Daytona 500
One down, one to go for The Captain.
Roger Penske picked up his elusive Daytona 500 victory, a $1 million bonus and a new challenge pairing the race he just conquered with the one that means the most to him.
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Ryan Newman gave Penske his first Daytona 500 victory in 24 years of trying, a frustrating span for a car owner accustomed to dominating big events: He’s won the Indianapolis 500 a record 14 times.
Now he wants one more. Matching victories in two of motorsports’ most sought after bounties.
“Comparing it to the Indy 500, as Ryan knows, we’ve been open-wheel guys and coming down here has been tough,” Penske said following Sunday’s victory. “This has got to go to the top of the charts here, this win. What I’m going to try to do this year is have them back-to-back, have one in May, too.
“That’s my real challenge right now.”
Penske earned his win in a thriller, with Newman ending an 81-race winless streak by teaming up with Kurt Busch for a last-lap pass that handed Tony Stewart yet another Daytona defeat. The Penske cars ganged up on the two-time champion, who made a strategic error that prevented him from holding off the charge.
“Kurt was the push from heaven that made it all happen,” Newman said. “Without a doubt, he could have easily gone three-wide and split us through the center and made one heck of a mess there. But he chose to be a teammate, and that was the most honorable thing that he could do.”
It gave Penske the win in the 50th running of the Daytona 500, and when the car owner finally made it to storied Victory Lane, he was met by Rick Hendrick, NASCAR’s most powerful owner.
“I talked to Rick earlier today, and I said, ‘You’ve been in the winner’s circle so many times, if we win will you give me your hat?’ He was the first one down here. So I thank him,” Penske said while wearing that very cap.
“We’ve been working here for many years. Certainly Kurt and the teamwork was just unbelievable. It’s a big day in our life and for our whole team.”
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