Any concerns about the quality of racing quickly dissipated when the cars took the track for the Daytona 500. Throughout the night, the cars were stacked two-by-two, racing side by side for a majority of the race. After the smoke cleared and the dust settled, Denny Hamlin rose to the top, earning his second Daytona 500 victory in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.
It was a bitter-sweet victory for Hamlin and the Joe Gibbs Racing team, who couldn’t have honored the late J.D. Gibbs in a better way. Joe Gibbs Racing finished in the top three positions, with Kyle Busch and Erik Jones finishing second and third.
While the JGR teams had a night to remember, many other drivers found themselves caught in one of many big ones. Multi-car crashes took out many contenders throughout the race. Aggression levels were peaked as drivers fought relentlessly in an effort to win the Daytona 500.
Fantasy NASCAR
FatCat earned the victory in the Speedway Collective fantasy league with a total of 136 points, beating 151 other competitors. Here was the winning fantasy NASCAR lineup for the Daytona 500. The full league results are available here.
FatCat was successful in selecting the Daytona 500 winner, as well as Logano, who finished fourth. While Stenhouse Jr. and McMurray were involved in early incidents, both drivers rebounded to finish the race in 13th and 22nd respectively.
Next week, the MENCS goes to Atlanta Motor Speedway for the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500. This will be the first race with the new speedway package, which includes less horsepower and larger spoiler. There are many unknowns as to who will be the top drivers to start in fantasy NASCAR this season. Atlanta will be a great sign of what to expect for the 2019 season, and many questions will be answered as the cars hit the track this Sunday.
