Daytona 500 Results: David Ragan and The Last 5 Blunders in Daytona 500 History

The Daytona 500 is the Super Bowl of the NASCAR season and it is a time to showcase a team’s expertise and talent.

It is supposed to be the proudest time in people’s lives but like anything else in the world, it doesn’t always turn out that way.

Along with success comes heart ache and sadness for those who screw up on the biggest stage of the season.

The following slideshow is of the last blunders that gave the Daytona 500’s of the past five years a bit of a black eye.

Jamie McMurray Criying at 2010 Daytona 500

It must be the greatest feeling in the world to conquer one of the biggest feats in the sport by winning the Daytona 500.

Obviously it is a dream come true for Jamie McMurray who proceeds to cry every time he talks to someone for the next two days.

I am not saying that what he did was wrong or unmanly, but it was funny.  Any time a grown man struggles to keep it together in the face of success, makes me laugh every time.

Casey Mears at The 2008 Daytona 500

In 2008, Casey Mears was at the highest point of his career with the No. 5 Kellogg’s car with Hendrick Motorsports.

The Daytona 500 was his place to show the team that he was right for the position and that he was indispensable.

Mears promptly crashed on three separate occasions and only finished six laps down.  His 35^th place finish was the start of a very disappointing season and the beginning of the end of Casey Mears at Hendrick Motorsports.

I don’t know if that race ruined his career but it certainly correlates.

2009 Daytona 500- Dale Earnhardt Jr. vs Brian Vickers

The 2009 Daytona 500 was filled with accidents but none garnered more attention than the accident between Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Brian Vickers.

Towards the end of the 124^th lap, Earnhardt Jr. had a run on Brian Vickers and dove low to make a pass.  Vickers slid down and Earnhardt got into his quarter panel and sent Vickers sideways. 

Vickers caught a lot of traffic up with him and the accident was huge.  Vickers and Junior exchanged heated media jabs for the better part of the year.

David Ragan Black Flag at 2011 Daytona 500

The 2011 Dayton 500 saw its share of new racing styles and plenty of action.

The record amount of cautions and lead changes couldn’t keep the end from being tainted just a bit.

Young prospect David Ragan got the black flag at the end of the 2011 Daytona 500 because he passed before the field crossed the start finish line.

Although it ruined his day, it led to the victory Trevor Bayne and one of the wildest Daytona 500’s in recent memory.

2007 Daytona 500 Finish

The Daytona 500 had one of the wildest finishes of any race in NASCAR history and was definitely the most exciting Daytona 500 finish I have ever watched live.

The finish between Kevin Harvick and Mark Martin was one of the most exciting and close in the history of the sport but it was overshadowed by the wrecks behind them at the start /finish line.

Kyle Busch tried to make a last ditch effort to get into the lead off of turn four and got turned around. Busch collected Robby Gordon, Kasey Kahne, Clint Bowyer, Joe Nemechek, Sterling Marlin, Greg Biffle, Kenseth, Elliott Sadler, Jeff Gordon, Casey Mears, David Gilliland, David Stremme, Juan Pablo Montoya, Boris Said, Ricky Rudd, and Carl Edwards.

It also saw the No. 7 car of Clint Bowyer finish the race on his roof before catching fire on the infield.