On the very first lap of the NASCAR Nationwide Series season opening race, the Drive4COPD 300 at Daytona International Speedway, the tone was set when Chrissy Wallace ended up in the wall ending her day early. It was Wallace’s debut in the second-tier of NASCAR competition.

Once the green flag flew after that incident, rookie Trevor Bayne was put into the wall and collected a couple more cars. Just past halfway, a multi-car pileup ruined the days of both Roush Fenway Racing rookies Colin Braun and Ricky Stenhouse and JR Motorsports driver Danica Patrick.

Then, an even bigger incident took out a handful of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series regulars including Dale Earnhardt Jr. who flipped over and was hit multiple times before the car righted itself. Luckily, he walked away from the car and will go on to race in the Daytona 500 tomorrow.

In the end, Tony Stewart took the checkered flag ahead of Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick, Justin Allgaier and Brian Vickers.

The win added to Stewart’s already stellar record at Daytona. Today he was behind the wheel of the No. 4 Oreo/Ritz Chevrolet for Kevin Harvick Inc.

“Kevin and Delana (Harvick) have always given us great race cars,” he said, adding that considering the quality of the equipment they provided he was unsure if his win was a sufficient effort.

Cup regulars Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski wrecked going into the final turn when Busch got loose but the caution did not come out until after Stewart crossed the start/finish line for the victory.

Paul Menard, Joey Logano, Nationwide rookie James Buescher, Kasey Kahne and Steve Wallace rounded out the top-10.

Next week, the Nationwide Series will run at Auto Club Speedway in California. The Stater Bros. 300 is scheduled to broadcast on ESPN2 at 5pm ET on Saturday, February 20th.

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