Waltrip Wins, Cobb Makes History

Tom Pennington/Getty Images for NASCAR

Michael Waltrip brought home the win in a photo finish with Elliott Sadler in the Nextera Energy Resources 250 at Daytona International Speedway, scoring his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series win on the 10^th anniversary of the death of former car owner and legendary NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt. Earnhardt was tragically killed on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500, the same day Waltrip won his very first race. Waltrip was very emotional in Victory Lane, expressing gratefulness at being given the opportunity, and even shared a tender moment with daughter Macy.

Waltrip will start eighth in Sunday’s Daytona 500.

“I came here to celebrate his life with my black truck and my No. 15 car,” said Waltrip. “I didn’t come to celebrate a win. This feels really good. I’m thankful for this.”

Sadler finished second after leading 31 laps and surviving multiple incidents on the racetrack, but said he was happy to see Waltrip in Victory Lane.

“Michael and I have been friends a long time, I mean a long time,” said Sadler. “We worked together tonight. He made a great move at the end. It does ease the pain a little bit. I want to go to Victory Lane, too. We have another chance tomorrow.”

Meanwhile, Jennifer Jo Cobb was making waves, becoming the highest finishing female driver in series history after finishing sixth in a carnage filled event at Daytona.

The race saw 6 cautions for 24 laps, with the two biggest crashes coming in the last fifteen laps of the race. Most wrecks collected multiple trucks—with the biggest crash collecting 14 trucks total—but no injuries were sustained in the carnage.

Several trucks were obviously damaged after the race, including Waltrip’s. The right half of Waltrip’s spoiler had been flattened sometime near the end of the race. While NASCAR has allowed Waltrip to keep the victory, penalties might be coming next week if Waltrip’s winning truck doesn’t fit the template.