Austin Dillon Wins Daytona 500 in Chevy Camaro ZL1

Austin Dillon took the lead for the first time on the final lap of yesterday’s Daytona 500 and held on to win the race in his Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.

It was just the second time in the 60-year history of the fabled NASCAR race that the winning driver was in the lead for only one lap. Kurt Busch accomplished the same feat last year in Daytona.

Darrell "Bubba" Wallace Jr., the first black driver to compete in the Daytona 500 since 1969, piloted his ZL1 to second place this year. Dillon and Wallace are teammates on the Richard Childress Racing team.

This is the first year a Camaro has been used in NASCAR races. The ZL1 replaces the Chevy SS, which is based on the discontinued Australian-built Holden Commodore.

Denny Hamilin, the 2016 Daytona winner, finished third in a Toyota Camry. He was followed by Joey Logano in a Ford Fusion.

Ryan Blaney, who led a race-high 118 laps, hit Busch from behind with two laps to go in regulation. This caused a multi-car accident that forced the race into overtime, with Hamlin and Aric Almirola starting on the front row.

In the backstretch of the final lap of overtime, Wallace pushed Dillon into Almirola’s Ford. Almirola finished 10th after crashing into the wall.

Dillon, the grandson of Childress, began driving the No. 3 car for Chevy in 2014—the first driver to use the number since Dale Earnhardt was killed in a crash during the 2001 Daytona 500. Earnhardt used the number throughout most of his career, including his lone Daytona victory in 1998.

Competing in her final NASCAR race, Danica Patrick finished 35th after her Chevy was caught up in multi-car crash midway through the race. Patrick plans to end her career in May at the Indianapolis 500. She is the only woman to win the pole position and lead laps in the Daytona 500.