Race Report with Commentary written by: Ashley M.

Your pole sitter was Jeff Burton but for Daytona, does it really matter who starts on the pole? Here's why I bring this point to you. You have 200 laps to come from last to 1st. And with the draft, you can do that in 10-50 laps depending on how good your car is (some may take all day) but you can be there at the end. The only advantage is you are out of The Storm Area. The Storm Area is where the Big One usually happens. So it's a advantage in that sense but not in the running order sense.

The defending winner is Jeff Gordon who also won the 2nd Gatorade Duel. The winner of the first Gatorade Duel was Elliott Sadler.

"I'm the man to beat," Dale Jr said in the Sunday Sun. Considering his car in practice and what the competitors were saying, no one was betting against that. So we'll just leave that at that.

Lots of people how to go to the back so here is the official list with reasons:

The song for the Daytona 500 is It's My Life By Bon Jovi. I have to say the Tribute to America during the pre-race was excellent with Bon Jovi and one of the best. Good job to Bon Jovi!

Your National Athem singer was Fergie, lead singer of the Black Eyed Peas. I have to say it was a very good version of the national athem but not the best.

And one added comment from me, Jamie McMurray had the craziest hair today and looks funny in purple. Maybe the purple comment is just due to the fact that it's a differnet color then usual.

Some other pre-race comments added:

J. Burton led lap 1 and Jeff Green loses a tire. Either he ran over a piece of debris left out there during the pace laps or had it that way and the team didn't notice before the race. The first causion came out on lap 18 when Martin Truex Jr brushs the wall due to contact with Brian Vickers. There are pit stops under this causion. Here are the notes:

The restart is on lap 21 and 4 laps later, Jeff Gordon takes the lead. Then a long list of lead changes starts so bare with me. Lap 26, Matt Kenseth takes the lead and almost wrecks Tony on lap 27. Lap 28, Dale Jr leads but loses it the next lap to Tony Stewart.

"We'll take that," Greg Zippidelli said to Tony on the radio when he took the lead.

On lap 44, NBC goes Through The Field but at Daytona, we call it Around The Field. So here are the updates.

But the around the field is stopped due to a causion on lap 50 due to J. Gordon and Tony in wall. J. Gordon says the blame is split 50/50 well Tony says it's all Jeff's fault. My opinion? It's split 50/50. And Jamie took the lead also on that lap since it was the top 2 that wrecked.

PIT STOPS

The restart comes on lap 53 and 2 laps later, Ryan Newman takes the lead yet gives it to Matt on lap 58. And on lap 73, we go Around The Field again

On lap 79, J. Gordon gets a chance to make his repairs because there as a causion for a mini big one which involves Kyle Petty, Jeff Green, J.J Yeley, Joe Nemechek and Carl Edwards. Basically what happened was J. Green got loose due to a areo push from Dale Jarret and he went down the track but then shot back up and collected the others.

Under this causion we have pit stops so here are the PIT STOP NOTES once again.

The restart comes on lap 85 and a lap later, Kevin takes the lead from Kenseth.

"Another one for the highlights," Jr said on the radio of his pass for the lead on lap 87 which I have to say was pretty good myself.

Yet Jr lose the lead on lap 91 to Matt Kenseth and then a causion comes out for debris. And yet again, we have more pit stops.

On lap 96, we have the restart and two laps later, J. Gordon loses 3rd gear.

"Wow!" Jr's comment on Matt's pass for the lead on lap 103 which also suffled Jr back a bit.

On lap 105, Mark takes the lead and two laps later, we have a causion for Matt's spin through the grass which was caused by Tony. This leads us to yet again another round of pit stops.

Tony is pennilzied for arrestive driving and sent to the tail end of the longest line and under this causion, NASCAR warns the 17 and 20 to calm down.

