2010 DRIVE4COPD 300

The 2010 DRIVE4COPD 300 was a NASCAR Nationwide Series race held on February 13, 2010, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. The race was the first of the 2010 NASCAR Nationwide Series. It was the 29th iteration of the event. The race featured the NASCAR debut of IZOD IndyCar Series driver Danica Patrick. This would be the last race at Daytona for the Generation 4 cars as the Nationwide Series would debut their Car of Tomorrow cars at the next Daytona race. Kyle Busch won the pole since he was the reigning Series champion from the 2009 season after Qualifying got rained out but it would be Tony Stewart who led the most laps and won the race after starting in 32nd position and it would be his 3rd Nationwide Series opener in a row and his 5th of the last 6 opening races. But the race would be mostly remembered for a flip by Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Background
Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. Since opening in 1959, it has been the home of the Daytona 500, the most prestigious race in NASCAR as well as its season opening event. In addition to NASCAR, the track also hosts races for ARCA, AMA Superbike, IMSA, SCCA, and Motocross. The track features multiple layouts including the primary 2.500 mi high-speed tri-oval, a 3.560 mi sports car course, a 2.950 mi motorcycle course, and a 1320 ft karting and motorcycle flat-track. The track's 180 acre infield includes the 29 acre Lake Lloyd, which has hosted powerboat racing. The speedway is operated by NASCAR pursuant to a lease with the City of Daytona Beach on the property that runs until 2054. Dale Earnhardt is Daytona International Speedway's all-time winningest driver, with a total of 34 career victories (12- Daytona 500 Qualifying Races) (7- NASCAR Xfinity Series Races) (6- Busch Clash Races) (6- IROC Races) (2- Pepsi 400 July Races) (1- The 1998 Daytona 500).

Entry List
57 cars originally attempted to qualify for the race but 6 of them withdrew before the race.
 * (R) denotes rookie driver

Qualifying
Kyle Busch won the pole since he was the reigning Series Champion after Qualifying was rained out.

Race
Kyle Busch took the lead at the start of the race. The first caution did not take long as it happened on the first lap off of turn 4 when Chrissy Wallace, daughter of Mike Wallace and making her Nationwide Series debut, crashed after getting loose. Brad Teague also spun in the tri-oval after going through the grass. Kyle Busch led the first lap of the race. The race restarted in lap 6. On the restart, Kevin Harvick took the lead from Kyle Busch off of turn 4. But on lap 7, the second caution flew for the first of three big ones in the race that occurred in turn 2 taking out 8 cars. It started when Trevor Bayne got turned by Mike Bliss and Bayne turned down into Colin Braun and Bayne spun up and pounded the outside wall driver's side first and also collected Bliss, Mike Wallace, Brian Keselowski, Josh Wise, Michael McDowell, and Paul Menard. The race restarted on lap 12 with Kevin Harvick still leading. Soon a six car breakaway occurred from the pack with Harvick leading Dale Earnhardt Jr., Carl Edwards, Joey Logano, John Wes Townley, and Kyle Busch. On lap 43, green flag pitstops began as Harvick gave up his lead to Kyle Busch. Busch soon pitted on lap 46 giving the lead to Tony Raines who had Joe Nemechek behind him. On lap 50, Nemechek would pass Raines for the lead. On lap 51, the third caution flew when Mike Wallace spun all by himself in turn 3. Greg Biffle was the new leader and Biffle led the field to the restart on lap 56. On lap 62, Brad Keselowski took the lead. On lap 63, Dale Earnhardt Jr. attempted to take the lead but failed to get in front of Keselowski. Coming out of the tri-oval on the next lap, disaster almost struck as Tony Stewart got hooked in the rear by Kevin Harvick causing Stewart to go sideways but Stewart was able to save it without losing momentum. Eventually on the next lap, Stewart would take the lead from Keselowski.

Final laps
On lap 68, the second big one struck coming into the tri-oval taking out 12 cars. It started when Josh Wise got turned by Colin Braun coming out of turn 4 and Wise turned down into Jason Leffler and the two went spinning collecting Braun, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Danica Patrick, Brian Scott, John Wes Townley, Robert Richardson Jr. Stanton Barrett, Scott Lagasse Jr., Johnny Sauter, and Joe Nemechek. Carl Edwards won the race off of pit road and he led the field to the restart with 42 laps to go on lap 79. On the restart, Kyle Busch took the lead from Edwards. But on the next lap, Edwards would take the lead back. With 38 laps to go, Dale Earnhardt Jr. took the lead from Edwards. With 37 to go, the 5th caution would fly for debris on the backstretch. The race restarted with 32 to go. With 31 to go, Stewart took the lead from Earnhardt Jr. With 29 to go, the biggest crash of the day occurred on the backstretch which would be the third and final big one of the race taking out 13 cars. It started when Carl Edwards went up and appeared to try to get behind Keselowski but ended up misjudging and making contact with Keselowski that ended up causing a chain reaction wreck turning Keselowski down into Dale Earnhardt Jr. and clipped Junior at the right angle that the grip on the pavement sent his car upside down. Earnhardt also clipped Kevin Harvick sending Harvick spinning through the infield grass. Earnhardt's car stayed upside down for about 5 seconds while getting hit by multiple cars in the process before another car hit him to flip him back on all four wheels and came to a rest on the inside wall right side up. Earnhardt's car was destroyed but thankfully, Junior walked out under his own power uninjured. During the wreck, Brendan Gaughan finished wrecking and tried to nurse his car to pit road. As he was about to start his car again, he got hit from behind by Joe Nemechek that lifted Gaughan's rear of the car off the ground. The cars involved were Mike Wallace, Jeff Green, Scott Riggs, Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, Greg Biffle, Kevin Harvick, Tony Raines, Carl Edwards, Brendan Gaughan, Joe Nemechek, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. The race was red flagged for about 15 minutes to clean up the mess. Steve Wallace was the new race leader and he led the field back to green with 25 laps to go. But on the restart, Tony Stewart would pass Wallace for the lead down the backstretch. With 24 to go, the 7th and final caution flew for debris in turn 3. The race restarted with 20 laps to go. On the final lap, a crash occurred in turns 3 and 4 between Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski but no caution flew. Stewart was able to hold off the pack in the last 20 laps to pick up the win. This would be Stewart's third Nationwide Series opener in a row and his fifth in the last six years. Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick, Justin Allgaier, and Brian Vickers rounded out the top 5 while Paul Menard, Joey Logano, James Buescher, Kasey Kahne, and Steve Wallace rounded out the top 10.