Since forming the NASCAR arm of his racing empire in 1991 Roger Penske's eponymous outfit has won more than 50 Cup Series races and has been an almost constant threat for the series title year after year. However like the championship itself, victory in the
Daytona 500 had so far eluded ‘The Captain,' until now.
Although the opening 400 miles of the 50th running of NASCAR's biggest race were less than memorable, a typical rash of late race incidents and caution periods virtually ensured a grandstand finish for the 200,000 fans that packed out the gargantuan Daytona International Speedway. And the stars of NASCAR didn't disappoint.
For much of an unseasonably warm spring afternoon in Florida it appeared as though Toyota, one year on from its Cup Series debut, would take NASCAR's crown jewel such was the strength of Joe Gibbs Racing and, in particular Kyle Busch. But when crunch time arrived for the final restart of the day just three laps from home it was the Dodge powered contingent who were best placed, a situation culminating in Newman's last lap, turn three pass on Tony Stewart complete with a helping shove from his Penske Racing teammate Kurt Busch.
Toyota led the first of 200 trips around the 2.5-mile Daytona oval thanks to outside front row starter Michael Waltrip, who managed to out drag Jimmie Johnson's polesitting Chevrolet using the outside groove. Johnson was able to re-pass the #55 NAPA Camry in short order but soon lost out to JGR teammates Denny Hamlin and Tony Stewart.
Hamlin, Stewart and the supremely aggressive Kyle Busch proceeded to set the pace for most of the day, leading nearly 140 laps between them. Busch in particular looked tough to beat with his car seemingly able to switch lanes far quicker than anyone else. The lack of any early race cautions couple with two rounds of green flag pitstops combined to spread the field out all around the Daytona oval with some drivers, notably defending series champion Jimmie Johnson and Kurt Busch running the risk of being put a lap down by the Toyota freight train at the front.
![New Penske teammates Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch confer with crew-chief Roy McCauley in the Vegas garage. [Pic Credit Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/192834.jpg)
