NASCAR driver Jimmie Johnson won the 2013 Daytona 500 this past weekend, while pole winner Danica Patrick made history again becoming the first woman to finish within the top-ten according to the Associated Press.
There was a small chance that the race wouldn't happen after a crash took place at Daytona International Speedway the night before, injuring 28 fans in the stands. Crews were able to fix the fence up in time however for the "Great American Race," and removed all the remaining debris from the track.
"It is just awesome, there's no other way to describe it," Johnson said according to the Associated Press. "Just a strong racecar. I feel like the speed our car had in it allowed me to really have control of the race there late. I felt like I was sitting on something all day and was just ready to have some fun when it counted, and it did."
Johnson won $1.585 million for winning his second Daytona 500 title.
Patrick entered the last lap in third place and appeared destined to make a move to break in front of five-time Sprint Cup Winner Jimmie Johnson, who won the 2006 Daytona 500. Her car got trapped when a pack of other vehicles made their last-ditch effort however, and she finished 8th at the prestigious race.
Patrick was also the first woman ever to lead a lap, leading five overall, at Daytona. The Spring Cup rookie was in or near the top 10 almost the entire race.
The previous highest finish for a woman was Janet Guthrie, who finished 11th in 1980.
"You spend a lot of time thinking about what to do when the time comes," Patrick said according to ABC News. "I kept asking up above what was working. You needed a hole, you needed people to help you out. I had a little bit of help today here and there, but I felt like if I was going to dive low, I had a feeling I was going to get freight-trained. At the end of the day, it was a solid day.
A nine-car crash during the 34th lap of the race took drivers Kevin Harvick and Tony Stewart out of contention for good and for a minute seemed like it would halt Johnson's chance at another Daytona win.
"Happy with our car, was just waiting for it to all get sorted out again," said Stewart to ESPN. "I don't know what started it, but we just got caught up in another wreck."
NASCAR officials allowed the drivers to continue racing instead of throwing the yellow flag, giving Johnson, who was leading the field at the time of the crash, the opportunity to finish the race.
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