2014 Daytona 500
Pos Grid No Driver Team Manufacturer Laps Status
1 9 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 60 Running
2 10 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 60 Running
3 6 9 Marcos Ambrose Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 60 Running
4 4 88 Dale Earnhardt , Jr Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 60 Running
5 22 98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Ford 60 Running
6 7 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 60 Running
7 14 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 60 Running
8 16 38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 60 Running
9 3 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 60 Running
10 18 14 Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 60 Running
11 20 26 Cole Whitt ( R ) Swan Racing Toyota 60 Running
12 2 16 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 60 Running
13 13 10 Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 60 Running
14 24 23 Alex Bowman ( R ) BK Racing Toyota 60 Running
15 19 55 Brian Vickers Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 60 Running
16 8 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 60 Running
17 17 30 Parker Kligerman ( R ) Swan Racing Toyota 60 Running
18 1 3 Austin Dillon ( R ) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 60 Running
19 5 17 Ricky Stenhouse , Jr Roush Fenway Racing Ford 60 Running
20 11 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 60 Running
Budweiser Duels -- Race One
Austin Dillon led the field to the green flag at 7:16 p.m. , and after leading the first 14 laps , Dillon lost the lead to Dale Earnhardt , Jr. on lap 15 . Matt Kenseth took the lead on lap 29 , and held the lead until lap 36 , when he pitted and the lead was passed to Earnhardt , Jr. once again . Earnhardt , Jr. and Kasey Kahne each held the lead for a lap before Kenseth cycled back to the lead with 21 laps to go . On the last lap , Kevin Harvick pulled up alongside Matt Kenseth , while Kahne got to the inside , creating a three-wide photo finish in which Kenseth prevailed . Michael McDowell and Joe Nemechek failed to make the Daytona 500 . [ 28 ] Kenseth stated that he `` was kind of embarrassed to walk in the garage '' but felt that his race performance `` builds confidence in all of us , makes us feel like you can go out and get the job done if everybody does their jobs and we do everything right '' . [ 28 ] Harvick 's car failed post-race inspection because his car exceeded the maximum split on the track bar . He was disqualified , but his speed in qualifying was enough to get him into the Daytona 500 . [ 29 ] Greg Zipadelli , the competitions director at Harvick 's team – Stewart-Haas Racing – referred to the infraction as `` an adjustment during the race and it was more than it should have been '' . [ 29 ]
The 2014 Daytona 500, the 56th running of the event, was held on February 23, 2014 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Contested over 200 laps and 500 miles (800 km) on the 2.5 miles (4.0 km) asphalt tri-oval, it was the first race of the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. Dale Earnhardt, Jr., driving for Hendrick Motorsports, won the race, making this his second Daytona 500 victory breaking a 55-race winless streak. Denny Hamlin finished 2nd, while Brad Keselowski, Jeff Gordon, and Jimmie Johnson rounded out the Top 5. This race had seven cautions and 42 lead changes among 18 different drivers. The top rookies of this race were polesitter Austin Dillon (9th), Alex Bowman (23rd), and Brian Scott (25th).