Written by Michael Hull
DAYTONA, FL – Michael Annett gets his first career win on the biggest stage of racing, as he took home the win at Daytona in the NASCAR Racing Experience 300 in his No. 1 Pilot Flying J/American Heart Association Chevrolet. It was Annett’s first victory after nearly a decade in the Xfinity series.
“This is amazing. My first words were ‘Eight years’ – it’s been eight years in this series,” Annett said in Gatorade Victory Lane. “I can’t do it without these guys. They stuck with me when everybody would count us out. Some people wonder why I get to drive this car and I think we showed it today.”
The race began with No. 18 Jeffrey Earnhardt holding the pole position after No. 2 Tyler Reddick had to change his tire and was moved to the back of the pack. Earnhardt took advantage of his starting spot, as he held the lead for nearly the entire first stage. On the final lap, however, No. 11 Justin Haley overtook him on turn three and was able to hold on to win a relatively uneventful stage one.
Stage two had much more action, with five lead changes in 30 laps. No. 20 Christopher Bell held the lead for just four laps before being overtaken by Austin Cindric in the No. 22 car. Cindric then lost the lead two laps later, as Brandon Jones in the No. 19 passed him. Jones’ lead was short lived though, and Ross Chastain in the No. 10 car took the lead on lap 42 and held it the rest of the way on the way to a stage two victory.
The third and final stage of the race saw multiple yellow flags and lead changes. Brad Keselowski was shown the black flag early on in the stage after the hood flap flew off his No. 12 car.
“I felt like I was back in the ‘50’s running a convertible here on the beach,” Keselowski said about the hood flap. “The roof, escape hatch, whatever it is called looks like there was a defect from the factory on the body and just nothing we could do.”
A couple laps later, the No. 07 car, driven by Ray Black Jr, wrecked in the infield, causing another caution flag to be waived. Coming out of that restart, Annett held the lead in the No.1 car and never looked back. He led for the final 45 laps of the race, and was able to fight off Justin Allgaier in the No.7 car over the last few laps to seal his victory.
“I just couldn’t generate the run I have in the past,” Allagier said. “I’m really happy to come in second, but also extremely excited for Michael…. I’ve been there and I know what that experience is like and to get that first win is definitely monumental. As much as I wanted to win, since we didn’t it was really cool to see their excitement. ”
With the win, Annett clinches a playoff spot in the Xfinity Series. The rest of the drivers will look to get their own cars into victory way next week in Atlanta.
