Daytona Beach, FL (93.7 The Fan) -- The start of a new season always brings optimism and excitment and this year's Daytona 500 was no different for Chip Ganassi Racing. Teammates Kyle Larson and Kurt Busch both told KDKA before Sunday's race how important a strong race was for early season momentum.
The momentum didn't last long as all three Ganassi cars were involved in a couple of the 12-caution flags during Sunday's Daytona 500.
Disaster struck the newest member of the team, Kurt Busch, when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. appeared to make slight contact with Busch's No. 1 Monster Energy Camaro in turns 1 & 2. The contact sent Busch spinning into the path of the No. 43 Richard Petty Racing Camaro of Bubba Wallace. Jamie McMurray also suffered damage to the nose of his No. 40 McDonald's Camaro in the incident.
Turn three proved to cause big problems on lap 192 as Clint Bowyer moved up into the path of Matt DiBenedetto triggering a 21-car pileup that Larson also got caught up in bringing out the first of the race's red flags, which lasted almost 25-minutes.
McMurray's night ended on Lap 200 when another 9-car pileup brought out the 2nd red flag of the race, which lasted nearly 15-minutes. McMurray finished the night in 22nd position.
Larson rallied during NASCAR overtime to salvage a 7th place finish and Busch soldiered on with a damaged car to finish 25th.
Fortunatly in racing you are only as good as your last week and for CGR, next week's race in Atlanta can't come soon enough.
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