Climbing out of his car in Victory Lane he said “Are you kidding me? Pinch me, pinch me. Leading most laps. I don’t care how we did it and to see the fans reaction,” said Gordon noting that many fans cheered him after he climbed out of his car. Even NASCAR president, Mike Helton came over to congratulate him.
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| Polesitter Carl Edwards saw his chances to win the race come to an end early, when he was involved in a five-car accident on lap 59. (Photo: Tom Pennington/Getty Images) |
Kyle Busch came up a little short in attempting to repeat his three-series sweep at Bristol “Today felt a lot longer than the weekend,” Busch explained Then he went out to apologize for causing pole sitter, Carl Edwards to crash on lap 60. “The car got away from me I apologize to him,” said Busch.
Despite his disappointment Busch had only flattering things to say about Gordon. “He was on a mission today. He's my hero and I've always watched him and what he's been able to accomplish over the years. It's no surprise that he beat us.”
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| Jeff Gordon passes Kyle Busch on the front stretch. (Photo: Tom Pennington/Getty Images) |
Carl Edwards had been on a hot streak before the lap 60 incidents with two wins and a second place before he won the pole at the one mile oval. “I thought at first he was just frustrated and he turned left to get back in line and he didn’t know I was there, but I watched the tape and I think he really did get loose. He hit me hard and I was left with nothing.”
The big wreck occurred on lap 69 when Matt Kenseth made contact with Brian Vickers starting a 13-car accident. Kenseth said “to be honest with you, I didn’t know there was an incident. I was surprised when I got out of the car and everybody said he was mad at me. I’m not sure for what. He kind of held me close to the middle of the corner on the restart, which you should, and I came off the corner and I never even felt us touch.”
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| Jeff Gordion celebrates. (Photo: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images for NASCAR) |
Surprise Daytona 500 winner
Trevor Bayne had a nightmare weekend. He crashed in practice for the Cup race and blew a tire in the Nationwide race. In the Cup race he turned into another driver explaining, “we were battling with the 13 car a little bit and I don’t know if it was the 38 car behind us or who, but something happened. Either I came up or he poked his nose in there at the last second on the top of us getting into one.”
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| Jeff Gordon douses new crew chief Alan Gustafson with champagne after ending his 66-race winless streak. (Photo: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images for NASCAR) |
