2021 daytona 500 from the stands
Michael McDowell wins rain-delayed Daytona 500 after last-lap wreck DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Somebody had to make a move to win the Daytona 500, and maybe Michael McDowell would have pulled out of traffic to take his shot at a monster upset.
McDowell never had to play his hand.He stayed right where he was, flat in the gas, and drove through a crash scene at Daytona International Speedway. With a fiery multicar pileup in his rearview mirror, the journeyman pulled of a stunning upset early Monday morning.
A 100-1 underdog when the race began Sunday afternoon, McDowell won for the first time in 358 Cup starts when the checkered flag finally flew about 15 minutes after midnight. The race was stopped by rain for almost six hours and ended nine hours after the green flag waved at Daytona International Speedway. "So many years just grinding it out and hoping for an opportunity like this," McDowell said. "Such a great way to get a first victory -- a Daytona 500. Are you kidding me?"
NASCAR's season opener was stacked with storylines. Denny Hamlin was trying for a record third consecutive Daytona 500 victory, and the team he started with Michael Jordan was debuting with driver Bubba Wallace.
Kyle Larson was back after nearly a year in exile for using a racial slur, and reigning Cup champion Chase Elliott was trying for his first Daytona 500 win.
And all the way at the back of the field, 1990 Daytona 500 winner Derrike Cope was making what he said would be his final NASCAR start. At 62 he was the oldest driver in the field, and his upset victory 31 years ago is considered the biggest in race history.
McDowell didn't challenge Cope for that distinction because McDowell is considered a talented superspeedway racer who just needed to be in the right place to finally win.
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