The 2011 Daytona 500, the 53rd running of the event, was held on February 20, 2011, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida as the first race of the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. Trevor Bayne, driving for Wood Brothers Racing, won the race becoming the youngest Daytona 500 winner. Carl Edwards finished second, while David Gilliland, Bobby Labonte, and Kurt Busch rounded out the Top 5. Bayne had taken the lead shortly before the final restart and maintained it to win his first Cup Series race and Wood Brothers' fifth Daytona 500.
During the race there were 16 caution periods. There were 74 lead changes among 22 different drivers. Following the race, Edwards led the Drivers' Championship with 42 points, one ahead of Gilliland and Labonte. Ford led the Manufacturers' Championship with nine points, three ahead of Toyota and five ahead of Dodge. A total of 182,000 people attended the race, while 15.6 million watched it on television.
Report
Background Daytona International Speedway is one of six superspeedways to hold NASCAR races. The layout which is used for the Daytona 500 is a four-turn superspeedway that is long. The track's turns are banked at 31 degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at 18 degrees. Jamie McMurray was the defending race winner.
For the race, NASCAR held several test sessions on January 20–22, 2011 for teams to test the newer pavement at Daytona. Also in the sessions, the opening of the restrictor plate was reduced from the plate used in tire testing to . NASCAR vice president for competition Robin Pemberton stated, "We'll have to get back and talk to the teams and look at the speeds from the last two days of testing. I think we have some high-water marks at 197-and-a-half [miles per hour (318 km/h)] which, depending on where they pulled up in the draft, it may be a little quick, but it's hard to say."
Every test session began in the morning at 09:00 local time (UTC−05:00), was paused for lunch from 12:00 – 13:00 local time (UTC-05:00), and concluded in the evening at 17:00 local time (UTC-05:00). During the first session on the morning of January 20, 2011, thirty-three drivers participated, and Clint Bowyer was quickest with a speed of while David Reutimann had the highest speed of during the second session in the afternoon. The third test session, scheduled for the morning of January 21, was cancelled because of wet weather. During the fourth session, held during the afternoon, 34 drivers participated with Denny Hamlin being quickest with a speed of . Several drivers decided to leave after the session, which included Reutimann, Martin Truex Jr., Jimmie Johnson, and Bowyer. During the fifth session, held on the morning of January 22, 29 drivers participated, and Joey Logano was quickest with a speed of . Brad Keselowski was quickest with a speed of in the final session.
After the two-car draft style dominated the 2011 Budweiser Shootout, NASCAR reduced the front grille opening to and the overflow valve for the cooling system would be supplied by NASCAR and set at . Also, high speeds in the race caused NASCAR to reduce the size of the restrictor plate by , with the expectations of cutting 10 horsepower from the engines.
This race also marked the tenth anniversary of the death of Dale Earnhardt in 2001. As such, several tributes took place during the race. All of the cars fielded by Earnhardt's former team, Richard Childress Racing, and the team he started, Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, carried No. 3 decals. During the race itself, NASCAR held a "silent lap" on Lap 3, a practice that was first used in memory of Earnhardt during the 2001 season.
Entry list (W) denotes past 500 winner. (R) denotes rookie driver. (i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points. #DriverTeamMake 00 David Reutimann Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 1 Jamie McMurray (W) Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 2 Brad Keselowski Penske Racing Dodge 4 Kasey Kahne Red Bull Racing Team Toyota 5 Mark Martin Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 6 David Ragan Roush Fenway Racing Ford 7 Robby Gordon Robby Gordon Motorsports Dodge 09 Bill Elliott (W) Phoenix Racing Chevrolet 9 Marcos Ambrose Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Toyota 14 Tony Stewart Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 15 Michael Waltrip (W) Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 17 Matt Kenseth (W) Roush Fenway Racing Ford 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 20 Joey Logano Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 21 Trevor Bayne (i) Wood Brothers Racing Ford 22 Kurt Busch Penske Racing Dodge 24 Jeff Gordon (W) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 29 Kevin Harvick (W) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 31 Jeff Burton Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 32 Terry Labonte FAS Lane Racing Ford 33 Clint Bowyer Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 34 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 36 Dave Blaney Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 37 Robert Richardson Jr. (i) Front Row Motorsports Ford 38 Travis Kvapil (i) Front Row Motorsports Ford 39 Ryan Newman (W) Stewart–Haas Racing Chevrolet 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 43 A. J. Allmendinger Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 46 J. J. Yeley Whitney Motorsports Chevrolet 47 Bobby Labonte JTG Daugherty Racing Toyota 48 Jimmie Johnson (W) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 56 Martin Truex Jr. Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 57 Norm Benning Norm Benning Racing Chevrolet 60 Todd Bodine (i) Germain Racing Toyota 64 Derrike Cope (W) Max Q Motorsports Toyota 66 Michael McDowell HP Racing Toyota 71 Andy Lally (R) TRG Motorsports Chevrolet 77 Steve Wallace (i) Rusty Wallace Racing Toyota 78 Regan Smith Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 83 Brian Vickers Red Bull Racing Toyota 87 Joe Nemechek (i) NEMCO Motorsports Toyota 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. (W) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 92 Brian Keselowski (R) K-Automotive Motorsports Dodge 97 Kevin Conway (i) NEMCO Motorsports Toyota 99 Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing FordOfficial Entry list
Practice and qualifying
Seven practice sessions were held before the race. The first two on February 12 ran 120 minutes and 105 minutes each. The next two on February 16 were for shortened 90 minutes and 55 minutes long after rain delays. Two days later, two more practice sessions were scheduled, which ran 60 and 85 minutes long. The final practice session was held on February 19. Mark Martin was quickest with a time of 48.681 seconds in the first session, less than one-tenth of a second faster than Jeff Gordon. Paul Menard was just off Gordon's pace, followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Burton, and Bill Elliott. Johnson was seventh, still within a second of Martin's time. In the second practice session, Martin remained fastest with a time of 48.567 seconds, less than one-tenth of a second quicker than second-placed Johnson. Burton took third place, ahead of Trevor Bayne, Menard and Gordon. Also in the second practice session, McMurray collided into the wall after his tire failed, and had to move to his back-up car.
