Stewart, Johnson and Junior end early with crashes
Harvick Wins His First Daytona 500
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Two drivers were eliminated in two cautions during the first 153 laps of Sunday's Daytona 500.
Fifteen were eliminated in three crashes over the final 47.
And that doesn't count the other half dozen that were scattered over Daytona International Speedway after Kevin Harvick crossed the finish line a car hood ahead of Mark Martin.
"The last 40 laps were crazy," said Jeff Burton, who survived the wrecks to finish third. "I mean, I cannot tell you guys how wild and aggressive those last 40 laps were.
"I mean, it was insane, as all the carnage proves."
The carnage began when Kurt Busch and Tony Stewart got together when Busch was trying to pass for the lead on Lap 153. It continued on Lap 175 when there was a five-car pileup that eliminated defending Daytona 500 champion Jimmie Johnson.
On Lap 187, Dave Blaney drove through pit road to avoid trouble and started a chain reaction with four other cars when he re-entered the track.
On Lap 196, Jamie McMurray, Ricky Rudd and Dale Earnhardt Jr. saw their hopes of a top 10 finish end when Matt Kenseth got into the back of McMurray.
Then on the final lap of a green-white-checkered finish, Kyle Busch got into the side of Kenseth's car to start a chain reaction that turned Clint Bowyer's car into a fireball and sent several others to the junk pile.
"The first part of the race people are racing hard, but the last part of the race … we raced harder than we should," Burton said. "So we're at a point where everything is cool, but then we try to take it the next step.
"There's just not enough grip to take it that next step and therefore you get people running into each other and all the carnage that we had."
Harvick said the demons seemed to come out in everybody when the lights came on.
"I told them on the radio, 'I don't know what's happening out there but I'm putting myself as close as I can to the wall so I'll hit something as least hard as possible,' " he said. "There at the end, people were dragging the walls.
"I know I hit the wall two or three times at the end. ... It was the wildest thing I've been a part of in a long time."
Casey Mears, who went from a top 10 finish in his debut for Hendrick Motorsports to 20th on the final crash, agreed.
"I don't know what started it," he said, "but everybody kind of started getting crazy there at the end."
David Newton covers NASCAR for ESPN.com. He can be reached at dnewtonespn@aol.com.
