Feb. 22--REPORTING FROM DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Joey Logano held off Kevin Harvick and Dale Earnhardt Jr. in an overtime finish to win the Daytona 500 on Sunday.
It was the first time that Logano won the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series' most celebrated race.
"I can't believe it," Logano, who drives for Team Penske, told a television audience. "This is absolutely amazing. I was so nervous the whole race pretty much."
The race ended under caution. During the second lap of a two-lap overtime finish, several cars behind the lead group crashed, bringing out the yellow flag.
Those involved in the wreck included Jeff Gordon, who started on the pole in hopes of winning his fourth Daytona 500 in his final attempt. The four-time Cup champion has said this will be his last season.
Gordon led a race-high 87 laps but the wreck left him with a 33rd-place finish.
Logano's No. 22 Ford was leading with only three laps left in the 200 scheduled laps when another crash involving Justin Allgaier and Ty Dillon caused the race to be stopped, or red-flagged, until the track could be cleaned.
That set up the two-lap overtime finish.
Harvick finished second, Earnhardt was third and Denny Hamlin finished fourth.
Before Logano pulled ahead near the end, the field raced in an astonishing pack in which each of the leading seven rows of cars were three wide. Even more astonishing, none of them crashed.
An earlier incident ruined the day of three-time Cup champion Tony Stewart, who was attempting to win his first Daytona 500 in his 17th attempt.
Stewart's No. 14 Chevrolet crashed into the wall on lap 42, forcing Stewart to the garage for lengthy repairs. He finished next to last in the 43-car field.