Forty-nine cars were entered for qualifying, but only 43 raced per NASCAR's qualifying procedure. Unlike most races during the season, the qualifying session only determined the first two positions, while the rest of the drivers qualified by the 2011 Gatorade Duels. Earnhardt clinched his 10th pole position during his career, with a time of 48.364 seconds. He was joined on the front row of the grid by Jeff Gordon. Once the qualifying session completed, Earnhardt commented, "The main thing [the pole] does for me is take the pressure off Thursday's race. I can go out and have fun and not worry about where I finish or getting a good starting spot for the Daytona 500."
Kyle Busch was quickest in the rain-delayed third practice with 44.943 seconds, followed by Greg Biffle, Earnhardt, Johnson, and Juan Pablo Montoya. Earnhardt and Truex collided and hit the wall, both needing to use their back-up cars which meant Earnhardt forfeited pole position. Kasey Kahne led fourth practice with 44.985 seconds, only one-thousandth of a second faster than Joey Logano. Gordon was third ahead of David Ragan and Kyle Busch. Kurt Busch and Burton were the winners of the Gatorade Duels. The qualifying grid was finalized with Busch in third and Burton fourth. Regan Smith qualified fifth ahead of Bowyer, Kevin Harvick, Waltrip, Matt Kenseth, and Kyle Busch. Drivers who failed to qualify were 1990 winner Derrike Cope, Kevin Conway, Todd Bodine, Michael McDowell and Casey Mears. Norm Benning was entered in his no. 57, but withdrew before qualifying after his car failed to make a lap in practice.
Burton was fastest in fifth practice with a 45.767 seconds lap, ahead of Menard, Ragan, Marcos Ambrose and Hamlin. Martin led the sixth session ahead of Johnson and Kahne. Brian Vickers was next with a 46.225 seconds lap ahead of Biffle with 46.426 seconds. Burton's 44.929 seconds topped the final practice session, followed by Bowyer and Keselowski. Robby Gordon and Kurt Busch rounded out the top five drivers, claiming the fourth and fifth positions respectively.
Race The race began at 13:00 local time (UTC−05:00), and was televised live in the United States on Fox. The conditions on the grid were dry before the race with the air temperature at . Rev. Dr. L. Ronald Durham, senior pastor of the Greater Friendship Baptist Church of Daytona Beach, Florida, began pre-race ceremonies by giving the invocation. Country music artist Martina McBride performed the national anthem, and Josh Duhamel, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and movie director Michael Bay of the upcoming film Transformers: Dark of the Moon, gave the command for the drivers to start their engines. During the pace laps, Dale Earnhardt Jr.; David Ragan, Joey Logano, and David Reutimann had to move to the rear of the grid due to changing to their back-up car. Transformers themed vehicles painted in the color schemes of Earnhardt Jr.'s, Juan Pablo Montoya's, and Jimmie Johnson's cars led the field during the pace laps as well. The cars were the vehicle modes for the Autobot Wreckers introduced in Dark of the Moon: Leadfoot (Montoya), Roadbuster (Earnhardt Jr.), and Topspin (Johnson). All three heavily armored and armed with various machine guns, including M2 Browning .50-caliber HMGs and M134 miniguns used in the film against the Decepticon Shockwave.
Kurt Busch retained his pole position lead into the first corner, followed by outside polesitter Jeff Gordon. On the following lap, Smith began to assist Busch by drafting. On lap 3, NASCAR held a moment of silence to honor Dale Earnhardt, who died ten years ago in the 2001 race. On lap 4, A. J. Allmendinger and Mark Martin moved to the first and second positions. A lap later, the first caution was flown when Kyle Busch got turned sideways. Under caution, he made a pit stop to have his car's toe plate checked and to have the front end aligned. When the race restarted on lap 8, Kevin Harvick led but after one lap, Martin and Allmendinger passed him. Three laps later, the second caution came out when J. J. Yeley had an engine failure. Most of the drivers made pit stops under the caution, except for Brad Keselowski. At the restart, he would lead and Bobby Labonte passed him for the lead on the next lap.