Michael McDowell first of his NASCAR career wins the 63rd annual Daytona 500

Michael McDowell won the 63rd yearly Daytona 500 early Monday in Daytona Beach, Florida.

This is his fourteenth time hustling in the Daytona 500 and his first historically speaking win.

“I just can’t believe it!” McDowell told Fox Sports after taking first place. “Such a great way to get a first victory in the Daytona 500! Are you kidding me!?”

McDowell said he was appreciative that he made it out of the different vehicle crash in the last lap sound.

“So thankful God is good,” he said. “Just gotta thank God, just so many years grinding it out.”

He will bring home a copy of the Harley J. Baron Trophy and about $1.5 million.

The success comes after a rough beginning and an emotional, blazing completion for one of the biggest game rivalries since the pandemic started.

Initial, an crash in the fourteenth lap took out 16 vehicles of the 40-vehicle arrangement, eliminating driver Alex Bowman from the shaft position he began in.

Around 3 p.m. rainstorms prompted a climate delay, driving fans to look for cover for part of the race after a lightning strike hit in the region.

When the downpour cleared, the track still needed to dry before racers could turn over their motors. By 9 p.m. the 200-lap 500-mile-long race had continued.

In the final lap, a blazing multi-fender bender put a few vehicles down and out. All the drivers included had the option to eliminate themselves from their vehicles.

The race ended soon after 12 PM Monday morning.

Around 30,000 fans were permitted to watch the race face to face, undeniably not exactly the ordinary 100,000 fans that normally join in. The breaking point was put on the number of fans to allow for more social distancing.

The current year’s setup included Bubba Wallace driving #23 for Chicago Bulls’ legend Michael Jordan’s new race team.

“The Daytona 500 is the biggest race of our year, and we have to start out with a bang,” Wallace recently told CNN Sport’s Coy Wire.