Jeff Gordon led the most laps in the Daytona 500, but faded in the second half of the event. However, he was on pace for a top-10 finish before contact on the final lap sent the #24 car into a spin and a 33rd place finish. At the front of the field, Joey Logano held off a charge from Kevin Harvick to win the biggest race of his career, Gordon started on the pole and led the opening lap before Jimmie Johnson passed on the high line to take the lead. With drafting help from Dale Earnhardt Jr, Gordon re-assumed the lead on lap 14. He held he lead through a round of caution flag pit stops on lap 19. The next caution came on lap 41 when Tony Stewart made contact with the frontstretch wall. On the restart, Joey Logan took the race lead on the outside line. Gordon rebounded with a push from Earnhardt Jr and a side draft in the corner to take the top spot on lap 52. He led until a round of green flag stops on lap 88, where Gordon’s crew opted for four tires. Following stops, he re-assumed the lead on lap 90. At the halfway point, Gordon was leading ahead of his teammate Kasey Kahne. A debris caution on lap 105 slowed the field.
On the restart, Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano drafted past Gordon. He slipped to 7th on lap 115, before dropped to 10th by lap 120. Gordon locked into a draft with Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne to move back up to 5th place on lap 145. He came to pit road for a green flag stop on lap 153. He ran 8th when the caution waved with 40 laps to go for Brad Keselowski’s engine. Gordon came to pit road to top off on fuel. He restarted in 13th place with 35 to go. Gordon locked into a draft with Denny Hamlin in the middle line and moved up to 7th place with 30 to go. A caution for Ryan Blaney’s engine with 25 to go slowed the field. The leaders stayed out to hold track position. Gordon restarted in 7th with 19 laps to go. He locked into a draft with Martin Truex and moved into the top-5 with 15 to go. With 10 to go, Gordon moved to the middle line behind Johnson in 5th place. He slipped to 9th prior to a caution for Justin Allagaier’s crash with 3 laps to go, which set up a green/white/checkered finish. He was running 10th in the middle line on the final lap when Austin Dillon tagged the #24 car coming off turn two. The subsequent spin and contact resulted in a 33rd place finish.
JG’s comments
“For some reason, I’m still smiling and enjoying every moment of it. Obviously I enjoyed the first half a lot more than the second half. What an amazing car we had, out front controlling the race. We had just one restart where I was on the outside and couldn’t get our line going. We got shuffled back and kind of played catch up from that point on. This was an amazing week. I’m just in a different place that’s so foreign to me, but so incredible to be taking it all in and enjoying every moment. Right now, I’m a little bit sad that it’s my final Daytona 500, but I’m more upset we didn’t have a shot at winning there at the end. Congratulations to Joey Logano … that’s what it’s all about. These types of moments in such a big race. It means so much to all of us and you want to share that with the people you’re closest to that have been there along the way. I’m not going to miss those final laps. That was just crazy. But I certainly would have liked to have had a shot to win it.”
source: Jeff Gordon Online
Race Results [pdf] [html]
Driver Standings [pdf] [html] [jpg]
In-Car Audio
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Run Time: 82 minutes
File Size: 4.8mb
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Bonus Audio
Sprint Unlimited – 2-15-15
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Run Time: 34 minutes
File Size: 4mb
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Budweiser Duel – 2-19-15
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Run Time: 27 minutes
File Size: 3.1mb
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