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Date February 14, 2010 (2010-02-14) Location Daytona International Speedway
Daytona Beach, Florida, U.S. Course Permanent racing facility
2.5 mi (4.023 km) Distance 208 laps, 520 mi (836.858 km) Scheduled Distance 200 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km) Weather Cold with temperatures reaching up to 55 °F (13 °C); wind speeds up to 8 miles per hour (13 km/h) | ||
The 2010 Daytona 500 was the 52nd running of the event, and the first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race of the 2010s decade. It kicked off the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season on February 14 at the 2.5 mile (4.0 km) Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Fox telecast the race while radio coverage was handled by Sirius XM Radio via satellite radio and over-the-air on MRN Radio in the USA. One change in this year's schedule found pole qualifying being held one day earlier, on February 6 because Super Bowl XLIV was held the following day.
Contents
The race started at 1:00 p.m. EST to comply with the new 1/3/7:30 rule for race starts during the new season. However, due to two long delays because of potholes in turns 1 and 2, the race finished in prime time under the lights on the 2.5 miles (4.0 km) track, the winner being Jamie McMurray in the #1 Impala.
There were no NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rookies in the race for the first time since the Raybestos Rookie of the Year program started, as Terry Cook, the only rookie candidate approved to run at Daytona, failed to qualify. The other rookie entering 2010, Kevin Conway, was not approved to run Daytona due to the lack of superspeedway experience. Three veteran drivers – Max Papis (second year), Michael McDowell (third year) and Brad Keselowski (second year) – were the only Daytona 500 rookies, all of whom had raced in a previous Coke Zero 400.
Potential testing
While NASCAR's testing ban is set to continue for the 2010 season, Goodyear held a tire test November 2, 2009, to consider tires, and allowed all teams to test.
In light of the 2009 AMP Energy 500, where two cars were involved in violent crashes (with Ryan Newman's blowover on lap 184 and Mark Martin's flip on lap 190), NASCAR officials said November 23, 2009, during the joint Nationwide/Camping World Truck banquet in Miami they are contemplating a test at Daytona prior to the teams arriving in February 2010 in order to test potential changes to prevent a recurrence of the incidents at Talladega in November 2009.
Race summary
The green flag waved at 1:19 p.m. EST. The first caution flew on the lap 8 with a 6-car pileup. Drivers involved in this wreck were Brad Keselowski; Sam Hornish, Jr.; Regan Smith and Boris Said. That was the largest crash of the day, as The "Big One" didn't happen, a rarity in recent restrictor plate races. On lap 51, nearly all of the drivers went into the pits. The second caution flew on lap 66, when Joe Nemechek spun out. Mike Bliss spun out on lap 79, bringing out the third caution.
On lap 122, the race was red-flagged for one hour, 42 minutes to allow track repair as a result of a pothole that developed in the track surface in turn 2. It was speculated that the recent heavy rain and cold weather in central Florida was responsible for the damage, as well as the fact the track hadn't been resurfaced since 1978. The fifth caution came on lap 144 when A. J. Allmendinger spun out. A second red-flag was waved on lap 161 for further track repairs in turn 2, lasting another 45 minutes. On lap 185, Jimmie Johnson lost a rear axle.
On lap 194, the sixth caution came when Elliott Sadler got loose and collected Ryan Newman and Travis Kvapil. On lap 198, Bill Elliott, Joey Logano and Boris Said all crashed, resulting in the first green–white–checker finish attempt. On lap 203, Kasey Kahne and Robert Richardson collided on the back stretch, bringing out the seventh caution. Jamie McMurray won the race on the second green-white-checker attempt with Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in 2nd. Jeff Gordon, Robby Gordon, Kurt Busch, Bobby Labonte, Michael Waltrip and Scott Speed crashed in the last corner on the final lap, but NASCAR allowed the race to finish under green. There were 52 lead changes, which made the race one of the most competitive Daytona 500 races in history. The race also served – in terms of both time and distance – as the longest race in Daytona history with the finish under the lights (over six hours including the two red flag stoppages for pothole repairs) and 520 miles (840 km) because of new green-white-checker finish rules that took effect with this race. The ratings also took a huge hit (due to the delays), as it only drew 7.7/16 on the Nielson Ratings, the lowest ratings since 1991 (affected by the first of a series of pit road rule changes caused by a pit road crash which killed Mike Ritch, a tire changer from the Melling Racing team at the 1990 Atlanta Journal 500 in Atlanta Motor Speedway, when Ricky Rudd slid down and pinned him when he was about to change tires for their driver, Bill Elliott) and the fourth lowest since the first flag-to-flag coverage in 1979. The ratings for the race, by rule, were calculated as if there were rain delays, although Fox stayed on-air with driver interviews throughout the entire delay.
Qualifying and final results
* – NASCAR rules state that if a driver, car, engine, or transmission change is made by the team, that car starts the race in the back of the field. For the Daytona 500, the rule applies to a car if a crash took place in the Gatorade Duel or in the Friday or Saturday practice. An engine or transmission change was permitted after the Gatorade Duel, so the engine and transmission used in Friday practice had to be used in Saturday practice and the race. The penalty for an engine or transmission change applies only if a second engine change was made after the Gatorade Duel once Friday practice begins.