Finally - A Daytona 500 to remember!

Note:  I wrote this back in Feb but apparently never submitted it - so it is backdated.

This past Sunday was the 15th Daytona 500 I attended.  Up until now, I'd experienced a lot of exciting finishes and heartbreak over those 15 years.  It's the biggest race of the year besides Homestead - everyone wants to have their name on the trophy and be forever remembered as a Daytona 500 champion.

I wasn't sure how the race would be - Thursday's duels were not very exciting and I was afraid that it would be another year of no passing, boring racing.  Friday's truck race and Saturday's Xfinity series races set the stage for an exciting remainder of the weekend.

Sunday rolled around to absolutely perfect weather.  The warm Florida sun greeted us as we made it into Daytona Beach.  We parked and headed towards the track.  I had a driver intros pass, which I was excited about. 

I went to the meeting spot and got my ride to the infield.  Daytona Rising certainly looked good.  The stands were filling up, and the infield was absolutely packed.  It was a chaotic scene.

We got to our location for intros just behind the stage.  Crew members, owners, and even a few celebrities walked by.  Finally drivers started showing up.  People were attempting to get autographs while security kept pushing us back further.  I did my best to squeeze into whatever hole they wanted us in - there just isn't a lot of space.  As more and more drivers went by, I kept looking for Denny Hamlin - who is my driver.  I never saw him.  I heard his name announced over the PA system - apparently he snuck by our area and nobody noticed!

I race across the infield grass to my seat.  Daytona Rising took out a lot of the staircases, so I had to squeeze with other fans on to the escalators to get there, but I made it just before the invocation and anthem.

The race started and my excitement grew - it was going to be long but gut wrenching day.

Chase Elliott crashed early and came to rest right in front of us.  A few minutes later Carl Edwards and Brian Vickers about 100 yards to our left.  Then things settled in.  Hamlin took the lead and held it for quite some time. 

With about 40 laps to go, the leaders pitted.  Hamlin went to pit and was only planning 2 tires.  He locked the brakes on the way in and flat spotted them, so he had to change 4.  That cost him 4-5 seconds and several positions on the track.  My heart sank.  I thought this was going to be the year.  He has the best car, drove one hell of a race until now!

I thought Dale Jr was going to make a charge and win yet another Daytona 500, but he crashed and came to rest in almost the same spot as Chase Elliott.  At least I wouldn't see him win another one this year!

A couple of late race cautions bunched the field up.  Denny was 6th or 7th on the last restart.  I remember thinking there was no way he was going to win. With about 2-3 laps to go, Denny came on the radio and said that he wanted a "team win".   Better than Joey Logano or Jimmie Johnson or somebody like that.

The white flag flew and I saw Hamlin pull out of line.  I knew he was doing all he could to at least try and get a win.  As the field progressed, I saw him making a run for it. 

When I saw Hamlin and Kenseth get together in turn 4, I at first thought Kenseth was going to wreck and end the race.  But he saved it.  My heart was now racing - watching Hamlin and Truex head towards the S/F line side by side.  My seats were at the entrance of the tri-oval.  The two passed by us.

As they crossed the line, to this day I swear I could see Hamlin's car was in front of Truex.  Hamlin's rear bumper was ever so slightly further ahead than Truex's was.  I went nuts.  It was as if I had won the race myself.  I couldn't breathe; my heart was pounding.  I think my eyes were watering a bit.  As Denny came back around to do the victory burnouts and celebrate, I was still celebrating at my seat.

After Denny went to victory lane, there wasn't much we could see from our seats.  So we finally started to exit.  I exchanged several high fives with other Hamlin fans.  I quickly ran to one of the Fanatics tents to get a Daytona 500 Champion hat.  We headed back to our hotel, still beaming that I finally saw my driver win the 500.

I wish we could've stayed for the next morning to see the car on display at Daytona, but unfortunately I had to get back to work and family. 

If you've never seen your favorite driver or sports team win one of the biggest events of the year in person, it's quite an exciting moment.  It's a different experience to be there in person and see them win.  TV just doesn't do it justice.

Thank you to everyone at the Daytona International Speedway for a great weekend - see you in 2017!