2020 Daytona 500 facts for kids

The 2020 Daytona 500 was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on February 16-17, 2020. The race lasted 209 laps on the 2.5-mile (4.0 km) asphalt superspeedway. However, the race was originally going to be 200 laps. It was the first race of the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season.

The race was started by President of the United States Donald Trump, who served as Grand Marshal, and the opening lap was paced by the official Presidential state car. Popular wrestler Sheamus drove the pace car for the opening laps. Two-time winner of the race Dale Earnhardt Jr. waved the green flag to officially start the race.

The race was to start February 16, but never-ending rain showers stopped the race on lap 20. The race was moved 4 p.m. on February 17, 2020. This being the second, he first time was in 2012.

Lots of the race was good until lap 185, a crash involved at least 20 cars on the backstretch. The race was stopped because of the crash. Denny Hamlin won the race by 0.014 seconds over Ryan Blaney on the second restart in overtime. Chris Buescher, David Ragan, and Kevin Harvick rdid not make it in the top five. On the final lap, Ryan Newman was involved in a serious crash and was immediately rushed to a local hospital. He was seriously injured in the crash, but the injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.

Race

Stage Results

Stage One Laps: 65

Stage Two Laps: 65

Final Stage Results

Stage Three Laps: 70

Race statistics

• Lead changes: 23 among 13 different drivers
• Cautions/Laps: 9 for 39
• Red flags: 3 (1 for weather, 2 for accidents)
• Time of race: 3 hours, 42 minutes and 10 seconds
• Margin of Victory: 0.014 seconds
• Average speed: 141.11 miles per hour (227.09 km/h)

Post-race

Right after the race was done, Hamlin and his crew did not know how serious Newman's crash. Instead, they started to celebrate the win, When he exited his car, the crowd booed him both on the infield grass and again in victory lane. Joe Gibbs gave an apology for the team's celebration, with Hamlin saying he was first notified when NASCAR canceled the tradition of interviewing the winner on the front-stretch before driving his car to victory lane

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Denny Hamlin 50 2 Ryan Blaney 43 (–7) 3 Kevin Harvick 39 (–11) 4 Chris Buescher 38 (–12) 5 Ryan Newman 36 (–14) 6 Kyle Larson 35 (–15) 7 Chase Elliott 34 (–16) 8 David Ragan 33 (–17) 9 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 32 (–18) 10 Aric Almirola 32 (–18) 11 Clint Bowyer 31 (–19) 12 Austin Dillon 30 (–20) 13 Joey Logano 30 (–20) 14 Corey LaJoie 29 (–21) 15 Bubba Wallace 28 (–22) 16 John Hunter Nemechek 26 (–24) Official driver's standings: https://www.jayski.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/31/2020/02/18/2020-01cup-points.pdf

Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Toyota 40 2 Ford 35 (–5) 3 Chevrolet 30 (–10) Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings.

Images for kids

• 

  The program cover for the 2020 Daytona 500.

• 

  Daytona International Speedway, the circuit where the 62nd annual Daytona 500 took place. The first twenty laps were raced on Sunday afternoon and the remaining laps (including the green-white-checkered finish) were completed on Monday evening.

• 

  Ricky Stenhouse Jr. scored the pole position.

• 

  Ryan Newman crashed on the final lap as Denny Hamlin (#11) and Ryan Blaney (#12) raced to the finish line

• 

  Denny Hamlin won the race.

• 

  Hamlin (11) beat Blaney by 0.014 seconds, the second closest Daytona 500 in history.