Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] | |||
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Race 1 of 36 in the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series | |||
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Date | February 16–17, 2020 | ||
Location | Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida | ||
Course |
Permanent racing facility 2.5 mi (4 km) | ||
Distance | 209 laps, 522.5 mi (836 km) | ||
Scheduled Distance | 200 laps, 500 mi (800 km) | ||
Average speed | 141.11 miles per hour (227.09 km/h) | ||
Pole position | |||
Driver | JTG Daugherty Racing | ||
Time | 46.253 | ||
Qualifying race winners | |||
Duel 1 Winner | Joey Logano | Team Penske | |
Duel 2 Winner | William Byron | Hendrick Motorsports | |
Most laps led | |||
Driver | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | |
Laps | 79 | ||
Winner | |||
No. 11 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | |
Television in the United States | |||
Network | Fox | ||
Announcers | Mike Joy and Jeff Gordon | ||
Nielsen Ratings | 7.330 million[13] | ||
Radio in the United States | |||
Radio | MRN | ||
Booth Announcers | Alex Hayden, Jeff Striegle and Rusty Wallace | ||
Turn Announcers | Dave Moody (1 & 2), Mike Bagley (Backstretch) and Kyle Rickey (3 & 4) |
The 2020 Daytona 500, the 62nd running of the event, was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on February 16–17, 2020. It was contested over 209 laps—extended from 200 laps due to an overtime finish, on the 2.5-mile (4.0 km) asphalt superspeedway. It was the first race of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season.
The race was started by President of the United States Donald Trump, who served as Grand Marshal, and the opening lap was paced by the official Presidential state car.[14] WWE professional wrestler Sheamus drove the pace car for the opening laps, and Dale Earnhardt Jr., two-time winner of the Daytona 500, waved the green flag to officially start the race.
The race was scheduled for February 16, but persistent rain showers caused the race to be suspended on lap 20 and postponed until 4 p.m. the following day, the second time the race has had to be postponed due to rain. The first time was in 2012.[15] This was the final Daytona 500 starts for Clint Bowyer, Reed Sorenson, Brendan Gaughan, Leavine Family Racing, Premium Motorsports, and Germain Racing.
Most of the race was cleanly run until lap 185, when The Big One struck, triggering a massive crash involving at least 20 cars on the backstretch. The race was red-flagged as a result. Denny Hamlin won the race by 0.014 seconds over Ryan Blaney on the second restart in overtime after Blaney accidentally spun Ryan Newman into the outside wall coming to the finish line. Chris Buescher, David Ragan, and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top five. Newman was immediately rushed to a local hospital after the crash. Two hours later, it was announced he was seriously injured in the crash, but his injuries were not believed to be life-threatening. Newman was released from the hospital on Wednesday, February 19, and would return to racing at the 2020 The Real Heroes 400.[16] In the days that followed, many news outlets credit Newman's miraculous survival of his crash to the safety features implemented by NASCAR following the death of Dale Earnhardt at the end of the 2001 Daytona 500.
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