When Tony is coming off pit road, Matt taps Tony and also gives him a little finger wave. NASCAR pennilized Matt for passing Tony coming off pit road and he goes down a lap. And you'd expect this sort've thing on a short track. I agree with NASCAR on both penilities because drivers were warned about agreesive driving & also everybody knows the rule that you can't pass coming off pit road. Matt should've passed Tony when they were both off the apron so fit in with Tony's penilty.

The restart comes on lap 112 with Greg Bifle leading but he loses it 3 laps later to Dale Jr. On lap 117, Kyle takes the lead yet loses it to Jimmie on lap 124. The lead changing festival ends on that very lap due to a causion for Robby Gordon brushing the wall. He brushed the wall due to a flat tire. So you can probably guess it by now but yes, we are having another round of pit stops.

The restart comes with 41 to go and with 37 to go, Ryan takes the lead. With 30 to go, Hermie has engine problems and 3 laps later, Stremme is showing a bit of smoke. Yet the causion doesn't come out till 24 to go when Travis Kravil wrecks. Here comes an important set of pit stops.

The restart comes on lap 181 yet with 17 to go, we have another causion for a wreck involving Kurt, J. Gordon and Sterling. Kurt had flat tires due to Jamie and collected J. Gordon and Sterling in his mess.

Here is your running order:

1) Jimmie Johnson

2) Brian Vickers

3) Ryan Newman

4) Casey Mears

5) Kasey Kahne

6) Jamie McMurray

7) Elliott Sadler

8) Kyle Busch

9) Dale Earnhardt Jr

The restart comes with 10 to go and with 7 to go, Kyle almost wrecks Tony. Kyle is blackflagged for agreesive driving and a causion comes out with 5 to go with J. Burton gets into Jamie which collects J. Green in the aftermath.

The running order with 5 to go:

1) Jimmie Johnson

2) Ryan Newman

3) Brian Vickers

4) Casey Mears

5) Elliott Sadler

6) Dale Earnhardt Jr

7) Kasey Kahne

On the final lap of the G-W-C, a causion comes out due to Greg Bifle wrecking due to a tire.

Your winner is.........

The Top 18 Finishers in the 2006 Daytona 500:

1) Jimmie Johnson

2) Casey Mears

3) Ryan Newman

4) Elliott Sadler

5) Tony Stewart

6) Clint Bowyer

7) Brian Vickers

8) Dale Earnhardt

8) Ken Schrader

10) Dale Jarret

11) Kasey Kahne

12) Mark Martin

13) Robby Gordon

14) Kevin Harvick

15) Mattt Kenseth

16) Martin Truex Jr

17) Terry Labonte

18) Michael Waltrip

"Tony took me out intentionally," Matt Kenseth said on the wreck with Tony. "You know Tony said all that and then spins me out at 190mph. I don't understand."

"Matt always thinks that," Tony Stewart's reply to Matt Kenseth's comments. "He didn't think of anything wrecking me in turn 2."

"I just wanted a top 10 finish and some guys weren't as fortunate as us," Dale Jr on his 6th place finish.

"I dedicate this win to all the haters of the 48 team," Jimmie Johnson in victory lane.

"He beat the side of my car and then went on the apron," Kyle on the incident with Tony. "I don't understand that penilty. I hate this place."

As a Jimmie hater, I have a couple things to say regarding Jimmie Johnson. Jimmie says that he dedicates this win to all the haters of the 48 team. Well, as a hater I guess he dedicates it to me. But the point I have to say here is why focus on the negative energy? Why not focus on those who like you like your fans? If I were to win a race that big, I'd be thinking those who have supported me through the hard times in the past and sticked with me to this day.

But I will say this: Jimmie drove a smart race and he just got lucky at the end with all his friends being near the front. As they say, restrictor plate racing is all about all the friends you have.

Next week we go to a whole different animal. Let there be some good racing there and I may get a preview in and may not. You'll just have to wait and see.

(C)Ashley M, Feb 19th 2006

(R)The NASCAR Palace, Feb 19th 2006