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Overlooked stories from the Daytona 500

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series 60th Annual Daytona 500

DAYTONA BEACH, FL - FEBRUARY 18: Gray Gaulding, driver of the #23 Toyota, leads Justin Marks, driver of the #51 HARRY’S Chevrolet, during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series 60th Annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 18, 2018 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by Sarah Crabill/Getty Images)

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The two defining stories coming out of the 60th Daytona 500 are Austin Dillon’s win and Darrell Wallace Jr.'s historic runner-up finish.

But there were 38 other drivers in the “Great American Race” with a few having career days at the 2.5-mile track.

Here’s a look at some of the overlooked stories of the race.

JTG-Daugherty Racing

The two-car team put both of its entries in the top 10 for the second year in a row.

A.J. Allmendinger brought his No. 47 Chevrolet home in 10th while Chris Buescher and his No. 37 Chevrolet finished fifth. It was Buescher’s seventh top 10 of his career.

Michael McDowell

In his first start with Front Row Motorsports, McDowell drove his No. 34 Ford to a ninth-place finish.

It is McDowell’s sixth top-10 finish in 250 Cup starts. It’s his second straight top 10 at Daytona after earning a career-best fourth-place finish last July.

It is FRM’s third top 10 at Daytona in 49 combined starts at the track.

Justin Marks

Though he didn’t finish on the lead lap, Marks still managed to earn the best finish of his four-race Cup career.

Driving the No. 51 for Rick Ware Racing and Premium Motorsports, Marks finished 12th. Previously he had finishes of 40th (Talladega, 2017) and 30th (Sonoma, 2013 and 2015).

Marks, 37, also led his first lap in Cup competition on Sunday.

Gray Gaulding

Driving BK Racing’s No. 23 Toyota, Gaulding made his first start in the Daytona 500 and finished 20th.

It capped off a week where Gaulding did not make a qualifying attempt for the race and BK Racing filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy the day of the qualifying duels.

Mark Thompson

A veteran of 100 ARCA Racing Series races, the 66-year-old driver from Cartersville, Georgia, made just his third Cup Series start on Sunday and his first in the Daytona 500. The race was also his final start in any racing series.

A Vietnam war veteran, Thompson drove the No. 66 for Carl Long to a 22nd-place finish.

Thanks to wrecks, Thompson finished ahead of Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, William Byron, Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski.

His previous two starts, in 1992 at Pocono and last year at Talladega, resulted in DNFs.

Thompson, who won the pole for the 2015 ARCA race at Daytona, failed to qualify for the Pepsi 400 at Daytona in 1993 and the 1994 Daytona 500.

D.J. Kennington

Making his second start in the Daytona 500, the Canadian driver earned his career-best result in six Cup starts when he placed 24th.

It topped his 26th-place finish last November at Phoenix.

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