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- Nationwide race - Feb. 25, 2012 - 120 laps - 300 miles -

Lap-by-Lap: Daytona

http://www.nascar.com/nationwide-series/lap-by-lap/120225/nwidedaylbl/index.html

Lap 30 — YELLOW FLAG NO. 1: The cars of Jason Bowles is smoking badly. Dale Earnhardt Jr. had just taken the lead in a backstretch scramble.

Lap 28 — Debris is being reported on the backstretch. Meanwhile, Kurt Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr. pull alongside Mike Bliss and Joe Nemechek at the stripe.

Lap 27 — Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kurt Busch track down Mike Bliss and Joe Nemechek and briefly take the lead. Bliss grabs it right back.

Lap 26 — Officials are reporting that a pin may be out of the hood on T.J. Bell’s car.

Lap 23 — The mostly plain black cars up front have opened up a huge gap over Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Lap 22 — Eli Gold just said, “Mike Bliss and Joe Nemechek are showing the way.” Do you believe in miracles?!? Yessssss!!!

Lap 20 — Mike Bliss takes the lead. Just end the race now and call it official!

Lap 19 — Sam Hornish Jr. and Brad Keselowski have a lead over a car length or two over Joe Nemechek and Mike Bliss. Wait. What? Nemechek and Bliss? Yepper ... go get ‘em, boys!

Lap 17 — The field appears to be split into tandems and packs. It’s going to be interesting to see how THAT works out.

Lap 16 — Sam Hornish Jr. and Brad Keselowski power their way into the lead(s)!

Lap 14 — Trevor Bayne and Elliott Sadler are now side by side with Denny Hamlin and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. up front.

Lap 13 — Denny Hamlin and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. have driven into the front two spots.

Lap 9 — Tony Stewart now has Kurt Busch as a partner, with Kasey Kahne and Dale Earnhardt Jr. to their outside.

Lap 8 — Sam Hornish Jr. appeared ready to swap places with Tony Stewart, but Kurt Busch interrupts the move with a huge charge into Turn 3.

Lap 7 — Danica Patrick gets high between Turns 1 and 2, and might have brushed the wall. She gets back up to speed without further incident.

Lap 6 — Move Tony Stewart to the front of the field.

Lap 4 — Elliott Sadler goes around drafting partner Trevor Bayne, which allows Sam Hornish Jr. to go up front.

Lap 3 — Up front, it’s Danica Patrick and Dale Earnhardt Jr. with a challenge from Trevor Bayne and Elliott Sadler.

Lap 2 — The familiar two-car tandem is still around in the Nationwide Series.

Lap 1 — GREEN FLAG: The race gets under way at 1:37 p.m. Pole-sitter Danica Patrcick is on the high side of the track, and she easily clears going into Turn 1 with drafting help from Dale Earnhardt Jr.

1:30 p.m. ET — Cars have made their way onto the track for the start of what should be three pace laps.

1:25 p.m. ET — Hold on to your hats ... there’s a crowd giving the command to fire engines. The honors are done by Jennifer Carroll, the lieutenant governor of Florida; John W. Walsh IV, president of the COPD Foundation; David Barringer, executive director of the COPD Foundation; Lawrence D. Stern, founding chairman and CEO of Talecris Biotherapeutics; and Wayne Elmer Withers, president of Withers Worldwide Transportation Systems.

1:19 p.m. ET — The flyover is performed by two F-18s from VFA-31 Naval Air Station in Oceana, Va.

1:18 p.m. ET — Bigger Picture recording artist Chris Cagle sings the national anthem. Yep. He’s a country singer ... the twang is perfect!

1:17 p.m. ET — Whew. Back on schedule! After the colors are presented by the Naval Air Station Jacksonville Color Guard, Rev. John Long III from the Tubman-King Community Church gives the invocation.

1:16 p.m. ET — Hey ... wait a second. The schedule shows that the invocation and colors should have started a minute ago. What gives?

1:06 p.m. ET — Looking through the entry list, it’s hard not to pick a favorite sponsor. How about the Kentucky Antler Co. on the Toyota driven by Benny Gordon, who starts 33rd?

1:05 p.m. ET — Ten minutes away from the invocation and national anthem.

12:54 p.m. ET — The sun is now shining brightly at Daytona International Speedway.

12:22 p.m. ET — The command to fire engines is coming up in exactly one hour. This time, the race counts!

12:20 p.m. ET — There are clouds overhead at the track, but there’s little chance of rain on the Nationwide Series’ parade today.

10:48 a.m. ET — Danica Patrick is the second woman to score the pole in the division now known as the Nationwide Series. Shawna Robinson first accomplished the feat in 1994 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, but was taken out in a first-lap crash after contact with Mike Wallace.

Robinson posted on her Facebook page this morning, “OK I’ve held it in long enough!!! It’s not that hard to qualify at Daytona or Talladega!! Race, draft yes ... qualifying is CAR! If only POLAROID (her sponsor in 1994) would have been the event sponsor and I was driving for Tony!!”

7:49 a.m. ET — It’s race morning ... cue the the theme music from “Days of Thunder!” Danica Patrick’s No. 7 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet is on the pole for today’s 300-miler after turning in a lap of 182.741 mph during qualifying yesterday.

Defending Daytona 500 champion Trevor Bayne starts second, with Elliott Sadler in third, Dale Earnhardt Jr. fourth and Austin Dillon fifth. Sam Hornish Jr., Tony Stewart, Cole Whitt, Brad Keselowski and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. are sixth through tenth.

Seven drivers — Morgan Shepherd, Derrike Cope, Erik Darnell, Scott Speed, Mike Harmon, Donnie Neuenberger and Chase Miller — failed to qualify for the race.