Top 5 Best Last Lap Passes at the Daytona 500

 

Top 5 Best Lap Passes at the Daytona 500

By Brian Cotnoir

The Daytona 500 is a little over a month away!  There is no doubt in my mind that the Daytona 500 is my favorite race of the entire year!  No other NASCAR race has as much excitement and memorable finishes as NASCAR Biggest race of the season.  It’s not just a race, it’s an event!    Now personally, I love last lap passes, but those last lap passes take on a whole new meaning during the Daytona 500.   To me a last lap pass at the Daytona 500 is like a buzzer beater in basketball or an overtime goal in hockey, or a walk-off homerun in baseball!  It just gives the race more excitement, and fortunately for me, most of the best Daytona 500’s with a last lap pass have happened in my lifetime!   So without further ado,   here are my picks for the 5 Best Last Lap finishes at the Daytona 500!

5.)  Dale Jarrett, 1993

As a kid watching NASCAR in the 1990’s, it always seemed like the Daytona 500 would be won by Jeff Gordon, Dale Jarrett, or Dale Earnhardt.  In 1993 we got the first version of the “Dale & Dale Show”.  On the last lap, Dale Earnhardt Sr. was leading, but he would be passed by Dale Jarret and the newly formed Joe Gibbs Racing team.  Dale Jarrett won his 2^nd ever NASCAR Cup Series Race (and his first of 3 Daytona 500 victories) and gave Coach Joe Gibbs his first win as a NASCAR Team owner.   What most people remember from this race was Ned Jarrett calling his son home to win the race.   I think that if anyone other than Ned Jarrett had called that finish, this race wouldn’t be as memorable, but having that Father-Son connection really helps solidify this race as one of the all-time Greatest Finishes in Racing History.

4.) Kevin Harvick, 2007

I still can’t watch replays of this race finish.   My father was the biggest Mark Martin fan when he was with Roush Racing, so when he left his ride in the iconic #6 for Jack Roush for a part-time ride with Ginn Racing.  All race long Martin looked strong, and as I watched the race with my father, we both began to believe that Mark Martin could actually win the Daytona 500 this year!   On the final lap my father was screaming at the TV and as the cameras focused on the massive wreck happening in the back on the final lap, my father jumped out of his chair with tears of joy in face believing that he finally won the Daytona 500, we hugged and jumped up and down and then that’s when we learned the awful truth.   Kevin Harvick had snuck by in the tri-oval and beat Mark Martin back to the line.   Mark Martin had finished 2^nd.   I remember my dad sinking back into his chair, in utter disbelief!  I will always remember how shocked we both were, and because of that, I STILL can’t watch the finish of the 2007 Daytona 500, whenever they show it in highlights, because I believe that is the 1 race in NASCAR history, where the wrong driver won!

3.)  Denny Hamlin, 2016 & 2020

Denny Hamlin has been one of the most dominant restrictor plate racers of the past decade!  He is a 3-time winner of the Daytona 500, and for two of those finishes he waited until the last moment possible to make his winning move.   It was too hard to decide which finish was more exciting.  I will say this: the 2016 Daytona 500 was the most boring Daytona 500 I have ever watched, it was mostly follow the leader, and it looked like Matt Kenseth was going to win his 3^rd Daytona 500, but coming out of that last corner, Hamlin made his move, and got his teammate loose.  Even after getting by Hamlin, he still had to battle Martin Truex Jr. to the line and what happened was the most exciting finish I had see at the Daytona 500!   A boring race, with a great finish!

Last years race, Hamlin again was running 3^rd coming out of the final corner, but after race leader Ryan Newman was turned into the wall trying to block Ryan Blaney, Hamlin again managed to sneak by at the last moment possible to claim his 3^rd Daytona 500 victory!  This race had the scariest non-fatal accident I’ve ever seen, and honestly, when I saw it happen, I honestly believed Ryan Newman was dead.  I stayed up for almost 2 hours waiting to hear news on Newman, and was overcome with relief when they announced he was alive and expected to pull through.  Here’s hoping the 2021 Daytona 500 will still have an exciting—but much safer—finish.  

2.)  David Pearson, 1976

Richard Petty and David Pearson are the two most successful drivers in NASCAR, so it makes sense that the two of them would be involved in one of the most exciting finishes in racing history.  Coming off the final turn on the final lap of the 1976 Daytona 500, Petty and Pearson got tangled together and crashed into in the wall.   For a brief moment it looked like Petty was going to win, but he could not get his car re-started, and David Pearson managed to drive his smashed in #21 Mercury Montego for the Wood Brothers across the line.  This would be Pearson’s only win at the Daytona 500.

Now some of you may be surprised that I picked this over the 1979 finish, that’s because no one really cares about (or remembers) the finish.  All anyone cares about from that race is the wreck and then the fight between Cale Yarborough and the Allison brothers, and that’s why I don’t think it was an exciting last lap pass.

1.) Derrike Cope, 1990

I was only 3 months old when this race occurred, but I remember my Dad talking about it a lot whenever they’d talk about Dale Sr.’s bad luck at the Daytona 500 on TV.   On the last lap of the 1990 Daytona 500 it looked like Dale Earnhardt Sr. was easily on his way to his 1^st Daytona 500 victory, when in the middle of turn three he cut a tire after running over some debris.  While Earnhardt’s car slowed, Derrike Cope, who’s previous best finish at the Daytona 500 was 27^th, raced past Earnhardt and held off tough charges from future Hall of Famers Terry Labonte and Bill Elliott to win his first ever NASCAR Race.

This was also the first win for Cope’s team, Whitcomb Racing, as well.   The underdog Whitcomb Racing team would only win one more race (at Dover that year with Cope), but what really makes this the Best Daytona 500 finish ever was that while the other last lap passes had been won by Hall of Fame and future Hall of Fame drivers this one was a total fluke!   Believe you me; no one would even remember the name Derrike Cope if he had not won the Daytona 500!   The fact that he won it on a last lap pass just adds to the legend of this impressive race finish, and I think the only Daytona 500 finish that comes close to this is the 2011 Daytona 500 finish.