The 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season got underway on Saturday night with the traditional Sprint Unlimited at Daytona International Speedway. While it is a non-points race, there was a significant amount of money on the line, along with bragging rights.

Brad Keselowski wasted no time, as he shot to the lead in the first two laps. The first caution came out on Lap 13 when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. spun out, collecting Denny Hamlin. To make matters worse, Stenhouse also received a penalty for having too many crew members over the wall when he stopped in the pits.

When the race went back to green on Lap 18, Jamie McMurray was in the lead, but quickly found himself in a battle with Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Kyle Larson. They had a nice battle which included Jimmie Johnson until the second caution came out on Lap 23 when Brian Vickers, who is filling in for Tony Stewart, got loose and hit the wall. He then collected numerous other drivers, including Greg Biffle and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

That caution served as the competition caution, which separated the two segments. Once the field returned to green, Hamlin was in the lead. He briefly gave up the lead to Brad Keselowski, but retook the lead shortly after, which began an entertaining battle. Keselowski lost a lot of ground when he got a piece of trash stuck on his grille.

He was falling back in the field when Jimmie Johnson spun out on the back stretch, which brought out the caution, and allowed Keselowski to get the trash off his nose. Thanks to pit stops, Keselowski led the field back to green on Lap 48. The green flag was not out for long before the yellow returned after Kasey Kahne spun following contact with McMurray.

The green flag was displayed again on Lap 62 with Hamlin leading the field. Following a short debris caution period on Lap 66, Hamlin was in the lead when there was a big wreck which involved four drivers. That set up the first overtime attempt under a new rule established by NASCAR earlier in the week.

The first attempt was a valid attempt, with Logano and Hamlin exchanging the lead. On the final lap, some cars in the back of the field crashed, which led NASCAR to throw the caution flag, ending the race, giving Hamlin the win.

For Hamlin, the win is his third win in the Unlimited, as well as his sixth career win at Daytona. Logano finished second, with Paul Menard, Kyle Larson, and Casey Mears rounding out the Top 5.

The next event in Speedweeks is pole qualifying for the Daytona 500, which will take place on Sunday afternoon, weather permitting. VAVEL USA will have full coverage of that, along with the rest of Speedweeks. 

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About the author
Stevie Larson
NASCAR Editor, Minnesota sports fan. Contact: [email protected]