NASCAR: Trevor Bayne wins the 2011 Daytona 500

February 21, 2011

driver, who qualified thirty-second, won the NASCAR   held on Sunday at  in , Florida, United States. This became his first win of his career, and his first at Daytona International Speedway. Throughout the course of the race there were 16 cautions and 74 lead changes among 22 different drivers.

Bayne had only one start in the series before the race, and by winning it, became the youngest winner of the in history at age 20. The win also gave Wood Brothers Racing their second Daytona 500 win, which their first was in the. Following Bayne, finished in the second position, ahead of, , and. followed Busch in sixth, while could only manage seventh.

,, and rounded out the top ten finishers in the race. led the most laps during the race with 37, but finished 22nd. Following the race, Bayne described his enjoyment of winning the race, "I keep thinking I'm dreaming. Our first 500 -- are you kidding me? To win our first one in our second-ever Cup race, I mean this is just incredible. Wow, this is unbelievable. How cool is it to see the Wood Brothers back in Victory Lane? It's crazy to get my first win before a Nationwide win -- I didn't know how to get to Victory Lane."

Afterward, second placed Edwards said, "Look, right now this is going to be a long night for me. I'm going to go back to the motor home, I'm going to watch the replay, think about a hundred things I could have done, think about, 'Man, what would it have been like to [win] the race?" Following the race, Edwards was the leader with 42 points. Next, Gilliland and Labonte was tied for second, only one point behind Edwards. Kurt Busch was placed fourth with 40 points, ahead of Montoya and Smith in fifth and sixth. Kyle Busch, Menard, Martin, and rounded out the top-ten point positions.

The 2011 season will continue on February 27, 2011 at for the 2011. The race will be televised on at 3:00 p.m..