Coming In: With the 2010 Daytona 500 race still looming in people's minds, mostly the 32 car wreck on the 2nd lap that knocked out over half of the cars involved, nobody was sure what to expect after nearly 3 years of no racing in the league. Lorii Johnson and Chris Saunders were red hot coming off of the exhibition races with Rose LaTereza as the top driver, according to statistics. 3 Time 500 winner, Nick Miller, was thought to be a major threat to win this year's race. Rose announced in the opening driver meeting that she and her mate (former driver of the #21) Quetzal were going to win the 2013 Daytona 500.
The Good: 32 of the 33 cars wound up finishing the race. Albert Lewis won his first race since 2006.
The Bad: Al-Zahir Muhammud, the 2-time Points Champ, ran out of gas on lap 143 and lost 5 laps while his car was towed to the pits. Cody Landon, the 2010 Points Champ, ran out of gas on lap 152 and also lost 5 laps to the leader.
The Ugly: Mike Boone and Mileena Jackson ran into the back of two cars on an early yellow flag, damaging their cars badly. They finished 10 laps down. Nick Miller lost a cylinder in his engine on lap 3 and wound up being the only car unable to finish the race, only completing 26 laps before calling it quits.
Race Significance: Rose LaTereza went from 32nd to 1st in the first 8 laps of the race and broke her own record that she set in 2010 for the oldest driver to lead a lap in a race at the age of 75. Later on she went from 12th to 2nd in the final 4 laps of the race, finishing just one tenth of a second behind the leader Albert Lewis. 26 drivers led at least one lap in the race, the lead changing hands 79 times.
Final Results:
1st: Albert Lewis
2nd: Rose LaTereza
3rd: Dale Durlach
4th: Jerome Gaedenwood
5th: Kevin Pritchett
6th: Lorna Rose
7th: James Jackson
8th: Renae Brown
9th: Isaak Claude
10th: Greg LaMothe
11th: Pookie Von Schliztenberg
12th: Laura Hellington
13th: Chris Saunders
14th: David Cross
15th: David James
16th: Lorii Johnsson
17th: Todd McMillan
18th: Mike Dillon
19th: Wendy Williams
20th: Geoffrey Ganon (-1 Lap)
21st: Lance Hall (-1 Lap)
22nd: Tia-Saree Muhammud (-1 Lap)
23rd: James Ganon (-2 Laps)
24th: Paul Hellington (-2 Laps)
25th: Lars Von Schlitzenberg (-2 Laps)
26th: Kali Wassaserwanga (-2 Laps)
27th: Vladislav Dragimar (-3 Laps)
28th: Al-Zahir Muhammud (-4 Laps)
29th: Cody Landon (-5 Laps)
30th: Lamond Jackson (-5 Laps)
31st: Mileena Jackson (-10 Laps)
32nd: Mike Boone (-10 Laps)
33rd: Nick Miller (OUT)