A Young Man's Race

Trevor Bayne celebrates after winning the Daytona 500.

Ten years after NASCAR lost a beloved legend at the very same track, the Daytona 500 showed the world again why it is called the Great American Race.

New pavement allowed cars to go three-wide down the track, turning what was typically a double-lane highway into Los Angeles rush hour on steroids.

The result? Disastrous. And exciting.

A total of 16 caution flags came out – enough to make an insurance agent’s head swell to the size of the Goodyear Blimp. The afore-mentioned legend’s son, Dale Earnhart Jr., wrecked just as he started to make his move in the final laps – thwarting any chance of winning one for Pops.

Nearly every car on the track had a dent or ding, either from running into another car or being hit with debris from a crash.

Then there was Trevor Bayne, a 20-year-old kid who has spent more of his life playing video games than racing cars. A kid who probably saw Mark Martin as more of a grandfather figure, and probably doesn’t remember seeing Dale Earnhart go crashing into the wall, became the youngest ever to win at Daytona.

Maybe it was luck. Maybe the video games helped. Or maybe it was just the mind of a teenager.

Think about it. How often do you see a teen driver whip in and out of traffic with reckless abandon like they’re in the Daytona 500? Usually it’s followed by some horn honking, but in NASCAR, the only horns are the ones carried in by fans.

Meanwhile, one can only imagine what was going through Bayne’s mind in the final moments. His phone was probably ringing off the hook with text messages and Facebook notifications congratulating him on his win. His body was probably craving a pizza after four hours of racing. That new-car smell? Gone, replaced by what can only be described as a high school locker room after a football game.

But somehow he kept his cool and showed the world what makes driving in circles at Daytona so exciting – its anybody’s race.

So the next time you see the pizza guy zipping through your neighborhood or come across a teen driver going 90-plus on the interstate, don’t blast your horn. Instead, relax and know that someday that person that just cut you off is training to win the Daytona 500.