We’re only a couple of weeks out from SpeedWeeks at Daytona, the kickoff to the 2014 NASCAR season. The Daytona 500 is unique in that it’s the “Super Bowl” of the series, but it is the first event of the year rather than the last.
Anyway, as today, most of the country prepares for Super Bowl XLVIII in New Jersey, we’ll run a quick list of recent memorable moments from racing’s “Super Bowl” equivalent events over the last few years.
Because it’s never too early to look ahead to the blue riband events of the year.
NASCAR: Daytona 500
- 2013: NASCAR’s new Generation-6 car debuts. Danica Patrick scores the pole, and a media blitz follows. Order is restored in the galaxy when Jimmie Johnson wins.
- 2012: Rain pushes the 500 to Monday night, then a bizarre crash occurs under a yellow when Juan Pablo Montoya crashed into a jet drier. Underdog race leaders Dave Blaney and Landon Cassill get freight trained on the eventual restart after a red flag, and Matt Kenseth wins.
- 2011: Trevor Bayne takes a shock win for the Wood Brothers, after David Ragan is penalized for changing lanes on a restart.
IndyCar; Indianapolis 500
- 2013: Tony Kanaan makes the eventual winning move on a restart with a few laps to go, with his elusive first ‘500 win confirmed as longtime friend and former teammate Dario Franchitti crashes in Turn 1.
- 2012: Franchitti holds off the charge from Takuma Sato, who loses control after a passing attempt into Turn 1 (the simply awesome Japanese call is linked here). Franchitti’s win, we had no idea at the time, would be his third ‘500 and last of his illustrious IndyCar career.
- 2011: The centennial ‘500 featured a dramatic finish, as rookie JR Hildebrand crashed lapping fellow rookie Charlie Kimball in Turn 4. Hildebrand slides to the line, but the late Dan Wheldon passes his former car to pull the popular upset for Bryan Herta Autosport.
Formula 1: Monaco Grand Prix
- 2013: Nico Rosberg dominates an attrition-filled day to score his second career victory for Mercedes.
- 2012: Michael Schumacher is the fastest qualifier, but dropped five positions to serve an avoidable contact penalty from the previous Grand Prix. Mark Webber capitalizes, en route to his second Monaco victory for Red Bull.
- 2011: A late red flag for an accident shifts tire strategy, and Sebastian Vettel is able to hold off fellow World Champions Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button for what has been, thus far, his only Monaco win.
Sports cars/FIA WEC: 24 Hours of Le Mans
- 2013: Early-race accident that claims Allan Simonsen’s life casts a shadow over the rest of the race. Audi still wins, with eventual FIA World Endurance Champions Allan McNish, Tom Kristensen and Loic Duval behind the wheel of the R18 e-tron quattro.
- 2012: McNish’s late race charge against his teammates Benoit Treluyer, Andre Lotterer and Marcel Fassler ends with a spin, so the defending champs win their second straight race. Anthony Davidson goes for this wild ride in his Toyota, while the other Toyota hits the debuting DeltaWing and driver Satoshi Motoyama tries in vain to repair the wounded prototype.
- 2011: Audi loses McNish’s car with this horror smash, then loses Mike Rockenfeller’s car in another awful accident. But the one remaining Audi, driven by Treluyer, Lotterer and Fassler, hold off three Peugeots for the win. Simon Pagenaud’s efforts in the new 908 came up a scant 13 seconds short after 24 hours.