NASCAR: NASCAR - 2005 DAYTONA 500

Wow, what a great race today!! Perfect way to start off the new season, just shows we have alot to look forward to in the '05 NASCAR season!!


Jeff Gordon pulled out the victory in what was an intense finish with alot of lead changes and alot of contact.





It was really nice to see two RACING LEGENDS, Rusty Wallace and Mark Martin avoid all the wrecks and place well in what was both of their last Daytona 500.

Jeff Gordon grabbed the lead from Dale Earnhardt Jr ., then held off Kurt Busch and Earnhardt in extra laps to win his third Daytona 500 Sunday.

Earnhardt, the defending champiion, came from as far back as 30th to grab a late lead, only to watch four-time series champion Gordon pass him seconds before a caution flag waved with three laps to go.

The race went three laps beyond the scheduled 200-lap distance, with Gordon hanging on over two final laps of green-flag racing to beat Busch by two car-lengths

www.sportsline.com...


Look at the ride Scott Wimmer took!!



Luckily he walked away from it.



HEY!, You cant park here!!




TJ, you still have those standings?

Sounds like it was a great second half of the race. Could this be Gordons year? He had alot of trouble at the start of last season with his car, but he has got off to a great start..

Gordon did look good, but Kurt Busch, Dale Jr, Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, etc were all right there when Gordon won, it's going to be a very competitive season IMO. There are some really strong teams with good drivers so we're going to see some really good racing like we saw today.

1 15 #24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet DuPont 185/5 203 Running
2 13 #97 Kurt Busch Ford Sharpie/IRWIN Industrial Tools 170/0 203 Running
3 5 #8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet Budweiser 170/5 203 Running
4 12 #10 Scott Riggs Chevrolet Valvoline 160/0 203 Running
5 2 #48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe's 160/5 203 Running
6 32 #6 Mark Martin Ford Viagra 150/0 203 Running
7 4 #20 Tony Stewart Chevrolet The Home Depot 156/10 203 Running
8 18 #40 Sterling Marlin Dodge Coors Light 142/0 203 Running
9 8 #37 Kevin Lepage Dodge Patron Tequila 138/0 203 Running
10 36 #2 Rusty Wallace Dodge Miller Lite 134/0 203 Running
11 39 #38 Elliott Sadler Ford M&M's 130/0 203 Running
12 27 #99 Carl Edwards Ford Office Depot 127/0 203 Running
13 34 #01 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet U.S. Army 129/5 203 Running
14 38 #07 Dave Blaney Chevrolet Jack Daniel's 121/0 203 Running
15 1 #88 Dale Jarrett Ford UPS 118/0 203 Running
16 26 #43 Jeff Green Dodge Cheerios 115/0 203 Running
17 33 #45 Kyle Petty Dodge Georgia-Pacific/Brawny 117/5 203 Running
18 35 #0 Mike Bliss Chevrolet NetZero Best Buy 109/0 203 Running
19 25 #77 Travis Kvapil * Dodge Kodak/Jasper Engines 106/0 203 Running
20 9 #12 Ryan Newman Dodge ALLTEL 108/5 203 Running
21 28 #25 Brian Vickers Chevrolet GMAC/ditech.com 100/0 203 Running
22 37 #9 Kasey Kahne Dodge Dodge Dealers/UAW 97/0 203 Running
23 24 #19 Jeremy Mayfield Dodge Dodge Dealers/UAW 99/5 203 Running
24 11 #21 Ricky Rudd Ford Motorcraft Quality Parts 91/0 202 Running
25 23 #16 Greg Biffle Ford National Guard 88/0 201 Running
26 29 #41 Casey Mears Dodge Target 85/0 199 Running
27 41 #136 Boris Said Chevrolet CENTRIX Financial 82/0 198 Running
28 30 #29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet GM Goodwrench 84/5 198 Running
29 6 #31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet Cingular Wireless 81/5 194 Running
30 7 #23 Mike Skinner Dodge Argent Mortgage 73/0 187 Out of Race
31 42 #14 John Andretti Ford VB/APlus at Sunoco 70/0 187 Out of Race
32 17 #42 Jamie McMurray Dodge Texaco/Havoline 67/0 184 Running
33 16 #22 Scott Wimmer Dodge Caterpillar 69/5 182 Out of Race
34 10 #1 Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops 61/0 178 Out of Race
35 22 #32 Bobby Hamilton Jr. Chevrolet Tide Coldwater 58/0 173 Running
36 40 #11 Jason Leffler Chevrolet FedEx Express 55/0 168 Out of Race
37 3 #15 Michael Waltrip Chevrolet NAPA Auto Parts 57/5 161 Out of Race
38 19 #5 Kyle Busch * Chevrolet Kellogg's 49/0 148 Running
39 31 #49 Ken Schrader Dodge Schwan's Home Service 46/0 120 Out of Race
40 21 #100 Kenny Wallace Chevrolet Aaron's 43/0 39 Out of Race
41 43 #4 Mike Wallace Chevrolet Lucas Oil Products 40/0 35 Out of Race
42 14 #17 Matt Kenseth Ford DeWalt Power Tools 37/0 34 Out of Race
43 20 #18 Bobby Labonte Chevrolet Interstate Batteries 34/0 14 Out of Race

how tight was the pack after 500 miles of racing?

Great shot tj! That's exactly how it ended.

As a matter of fact, that was exactly when Stewart came from up top in between Jimmie Johnson and Scotty Riggs and Stewart and Johnson traded some major paint. If you look close, Stewart is a bit sideways.