(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-02-18 11:21

DAYTONA - Ryan 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.

Ryan Newman takes the checkered flag to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Daytona 500 auto race at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday, Feb. 17, 2008 in Daytona Beach, Fla. [Agencies]

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 told reporters.

TIGHT PACK

Newman was helped on his way to victory in a tight pack by a push from team mate Busch and he was grateful for the assistance.    "I couldn't have done it without Kurt and the Penske team -- he was a real team mate there. It is just an awesome feeling to win this," said the winner.

"It was emotional pushing him over the line, amazing to have a Penske one-two over the line. Something very important for us," said Busch.

Stewart's disappointment was compounded by the failure of his Joe Gibbs Racing team mate Kyle Busch, younger brother of Kurt, to take a podium position despite leading for large stretches of the race.

"To lead most laps like that and then for him to miss out at the end it breaks your heart,"said Stewart who said the entire team was crushed.

"This is the biggest race. I mean, this is the Daytona 500. If you know you have got a car that's fast enough to win and you don't you are devastated," he added.

The two Hendrick drivers who dominated NASCAR last season -- Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon both finished well behind.

Gordon went out with suspension trouble after 186 laps while Johnson, seeking his third consecutive NASCAR championship title this season and starting on pole, finished 27th after he span off after being clipped by Sam Hornish Jr.