2011 Daytona 500
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race 1 of 36 in the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series | |||
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| Date | February 20, 2011 | ||
| Location |
Daytona International Speedway Daytona Beach, Florida, U.S. |
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| Course | Permanent racing facility 2.5 mi (4.023 km) |
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| Distance | 208 laps, 520 mi (837 km) | ||
| Scheduled Distance | 200 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km) | ||
| Weather | Warm with temperatures reaching up to 79 °F (26 °C); wind speeds approaching 14 miles per hour (23 km/h) | ||
| Average speed | 130.326 miles per hour (209.739 km/h) | ||
| Pole position | |||
| Driver | Hendrick Motorsports | ||
| Time | 48.364 | ||
| Qualifying race winners | |||
| Duel 1 Winner | Kurt Busch | Penske Racing | |
| Duel 2 Winner | Jeff Burton | Richard Childress Racing | |
| Most laps led | |||
| Driver | Ryan Newman | Stewart-Haas Racing | |
| Laps | 37 | ||
| Winner | |||
| No. 21 | Trevor Bayne | Wood Brothers Racing | |
| Television in the United States | |||
| Network | Fox Broadcasting Company | ||
| Announcers | Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip, and Larry McReynolds | ||
| Nielsen Ratings | 8.7/20 (15.6 million viewers) |
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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.
The race featured 16 cautions and 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.
Daytona International Speedway is one of six superspeedways to hold NASCAR races, the others being Michigan International Speedway, Auto Club Speedway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Pocono Raceway and Talladega Superspeedway. The standard track at Daytona International Speedway is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) 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.
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