Daytona 500- Local boy brings home the win

20 year old kid from down the street here in Knoxville wins the Daytona 500, one of, if not the biggest venue in Motor sports.Doing it in the #21 Woods Brothers Ford made it even more special. For those of you who have never followed Nascar, the Woods Brothers were a dominant team in the 60's and 70's with a list of drivers that was like a list of Nascar and open wheel hall of fame. When Nascar went corporate in the late 80's, they fell behind thinking they could still win without spending what was crazy money to a bunch of country boys. Anyway, great to see some of the pioneers of the sport getting some attention these days. As far as Trevor Bayne, not only was he impressive on the track, he is blowing away the media. The kid has represented himself, his family, and the city of Knoxville in a most remarkable way to be only 20 years old. To win the 500 as a rookie in only your second start is unheard of.You can never find a drafting partner because no one trusts you and your left to run around by yourself and learn. During Speed Week, he says the same thing was happening to him until Jeff Gordon hooked up with him during a practice and his [Gordons] times improved dramatically. Word quickly spread through the garage that this kid can drive, and has a fast car. Here is the funny part, he didnt earn points for yesterdays win, he declared at the first of the year that he would be going after the Nationwise series title, making him ineligible. He will get to keep the check 1.5 million and the countless millions that are coming his way in endorsements and appearance fees after the way he handled the media. Good job son



Wood Brothers drivers (1953-2011)



Glen Wood - Banjo Matthews - Bob Welborn - Junior Johnson - Fred Harb - Fred Lorenzen - Earl Balmer - Bobby Rahal - Jim Massey - Dave MacDonald - Tommy Ellis - Speedy Thompson - Parnelli Jones - Curtis Turner - Tiny Lund - Dan Gurney - Donnie Allison - Marvin Panch - A. J. Foyt - Buddy Baker - Cale Yarborough - Dale Jarrett - Neil Bonnett - David Pearson - Kyle Petty - Morgan Shepherd - Michael Waltrip - Elliott Sadler - Ricky Rudd - Ken Schrader - Jon Wood - Boris Said - Jason Reynolds- Marcos Ambrose - David Gilliland - Bill Elliott - Trevor Bayne

[edit] Craftsman Truck Series

L8Braker said:

It was kind of surreal to see that legendary car in vicorty lane again. I didn't watch the entire race but most of it, I was pulling for Mark Martin like normal, but to see Bayne win was certianly a pleasant surprise. It boggles the mind the feat that kid just pulled off. 2nd Sprint Cup start, 1st Daytona race and he wins it on his 1st try, and it appeared to me the kid never put one foot wrong during the whole race, crazy good or lucky? Doesn't matter if it was luck, he will always be a Daytona 500 champion!

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Like you said, there was luck involved, but at Daytona and Talladega, even if Jimmy Johnson wins, there is luck involved. It took Dale Earnhardt 21 years to get a Daytona 500 win. Those are tracks where every driver considers themselves lucky to come out with a top ten and in one piece. He [Bayne] was fast all week and ran up near the front all day, which kept him out of some bad situations.