Trevor Bayne played it safe most of the day at the 2011 Daytona 500. With a new track that allowed drivers to pair up and draft race – with little need to turn the steering wheel or take your foot off the gas, Bayne avoided trouble, eased back when he needed to, and in the end blocked all comers in winning the 53rd running of the Daytona 500 in his second-career Sprint Cup start. It was Bayne’s first start at Daytona.
As big name after big name dropped out, Bayne kept his car especially clean and in the end – during the race’s second attempt at a green-white-checker finish, Bayne blocked Carl Edwards at just the right time to get the win.
Ironically, Bayne is the youngest winner of the 500 while racing for one of the sports oldest teams – the Woods Borthers – who’se history in Sprint Cup goes all the way back to simpler time – before NASCAR became so corporate. It’s those times that hard core racing fans long for, and a race like today may go a long way towards getting some of those fans back.
Full Results Below:
1. Trevor Bayne 2. Carl Edwards 3. David Gilliland 4. Bobby Labonte 5. Kurt Busch 6. Juan Pablo Montoya 7. Regan Smith 8. Kyle Busch 9. Paul Menard 10. Mark Martin 11. AJ Allmendinger 12. Bill Elliott 13. Tony Stewart 14. David Ragan 15. Terry Labonte 16. Robby Gordon 17. Clint Bowyer 18. Jamie McMurray 19. Martin Truex Jr. 20. Steve Wallace 21. Denny Hamlin 22. Ryan Newman 23. Joey Logano 24. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 25. Kasey Kahne 26. Dave Blaney 27. Jimmie Johnson 28. Jeff Gordon 29. Brad Keselowski 30. David Reutimann 31. Brian Vickers 32. Travis Kvapil 33. Andy Lally 34. Matt Kenseth 35. Greg Biffle 36. Jeff Burton 37. Marcos Ambrose 38. Robert Richardson Jr. 39. Joe Nemechek 40. Michael Waltrip 41. Brian Keselowski 42. Kevin Harvick 43. JJ Yeley