Today’s NASCAR Daytona 500 was absolutely awesome… for fans. If you were Ricky Stenhouse Jr. then things weren’t so awesome.
This race was a battle of attrition, like most Daytona races. Before things got started, Marty Smith and Wes Blankenship spoke with drivers head of time. Brad Keselowski called it. He said that there would be “lots” of wrecks today. He wasn’t wrong, that’s for sure. There were plenty, and the end of the race got messy, just as expected.
One of the best drivers all afternoon was undoubtedly Ricky Stenhouse Jr. He was up in the front, avoided the wrecks almost all day. That was until the No.47 got in front of Keselowski’s No.6. As Keselowski gave him a push, Stenhouse’s car just lost grip and spun out. He took Chris Buescher out in the process as well.
This happened at a pivotal moment. The field was about to head to under 10 laps to go. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and his Kroger/Irish Spring car were one of the fastest on the track. He was in a great position. And then, Daytona happened. Bubba Wallace took a strong slam from Stenhouse as well.
The No.23 has to be thinking what if, as he barely lost to Austin Cindric at the line once the race went into overtime. That’s how these things go, though. One moment almost always changes this race and this happened to be the one.
When it comes to tough breaks at Daytona, this is one of the tougher ones. Just when you think you have done everything that you need to do in order to set yourself up for success and then boom. You’re spinning at 150 MPH while sliding an eighth of a mile. You just hope that Ricky Stenhouse Jr. bounces back.
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Spins Out As Rookie Wins Daytona 500
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. had his day ended just 10 laps before the end of the race. That opened the way for rookie Austin Cindric. He had raced a great race all afternoon as well. He was hanging in there with the front pack as Stenhouse wrecked out. When the race went into extra laps, Cindric was in a great position.
With Ryan Blaney, his teammate, behind him and a whole lot of caution thrown to the wind, Cindric surged to the front. Just when the last lap was coming to a close, Bubba Wallace made a go at the win but came up just short. The rookie took home the win and now has the biggest accolade of his career.
The lesson of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and his experience at Dayton this year is NASCAR itself. Nothing is guaranteed. At 180MPH, no one knows what is going to happen and 500 miles is a long way to go. Even if it happens at mile 494, it happens and there is nothing you can do. On to the next one.
