McMurray overcomes many obstacles to win Daytona 500

Jamie McMurray overcame many things to capture the Daytona 500 yesterday.

He overcame being the odd man out at Roush-Fenway Racing. NASCAR mandated that starting this season that each team owner could only put four cars in their stable. With the like of proven winners Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth and the young talent of David Regan, McMurray was the driver steaming the glass of Jack Roush's shop.

McMurray sought the familiar face of Chip Ganassi and the Earnhardt-Ganassi team which was created last year out of necessity between Chip Ganassi Racing and Dale Earnhardt, Inc. McMurray had previously driven for Ganassi a few years earlier. Another familiar face, Felix Sabates, drew McMurray back to the stable. His old ride(#42) is currently in the hands of Juan Pablo Montoya. Not a bad ride.

He overcame two red flag stoppages totalling almost two and a half hours to repair a pothole. This is something that no one expected to happen. Between turns 1 and 2, a pothole developed during the race. A piece from Clint Bowyer's splitter was a broken away and it was also believed that the same pothole led the Jimmie Johnson incurring a flat tire. It was caused due to the large amounts of rain dumped on the area and the moisture began working on breaking up the asphalt.

Much is being said about how this pothole virtually ruined the race. Not so. NASCAR deserves major props on two fronts. One, they made sure the track was safe. Two, the race went the entire length. During the stoppages, I did not hear one person affiliated with NASCAR or any of the drivers hollering for the race to be stopped. And there's the measure of all the fans in attendance, too.

He overcame the hard charge on the race's final lap from NASCAR's favorite son, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. There could never be a bigger, and in some minds, a better, story than seeing Junior pull off a win at Daytona. The track which his father cherished so dearly, but also claimed his life. McMurray himself was almost mortified at seeing Junior in his rear view mirror.Seeing the #88 in Victory Lane would never be viewed as a bad deal in NASCAR circles. Almost poetic justice, if you will.

He overcame NASCAR's new policy on the "green-white-checker" finish. If the old rules had been in place, Kevin Harvick would have won, but NASCAR instituted a new policy so that fans could almost be guaranteed on seeing a race finish under green flag conditions and not a yellow one. It's a good rule, but at the same time, it's a bad rule. Teams will have to plan for such an incident for every race this season. You can bet that fuel mileage will tackle someone on down the line on this.

And he overcame the emotion of winning NASCAR's biggest single event. This race is, despite being the beginning of NASCAR's season, is the pinnacle of racing for stock cars. The showing of emotion proves how much this race means to all the drivers and teams involved. The majority of the last two weeks' work poured into one race. No other race on the schedule receives the amount of attention the Daytona 500 commands.

"I can't really put it into words the way it feels. I'm trying to be genuine and as sincere as I can and not sound cliche: as a kid growing up, this is what you dream of, of being able to win the Daytona 500."

Jamie, you deserve the pass.

Get ready for Letterman.