Daytona 500 woe for Dario on debut

Dario Franchitti, Britain's IndyCar champion, made an inauspicious debut in American NASCAR racing as he finished a lowly 33rd in the Daytona 500.

"We finished, that's about all I can say," said Franchitti, 34-year-old husband of film star Ashley Judd.

The Super Bowl of NASCAR racing was won by Ryan "Rocketman" Newman in a Dodge, the 30-year-old from Indiana crossing the line 0.092sec ahead of Penske team-mate Kurt Busch.

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Newman won the 50th edition of the Daytona 500 race in a dramatic finale on Sunday to give his Penske Racing team their first win in NASCAR's premier race.

On a day when NASCAR looked back on the history of "The Great American Race" with many former champions among the sell-out crowd of 190,000, Penske's win was not the only new element.

Two Toyota cars, both of the Joe Gibbs Racing team, finished in the top four and the Japanese firm were close to a win with Tony Stewart leading going into the final lap.

Victory would have been the first for a foreign car in the 500-mile race.

Newman, driving a Dodge, overtook Stewart on the final lap thanks to some help from team mate Kurt Busch who finished second with Stewart third in the opening race of the NASCAR season.

There was no place on the podium for the hotly fancied Hendrick Motorsports team. Dale Earnhardt Jr. was their best finisher in ninth position.

The race had been uneventful until a series of cautions in the finale and Stewart grabbed the lead from Jeff Burton with just three laps remaining.

"To go into the final lap in the lead and to end up third is probably one of the most disappointing races of my career," Stewart said.