Denny Hamlin 2016 Daytona 500 WinnerAs I predicted in my post about getting ready for the Daytona 500.  None of my predictions came true today.  In what was a mostly unspectacular race turned exciting on the final lap.  Just when it looked that Matt Kenseth was going to run away with the race.  Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr.  made a final push (and I mean that literally) to nudge Kenseth out of the way and have the closest finish ever in the Daytona 500.

The race started pretty much as expected.  Chase Elliott lead the first three laps after starting from the pole.  Then gave up the lead to Dale Earnhardt Jr.  Chase Elliott then had a single car crash coming out of turn 4.  He would later get back on the track but down 40 laps it really did not matter.  There was only 6 cautions in the race and two of them were from Hendrick drivers.  Elliott and Earnhardt both in single car crashes.  In two separate instances two of the drivers I picked for the top three finishers were out of the race.  The closest I got to picking one of the top three drivers was Joey Logano who finished 6th.

Hamlin lead for almost half the laps leading a race high 95 laps.  After the first race of the season he is sitting in a nice spot and will almost assure himself a spot in The Chase at the end of the season.  It makes for a much less stressful season to start out that way.

For the most part the race was pretty uneventful.  With only the 6 caution flags covering 31 laps.  There was no big crash.  Which is a good thing but lets be honest what a lot of people want.

Over all it was an alright start to the 2016 NASCAR season.  The last lap of the race made up for the uneventful first 199 laps of the race.  After watching this race and how poorly my picks did.  I am still sticking with my picks for the 4 drivers in the final race for the championship.