page_title: 2011 Daytona 500
section_title: Background
hierarchical_section_title: 2011 Daytona 500 / Report / Background
caption_attribution_description: The Daytona International Speedway in 2011.
context_page_description: The 2011 Daytona 500, the 53rd running of the event, was held on February 20, 2011 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida as the first race of the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. Trevor Bayne, driving for Wood Brothers Racing, won the race becoming the youngest Daytona 500 winner. Carl Edwards finished second, while David Gilliland, Bobby Labonte, and Kurt Busch rounded out the Top 5. Bayne had taken the lead shortly before the final restart and maintained it to win his first Cup Series race and Wood Brothers' fifth Daytona 500.
  The race featured 16 cautions and 74 lead changes among 22 different drivers. Following the race, Edwards led the Drivers' Championship with 42 points, one ahead of Gilliland and Labonte. Ford led the Manufacturers' Championship with nine points, three ahead of Toyota and five ahead of Dodge. A total of 182,000 people attended the race, while 15.6 million watched it on television.
context_section_description: Daytona International Speedway is one of six superspeedways to hold NASCAR races, the others being Michigan International Speedway, Auto Club Speedway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Pocono Raceway and Talladega Superspeedway. The standard track at Daytona International Speedway is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long. The track's turns are banked at 31 degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at 18 degrees. Jamie McMurray was the defending race winner.
  In preparation for the race, NASCAR held several test sessions on January 20–22, 2011 for teams to test the newer pavement at Daytona. Also in the sessions, the opening of the restrictor plate was reduced from the 30/32 inch plate used in tire testing to 29/32 inch. NASCAR vice president for competition Robin Pemberton stated, "We'll have to get back and talk to the teams and look at the speeds from the last two days of testing. I think we have some high-water marks at 197-and-a-half [miles per hour] which, depending on where they pulled up in the draft, it may be a little quick, but it's hard to say."
  Every test session began at 9 a.m. EST, stopped at 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. EST, and concluded at 5:00 p.m. EST. During the first session on the morning of January 20, 2011, thirty-three drivers participated, and Clint Bowyer was quickest with a speed of 184.216 mph while David Reutimann had the highest speed of 195.780 mph during the second session in the afternoon. The third test session, scheduled for the morning of January 21, was canceled because of wet weather. During the fourth session, held during the afternoon, 34 drivers participated with Denny Hamlin being quickest with a speed of 196.868 mph. Several drivers decided to leave after the session, which included Reutimann, Martin Truex, Jr., Jimmie Johnson, and Bowyer. During the fifth session, held on the morning of January 22, 29 drivers participated, and Joey Logano was quickest with a speed of 197.516 mph. Brad Keselowski was quickest with a speed of 198.605 mph in the final session.
  After the two-car draft style dominated the 2011 Budweiser Shootout, NASCAR reduced the front grille opening to 50 square inches and the overflow valve for the cooling system would be supplied by NASCAR and set at 33 pounds per square inch. Also, high speeds in the race caused NASCAR to reduce the size of the restrictor plate by 1/64-inch, with the expectations of cutting 10 horsepower from the engines.
  This race also marked the tenth anniversary of the 2001 death of Dale Earnhardt. As such, several tributes took place during the race. All of the cars fielded by Earnhardt's former team, Richard Childress Racing, and the team he started, Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, carried No. 3 decals. During the race itself, NASCAR held a "silent lap" on Lap 3, a practice that was first used in memory of Earnhardt during the 2001 season.
caption: The tri-oval after the 2010-2011 repaving
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