Decision-making key at Daytona and other lessons

After dominating a Daytona 500 neither won, Tony Stewart and new teammate Kyle Busch appear to need to work on their teamwork during the race more than before it. Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR

Five things we learned in the golden anniversary of the Great American Race:

1. The fastest car doesn't always win at Daytona.

How can this be? Well, just ask Kyle Busch, who led a race-high 86 laps. This year's 500 was thoroughly dominated by the Joe Gibbs Racing duo of Busch and Tony Stewart, but when it mattered most on the final lap, the two teammates were outwitted by Penske Racing's Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch.

With Stewart in the lead heading out of Turn 2, he made a critical mistake. Instead of taking the high lane and blocking Newman, who was in second, he dropped low to try to get drafting help from Kyle Busch, who was in fourth. But Busch was too far in back of Stewart to provide him with any assistance, and Kurt Busch, realizing that Stewart had opened a door, quickly rammed into the back of Newman to give him a drafting push. Remember, last year it was Kevin Harvick who came from fifth on the final lap using the high line to win the race, and now it was Newman's turn. Thanks to the push from his teammate, he flew past Stewart along the backstretch. Kurt Busch drafted off of Newman, and by the time they reached the finish line, Newman and Busch were in first and second.

Yet moments after the checkered flag waved, Kurt Busch admitted that he and Newman had stolen this race from his younger brother Kyle and Stewart. "The Gibbs cars," Kurt Busch said, "were the class of the field today."

2. Roger Penske's résumé is now complete.

In nearly quarter century of competing at Daytona, Penske, the 70-year-old owner of Penske Racing, had never reached Victory Lane. As I write in the magazine this week, he even joked with Rick Hendrick before the race that he wanted a Hendrick Motorsports hat because that was going to be his best chance to be associated with a winner on Sunday. But there was Penske late on Sunday night, hugging everyone he could find in Victory Lane. Penske has won a record 13 Indy 500s, and though he's an open-wheel guy at heart, he swore that this ranked right up there with his all-time favorite moments in a life spent in motor sports.

"We needed this win to make everything complete," Kathy Penske, Roger's wife, told me with misty eyes in the winner's circle. "Roger really wants to have the kind of success in NASCAR that he's had in IndyCar, and hopefully this is the start of big things for us."

3. Yet Ryan Newman's run, while impressive, doesn't guarantee that he'll be a factor this season.

For the last two seasons Newman has been among the most disappointing drivers on the Cup circuit. He didn't qualify for the Chase in '06 or '07 and, until Sunday night, he was sitting on an 81-race winless streak. Yes, his 500 win is a nice way for him to start the season, but for the last few years, Penske Racing hasn't been able to match the speed of Hendrick Motorsports, Gibbs, and Roush Fenway Racing over a sustained period. Penske clearly made gains in the offseason in both their engine and aero-packages, but can they be a serious player this season? Stay tuned.

4. The Car of Tomorrow, which is now simply being referred to as the new car, was a success.

Before the start of the race many drivers predicted that this year's 500 would be a wreck-fest because the new generation of car still doesn't handle well through the corners. Well, it didn't happen. There wasn't a single Big One and it's pretty clear that, while the cars did tend to get loose through the turns on the superspeedway, the existence of the rear wing enabled the drivers to quickly gain control of their cars before they went into the wall or the infield.

All in all, this cars put on a good show, which must be considered a victory for NASCAR.

5. Don't worry about Hendrick Motorsports; this is still the team to be beat this season.

This was an utterly forgettable 500 for the Hendrick boys. Jimmie Johnson and Casey Mears crashed, Jeff Gordon had a mechanical failure, and struggled late with his handling and power. In fact, Little E was the only Hendrick driver to finish in the top 25 -- he came in eighth -- but the Hendrick juggernaut will pick up steam next week in California. You can never read too much into what transpires at Daytona because it's a restrictor plate track; this form of racing has absolutely nothing to do with who well perform well the rest of the season. Expect Hendrick to be in Victory Lane at Fontana on Sunday.