As Danica said on the radio right before the green-white-checker finish: it was a race determined by position. With about 35 to go, it was 3-wide racing until the very end, and was gridlock for anybody in 6th position or more. Passing was impossible. Even as Jeff Gordon tried to make something happen on the last lap from around the 7th position, he just caused a wreck that took up most of the field at the end. It was a pretty clean Daytona 500 with no serious wrecks until the last lap, but it wouldn't be a Daytona 500 without one.
I give Danica and the #10 GoDaddy Team a lot of credit for starting at the back of the field, due to having to use their 3rd car for this race, and being relatively competitive. She seemed really fast when the race started, but overheating issues and fighting a "tight" car into turn 3 all day just took its toll.
I'm hoping Danica will truly learn how to "push" the car ahead of her in these restrictor plate races. Especially during restarts. And hopefully sooner than later, understand the concept of "side-drafting". It's one thing to comprehend finishing the race and bringing the car home in one piece. It's another to understand how a driver can truly push the limits of their car, and use that to their advantage.
Danica 21st in Daytona
