Kurt Busch led the most laps in Sunday’s Daytona 500 before an accident in the race’s second half ruined his victory bid, while Ryan Newman’s effort was foiled by a hole in the radiator that caused his engine to fail.
Newman finished 38th in his Alltel Dodge Charger, while Busch placed 41st in his Miller Lite Dodge Charger.
Prior to the lap 153 accident involving leader Tony Stewart and the second-place Busch, the Las Vegas native led three times for 95 laps.
“You always hope you’re in position to win one of these things and today I was in position, ” said Busch, who started fourth and took the lead for the first time just 19 laps into the scheduled 200-lap race on the 2.5-mile track. “It was one of the best shots I’ve ever had to win the Daytona 500, but I took myself out of position.
“You’ve got to get to the end. We (Stewart and Busch) were definitely the class of the field, but when you wreck and a couple of the other fast cars wreck it opens it up for somebody else to win. “
The accident occurred in the fourth turn. Stewart’s car became loose and Busch was too close to avoid tagging him. That sent both cars careening into each other and then into the wall.
“We were running behind Stewart and I got him aero loose, ” Busch explained. “He checked up in front of me and I bumped into him. It looked awful, but I did all I could to stay off of him. It ruined both of our chances to win the Daytona 500.
“I feel bad for him. He’s been a good ally on the (restrictor) plate tracks. I feel bad for my team and my sponsor, Miller Lite, and Dodge and everybody that’s involved. We led the most laps, but we don’t have much to show for it. We’ll get some big shovels and dig out of this hole. “
Both Penske Racing Dodges flexed their muscle in the season-opening race and were running in the top three at the race’s halfway mark. Busch was leading and Newman was third with Busch’s younger brother, Kyle, in second.
Newman led once for one lap, inheriting the No. 1 position from his teammate on lap 128. He then turned the lead back over to Busch on lap 129. Busch led through lap 149 and was challenging again for the top spot when he and Stewart were involved in the accident, causing the third of six caution periods.
Newman was seventh when the race returned to green-flag conditions on lap 160. He pitted during the fourth caution period that began on lap 175, and it was then that his team discovered the problem with the Alltel Dodge’s radiator.
“We broke the radiator and that probably cooked the motor, ” a disappointed Newman said. “When we shocked it with the water it probably broke a cylinder or blew a head gasket or cracked a block or something.
“We had a great car all day and consistently ran in the top five. That would have been a great start to the season but being in the garage early isn’t. We had a great run here last year, and I thought we had a shot at the win on the last lap, but we ended up third. I thought we had a great shot to repeat that, but it didn’t happen.
“Everybody was patient early today except for the accidents. That’s just the way it works out. I thought it was good racing. We had a good race car. We had grip for the long run and I thought it was paying off, but we didn’t make it to the end. ”
| 
|