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Published 18-12-2007 11:23 by RacingOne.com

Fan Awards: Best Finish

"The World Center of Racing" lived up to its place as one of auto racing's shrines by delivering not one, but two fantastic finishes in 2007.

The 49th running of the Daytona 500 produced one of the wildest and most exciting endings in history.

With a multi-car crash taking place behind the leaders, Kevin Harvick passed Mark Martin on the final lap of a green-white-checkered finish to win his first career Daytona 500.

"My go-kart experience over the winter paid off, because I didn't let off the floor and we just kept hitting things and the wall and bouncing off everything," Harvick said. "But man, this is the Daytona 500. Can you believe it?"

Harvick seemed mired back in the pack but was able to work his way up toward the front and was in the top five when NASCAR threw the red flag after the final caution of the day for a multi car accident.

On the overtime restart, it was Martin leading the field with his former Roush Racing teammates Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth behind. But the veteran kept his Ginn Racing U.S. Army Chevy in front and looked headed to his first career Daytona 500 win.

Until the wild dash off turn four on the final lap which saw NASCAR not throw the caution flag as the melee erupted in turn four and Harvick somehow shot around to the outside and nipped Martin at the line.

Fast forward to July and the annual mid-summer stop at Daytona.

In the final restrictor plate race using the current car, Jamie McMurray got a nose past Kyle Busch to win the Pepsi 400 by a margin of .005 seconds.

Bouncing back from a penalty that dropped him to 35th-place on Lap 30, McMurray powered his way to the front and had a side-by-side battle with Busch following the final restart with six laps remaining.

As the two raced to the checkered flag, the driver of the No. 26 Irwin Tools Ford Fusion got a late push from Roush Fenway Racing teammate Carl Edwards to squeak by Busch, this morning’s winner of the rain-delayed NASCAR Busch Series race.

"Carl helped me win the race," McMurray said. "He shoved me in and probably could have made it three wide but he pushed me to the win. So huge thanks to Carl Edwards."

It was the second-closest finish in NASCAR history since the inception of electronic scoring.

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Comments

sean said:
Restrictor plate races are flashy but don't seem real to me.

Fall Texas.
December 19, 2007 12:27 AM
dalejrfanfreak said:
I think the Pepsi 400 was a better finish since it was not as controversial, plus it was one of the closest finishes in NASCAR history and I didn't even know who won until the replay. I really thought Mark Martin should have won the Daytona 500 due to NASCAR's past decisions. There have been numerous Talladega races where the leaders were away from the wreck and could have easily raced to the line without caution, yet the yellow flag flew. This is why it seems to rain beer cans in Talladega like it did in the spring, where a caution froze the field and gave zero closure to almost 200,000 fans. I truly believe it is imperative that NASCAR lets drivers race back to the line with 5 laps to go. Winners should not be decided anywhere on the race track except for at the finish line, especially at Restrictor plate tracks where we have seen twice this year that the last few hundred feet can make all the difference.
December 19, 2007 2:41 AM
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