New Penske Racing teammates Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch worked together nicely at Daytona. Credit: CIA Stock Photo

New Penske teammates post eventful debut

Busch in contention most of day; Newman finishes third

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Love Kurt Busch or hate him, but one thing is certain: He had heck of a debut for Penske Racing.

With a team never known as a restrictor-plate powerhouse, Busch kept his No. 2 Dodge in the top 10 for 154 laps at Daytona, threatening to a win a race that Penske has never won.

Credit: Autostock

Daytona 500 Results Pos. Driver Make 1. J. Johnson Chevrolet 2. C. Mears Dodge 3. R. Newman Dodge 4. E. Sadler Ford 5. T. Stewart Chevrolet Complete results, click here Victory LaneJimmie Johnson celebrates a Daytona 500 victory Top finishersNewman, Kenseth, Stewart, and Junior talk about their day Rough racingStewart slides into Kenseth and is sent to the back of the field Multi-car wreckJeff Green spins in Turn 3 and collects several others Gordon and Stewart brush wallGordon and Stewart make contact and brush the wall Sign up for TrackPass now BUY THE NEXTEL i836

Penske teammate Ryan Newman led 23 laps and finished third, a career high for him at a restrictor-plate race.

On Lap 187, Busch was running immediately in front of Jamie McMurray -- the man who replaced him at Roush Racing -- when McMurray bumped him from behind, sending Busch into the fence.

Busch's Dodge had too much rear-end damage to continue, and McMurray took full responsibility for the accident.

"I need to apologize to Kurt. I got into him. That was 100 percent my fault," said McMurray. "I feel really bad because he had a car capable of winning today and I kind of screwed that up for him."

Newman, who ran with Busch all day long, saw the accident in his mirror.

"Kurt kind of got the raw end of the stick -- I saw that in my mirror there," said Newman. "That's part of racing, I guess, in a way but it was unfortunate for him."

The Dodge Charger has struggled on NASCAR's intermediate tracks, but the car has performed well on the restrictor-plate tracks since its introduction last season.

"The Dodge was beautiful, working with Ryan Newman. We had a shot to win," said Busch. "We were going to do it today. You could see it brewing.

"With 20 to go it was going to get busy. It is a great way to start out. We just got a bump draft from behind that was a bit too rough."

Newman's day nearly ended on the final pit stop, when he came within a hair of hitting Ken Schrader full-bore on pit road. Only a last-second reaction by Schrader prevented both drivers from disaster.

"Yeah, that was really close with Schrader there. I mean, Kenny definitely was awake. I didn't know that he was coming. I couldn't see him.

[Crew chief Borland] warned me at the last second as I was pulling out. It was just, you know, a good effort on both parts for me to stay tight, him to not cut in."