Hendrick Motorsports owned almost all the storylines entering the Daytona 500, after sweeping the first three spots in qualifying and with four-time champion Jeff Gordon claiming the pole in his final season. But it was 24-year-old Penske driver Joey Logano who took the victory Sunday after a green-white-checkered finish at Daytona International Speedway following a wreck that stopped the race with three laps remaining. Logano took the lead on the 191st lap. The race ended under caution after another wreck behind the leaders.
Joey Logano wins the 2015 Daytona 500
Patrick Smith/Getty Images
Gordon led 87 laps, more than any other driver, but Earnhardt and Johnson rounded out a dominating performance by the team. Johnson led 39 laps while Earnhardt led 32. Logano led 31.
On lap 197, Justin Allgaier hit the wall, leaving a mess on the front stretch that stopped the field under red flag for about seven minutes.
The race was largely caution free early, with just three yellow flags during the first 150 laps. Landon Cassill blew an engine early, and not long after Tony Stewart went up the track, getting into both Matt Kenseth and the wall, ending any hopes of victory Stewart had when his front end sustained a fair amount of damage. Former Cup champion Brad Keselowski ran into engine problems later, resulting in the fourth yellow at the 160-lap mark. Fifteen laps later, Ryan Blaney’s day ended when the No. 21 car had an engine failure as well.
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