(The following was written by SportsTalk regular Dana Boisvert. I'd asked him to pitch in with a report because there's no way I could do the event justice with my usual wisecracks...like the title of this post which was mine, not Dana's. Sorry DB...couldn't resist!)

The 50th edition of the Great American Race is in the history books and, while the race had it's moments of "calm before the storm" the ending of the race provided the ultimate display of teamwork in what is the ultimate individual sport.

Early on in the race you could tell that the drivers were getting used to the first 500-mile Daytona race in the new car. Although all the drivers competed in a 150-mile qualifying race on Thursday those were run much earlier in the day- the 500 was started around 3:30 (note to NASCAR - as you showed all of the fantastic finishes of past 500's note that they finished in DAYLIGHT. Please start the actual race at 1:00!!! OK - enough of that rant) and ended about 4
hours later in darkness.

Dale Earnhardt Jr, the fan favorite in his new green machine had a good run but inexplicably passed up not one but two chances to come in for fresh tires during cautions making him a sitting duck.

All day long the Toyotas of Kyle Busch and Tony Stewart were stout and they had a very good chance of getting the win as Busch led the most laps in the race and Stewart was out in front at the start of the final lap with his teammate Busch behind him along with the Dodges of Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch. But in the final moments of that last lap Busch got out from behind his teammate and when Stewart went down low to draft with Busch the 2 Penske Dodges of Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch combined to pass the two Toyotas bringing Roger Penske his first Daytona 500 win after 14(!?!?) Indy 500 wins. Stewart ended up 3rd and Kyle Busch placed fourth.

What of Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson? Well-suspension problems ended Gordon's day early and Johnson just didn't have a great car all day and ended up in a late-race accident.

What I think was especially great about this finish (besides that an American make won the 50th race) is that, prior to the race, the Dodge cars were assumed to not be as fast as the other makes. Not only did they finish 1-2 but also finished 5-6-7-8 with Reed Sorenson, Elliott Sadler, Kasey Kahne, and Robby Gordon finishing just ahead of the afore-mentioned Dale Jr. Greg Biffle in a Ford finished 10th.

Not quite as exciting as last year's near-photo finish between Kevin Harvick and Mark Martin but for someone like yours truly who has always followed the Penske cars (and Ryan Newman in particular) it was the best finish I've seen in the Great American Race. Now I am upset that I missed a chance to attend this edition as I did the 47th and 48th. Maybe I'll be back for #51.
I encourage everyone who gets a chance to attend a race at Daytona (even if you don't enjoy the racing at Loudon) as it truly is a spectacle that has to be seen in person.