both lead changes and caution flags resulted in one of the strangest Daytona 500s in the 53-year history of the “Great American Race.”

The two-car drafts were prevalent throughout the race – as expected – and there were plenty of crashes because of it. Several star drivers were collected in early wrecks, leaving just a few solid contenders at the end.

Here are the full race results for the 2011 Daytona 500: