Happy Monday all.  Congrats to Matt Kenseth!

Today In Nascar History

February 16, 1997: Jeff Gordon wins his first Daytona 500, leading a 1-2-3 sweep for Hendrick Motorsports. Terry Labonte finishes second and Ricky Craven third.

Bits and Pieces

NASCAR says Earnhardt bump on Vickers was ‘unintentional racing incident’

by Greg Engle, NDN Editor

DAYTONA BEACH Fla-Dale Earnhardt Junior had a 2009 Daytona 500 that he soon rather forget. After starting 14th, Earnhardt charged to the front was in contention running as high as second early in the event. But his race started to unravel on lap 57 when Earnhardt missed his pit and was forced to circle the track and pit again. He lost a lap but got it back a short time later on a free pass during the next caution.

Then on lap 120 Earnhardt pitted with his outside tires just over the pit stall boundary. NASCAR penalized him by holding a lap. While racing to make up that lap, Earnhardt charged up the inside towards the front of the field. Brian Vickers who was also a lap down on the outside came down to block Earnhardt.

Earnhardt made contact with the Vickers car, whether intentional or accidental is open to speculation, and sent him headlong into the wall in front of most of the field. The resulting 10 car wreck included several of the top contenders. Earnhardt drove away, Vickers headed to the garage.

”We were racing for the ‘lucky dog’ there and my goal was to keep Junior behind me and I went to block him,” Vickers said. “I beat him to the yellow line and he just turned us. He hit me the first time on the way down, which is fine we all do that. Then when he came back up he just hooked me in the left rear and typically NASCAR penalizes.”

Vickers mentioned the incident Saturday when NASCAR penalized a Nationwide Series driver five laps for a move that spun out another car that many said seemed similar.

Earnhardt Junior put the blame for the incident on Vickers.

“I got a run on Vickers and the guy he was beside. I went to the bottom of him,” Earnhardt said. “Vickers drove me below the line. He ran in to me and sent me below the line. I was just trying not to run into, drive in to the grass and get my car under control and try and get above the line so I get penalized for being down there, I ran in to his quarter panel and spun him out.”

As for the explanation that Vickers was trying to block him “He shouldn’t have started that, it would have never happened,” Earnhardt said. “If he had held his ground, who knows? He would have probably got the back or got the position back eventually, but at that point in the race, that was pretty reckless.”

And in terms of any penalty from NASCAR Earnhardt didn’t seem concerned.
“Penalize me? For what? I got ran in to and sent below the line,” he said. “What the hell? I don’t want to go down there, I didn’t aim to go down there, and I got sent down there. What the hell am I supposed to do? Then what am I supposed to do? Stay down there? No. I got to get back up on the race track.”

For NASCAR’s part, they said that Sunday’s incident was nothing like the incident in the Nationwide Series race on Saturday.

“Today’s incident was nothing like yesterday’s incident, which was deemed intentional,” said NASCAR spokesperson Ramsey Poston.  “Today, the two cars were racing hard and got into each other.  It was an unintentional racing incident that did not warrant further action.”

Earnhardt finished the day 27th. Vickers 39th.

Logano wrecks early, finishes last

by Reid Spencer, Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.—Heralded rookie Joey Logano slammed the inside wall in Turn 4 on Lap 80 after contact from Greg Biffle’s Ford. Logano finished last (43rd) in the Daytona 500—not the sort of outing the 18-year-old wanted to start his first full season in Cup racing. “It looked like the 82 (rookie Scott Speed) kept getting loose in front of me,” Logano said, “so I jumped down below him in the middle of the corner just to try to get some air on my car because it was tight, and as he kept checking up, I ended up next to him on the corner.

“It was either I was going to dump him or hopefully not do anything at all. The 16 (Biffle) just came up and got us. It’s a racing deal, but it’s a bummer for all the Home Depot crew here. This wasn’t the way we wanted to finish the 500.”

Kyle Busch an innocent victim

By Reid Spencer, Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.—The forgotten victim of Sunday’s 51st Daytona 500 was Kyle Busch. Though his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was arguably the best car in the season-opening points race, Busch wasn’t around to see the finish of the event, which ended on pit road after 152 laps, thanks to a persistent rain that soaked Daytona International Speedway.

Matt Kenseth was the winner, and Kyle Busch was the obvious hard-luck loser.

Before he was wiped out in a Lap 124 wreck triggered by contact between Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Brian Vickers, Busch had led 88 laps, but his bid to rebound from a miserable Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup last year ended through no fault of his own.

Asked what had happened when Earnhardt and Vickers, both a lap down, were fighting for position in Turn 2, Busch said, “I’m not sure. Some guys having some bad days and not doing their best out there made their bad day our bad day, and we had a problem.

“It’s just a shame, that M&M’s Toyota was so, so strong today and led all those laps and was running up front. I was just playing with my teammate (Denny Hamlin) up there and having a great time. It was just unfortunate that two guys got together that were a lap down and were fighting over nothing.”

Petty team surprises many at Daytona

by Greg Engle, NDN Editor

DAYTONA BEACH Fla-The new Richard Petty Motorsports team showed that they might be a force to be reckoned with in 2009 after strong runs during Sunday’s rain shortened Daytona 500. After an off season merger with the former Gillette-Evernham team, Petty fielded four cars in the Daytona 500 and three finished inside the top 10. Elliott Sadler led 24 of the final laps only to be passed during the final caution period that would turn out to be the winning move for Matt Kenseth when rain cut the event short.

AJ Allmendinger who was forced to race his way into the field finished third and Reed Sorenson came home ninth. The fourth driver Kasey Kahne finished 29th.

“I was hoping it was going to rain when Elliott was leading and Reed was second and I was fourth, “Allmendinger said. “That would have been a really great result for the team. I was trying to push Reed and Elliott as much as I could. They are the ones that got me into the race. It was my turn to return the favor and try and get them the win.”

Allmendinger is not only racing for wins, but his future as well. The deal he has with the No. 44 Dodge is only for eight races and depends on sponsorship.

For his part Richard Petty sounded like a proud papa when it was all over.

“I’m very proud of the boys,” Petty said.” They ran hard and smart all day long. This is one heck of a way to start the season. This is how we want Richard Petty Motorsports to start. I think George (Gillett Jr.) and I have something good here. This is just the beginning and we’re excited for the next couple races. Hopefully this isn’t the last time that you see those boys at the front of the pack working together like that.”

Legendary Car Owner Raymond Parks Attends 51st Daytona 500

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Over half a century after his cars and drivers raced their way into history, former NASCAR team owner Raymond Parks returned to the track for Sunday’s 51st Daytona 500.

Parks, who celebrates his 95th birthday in 2009, attended the pre-race drivers meeting. He also participated in several photos with NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France and NASCAR President Mike Helton, plus another photo with one of his historic race cars – a black 1939 Ford Coupe on display in Daytona International Speedway’s Sprint FANZONE.

A Dawson County, Georgia native, Parks is one of stock-car racing’s earliest – and most successful – team owners. NASCAR founder Bill France drove for him and his cars were considered among the best of their time.

“Raymond Parks is one of the nicest men the sport has ever known,” said Jim Hunter, NASCAR’s vice president for corporate communications. “He’s a true southern gentleman, and he supported the sport long before NASCAR was a household word.”

Funded by successful business and real estate ventures in Atlanta, Park began his career as a stock-car owner in 1938 with drivers Lloyd Seay and Roy Hall.

His pairing with another Atlantan, mechanic Red Vogt, produced equipment good enough to dominate the sport throughout much of the 1940s. Driver Red Byron won the first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series title in 1949 in a Parks-owned car. 

Parks retired from racing in 1952.

Rusty Wallace Inc considering Cup with RCR help: The union of two families with passionate racing backgrounds has led Rusty Wallace to seriously consider a 2009 Sprint Cup Series debut with his own team, and a possible full-time venture in the near future. In the offseason Wallace did a deal with Las Vegas businessman Michael Gaughan, whose family excelled in off-road and Truck Series racing. The deal put his son Brendan Gaughan, 33 -- an eight-time Truck Series winner and Wallace's former Cup teammate at Penske Racing -- in RWR's #62 car. "I do want to run some Cup races with Stephen this year, I do. And probably my best avenue to do something with that would be with Richard Childress. I'm a Chevy team; Richard builds all our motors [Earnhardt Childress Racing Technologies] -- it just kind of makes sense." Rusty Wallace said. "I never had a whole lot of desire to drive in the Nationwide Series," Gaughan said. "I liked the Camping World Trucks, and I wanted to get back to Sprint Cup, but on my own terms, and Rusty really has me excited about this. Doing this with Rusty is probably the only way I'd be this excited. He brings that out of me and out of all his guys. "I'm looking at this and saying, 'Yeah, I want to get back to Sprint Cup one day, on my terms, but I know that Rusty wants to maybe go Sprint Cup racing one day on his terms, with his team so if I can do well and me and [Steve] can work together and get it to where we both can run, then maybe I've found my home on my terms with a family organization that likes me, wants me and we can make a long future with.(NASCAR.com)

NASCAR HotPass is FREE in 2009 Feel every thunderous turn of the 2009 Sprint Cup Series with 4 driver channels, compliments of DIRECTV:
* Each Driver Channel focuses on one driver throughout the race
* See the network broadcast and video from the driver's in-car camera on one screen
* Listen to the broadcast network audio and the driver's team audio.
NASCAR HotPass has been reformatted for 2009, but still has many of the same features as previous seasons. Some features have changed and are no longer available.(DIRECTV.com)

Dale Jr. running out of time for championship? #88-Dale Earnhardt Jr. is approaching a dangerous statistical marker as he enters his 10th season as a Sprint Cup driver. Only two Cup champions -- Bobby Allison in 1983 and Dale Jarrett in 1999 -- raced as long as Earnhardt has before they won their first title. It took Allison 18 years racing full time before he won his only championship, two weeks before turning 46. Jarrett did it in his 13th season, five days before he turned 44. Earnhardt is only 34, so time is on his side, but history isn't. Of all the drivers who have suited up as full-time competitors for 10 years or more, Allison and Jarrett are the only ones who became champions in their second decade of racing.(ESPN)

NASCAR evaluating new restart rule: NASCAR is evaluating the 50-foot distance announced at the Budweiser Shootout as the new standard for the leader to restart an event. It could decrease from track to track based on driver input, officials said. Under the new rule, the leader has between the double-red line 50 feet from the start-finish line and single-red line at the start-finish line to start the race. Otherwise, the starter on the flag stand will start the field.(ESPN.com)

Almirola won't run full season without full funding: Aric Almirola will not run the full 2009 Sprint Cup season unless funding is secured, Earnhardt Ganassi Racing co-owner Chip Ganassi said Friday afternoon. Ganassi would not specify how many races Almirola, who has sponsorship from Guitar Hero for a select number of events, would run, but he said he definitely will run the first five. “I’d like to sit here and tell you we’re close,” Ganassi said. “But the fact of the matter is we’re not. We’re not unlike ... a situation we were in a year ago, but we’re going to give it our best shot. We need more funding to run Aric.” Almirola has 18 career starts over the last two seasons and hopes to run the entire 2009 schedule.(SceneDaily)

Goodyear takes back tires UPDATE: Goodyear took back eight right-side tires that it had assigned to teams, believing that they came from a possible bad batch that could have resulted in some of the tire problems Sprint Cup teams had Thursday during the Gatorade Duel 150-mile qualifying races at Daytona International Speedway. The tires were replaced Friday, according to a Goodyear spokesman. Goodyear Director of Race Tire Sales Greg Stucker had said earlier in the day that the company was trying to figure out what had happened in a couple of the instances. Overall, Stucker said prior to practice Friday that he was “pretty happy” with the tire wear so far this week.(SceneDaily) UPDATE: After Ryan Newman, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Mark Martin had problems in the 150-mile qualifiers, Goodyear noticed that portions of their tires in question were all manufactured on the same day. So Goodyear took back the eight tires that had the same components made on that day as a precautionary measure. Results of any tests won’t be known until next week, said Goodyear general manager of racing tires Stu Grant. No other tires will be mounted for the Daytona 500 on Sunday that came from that batch, Grant said Saturday morning at Daytona International Speedway. “It looked like either a tire that blistered and kept blistering or a tire that was severely worn,” Grant said. “It looked a little more severe than some of the other ones. It looked different enough that it’s why we looked at the sequence numbers and see if there was anything common there. We noticed a common processing date for one of our manufacturing components.” The teams were not doing anything excessive with the setups, Grant said. “Everything we know is circumstantial right now,” Grant said. “You look at it and you say you have the same common processing date for these tires, so let’s get them back and be sure.”(SceneDaily)

Bernstein, Hobbs, Parker, Richter, Unser, Jr., Wheeler & Weatherly to be inducted into MHOF: Racing legends Kenny Bernstein, David Hobbs, Scott Parker, Les Richter, Al Unser, Jr., H.A. “Humpy” Wheeler and Joe Weatherly will be inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America when the organization stages its annual induction ceremony on Wednesday, August 12, 2009 at the Fillmore Theater in Detroit. Tickets for the induction ceremony can be purchased by calling 248-349-RACE (7223). More info on the Motorsports Museum & Hall of Fame at mshf.com.(MHOF P)

Dale Earnhardt to be remembered at Candlelight Tribute: Fans of Dale Earnhardt are being asked to pay tribute on Wednesday February 18th in honor and memory of the legendary driver. A guest book will be available throughout the day at Dale Earnhardt Inc. for those wishing to document their memories of Dale, while a candlelight tribute will be held outside the headquarters on Hwy #3 in Mooresville from 6:00-8:30pm/et The facility will be illuminated with candles while commemorative decals, prayer cards and hand held candles will be distributed to everyone in attendance. The facility’s gates will remain open through 10pm for those that cannot attend the candlelight portion but still want to pay tribute to the legendary Dale Earnhardt. Those unable to attend are encouraged to light a candle in remembrance of Dale Earnhardt at home that evening.(Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates PR)

The Hartford Set to Sponsor RCR: With its iconic stag logo ready to stand firm on the hood at top speeds of 200 miles per hour, The Hartford Financial Services Group announced that it will sponsor Richard Childress Racing's #33 Chevy and driver Clint Bowyer at the following three Sprint Cup Series races this year - Dover International Speedway on May 31, New Hampshire Motor Speedway on June 28, and Pocono Raceway on August 2. The Hartford will also be an associate sponsor of RCR's #31 Caterpillar Chevy and driver Jeff Burton in the Sprint Cup Series. Both Bowyer and Burton will be spokesmen for the program, which will focus primarily on automobile and home insurance. For more information about The Hartford's commitment to racing, see thehartfordracing.com.(RCR PR)

Mayfield's jackman injured UPDATE: The jack man for #41-Jeremy Mayfield's team was sent to a local hospital after being injured while working in the pits for another car during Thursday's first 150-mile qualifying race at Daytona International Speedway. Kyle Roland was taken to nearby Halifax Medical Center after suffering a reported shoulder injury while servicing the car of #27-Kirk Shelmerdine. He was awake and alert. "Our thoughts and prayers go out with him," said Mayfield, who formed his team less than a month ago, and raced his way into Sunday's Daytona 500. "Hopefully, he's OK. We'll be checking on him shortly. There again, I really don't know half the guys on our pit crew [Thursday], to be honest with you. I will get to know them because they did a great job and they're going to be with us quite a while." Roland's injury forced Mayfield's team to use their own substitute jack man for the second of the two events. They borrowed , a member of Michael Waltrip's #55 team. Mayfield finished ninth in the race [and qualified for the 500].(NASCAR.com) UPDATE: Kyle Roland, the jackman for Mayfield Motorsports, was treated and released today from Halifax Medical Center. Roland was hospitalized for injuries sustained while pitting the car of Kirk Shelmerdine during Thursday’s first Duel race.(Co-Pilott PR)

Single File Restarts with 20 laps to go: NASCAR will use single-file lineups for restarts with 20 laps remaining in all three national series this year, NASCAR Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton said today. The previous rule called for single-file restarts with only 10 laps remaining. All other restarts had lapped cars on the inside lane. NASCAR is still allowing for the first driver one-lap down [Lucky Dog] to get back on the lead lap until there are 10 laps left in the race. Pemberton said the rule was to allow the leaders more room to race following a caution in the waning laps. “We’ve been talking to the crews, teams and drivers and we felt like it was a time to make a change,” Pemberton said. “We haven’t taken away the lucky dog and haven’t hurt anybody from getting a lap back.”(SceneDaily)

Kenseth wins rain-shortened Daytona 500

By Amanda Brahler/athlonsports.com

Matt Kenseth took the lead on lap 146 of the most prolific race in all of stock car racing, the Daytona 500, just moments before a rainstorm covered the 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway on Sunday. NASCAR was forced to call the 2009 season-opening race shortly thereafter, with 152 of the scheduled 200 laps in the books, declaring Kenseth the winner.

Kenseth drove his familiar No. 17 yellow and black Dewalt Ford by the Dodge of Elliott Sadler for the lead and less than one lap later, saw the caution flag drop after Aric Almirola spun. Under the yellow, rain began to fall. The field pulled its cars down pit road to wait out the storm but the weather radar indicated a lengthy downpour, forcing NASCAR to call the event after 380 miles.

“I really had it in my mind that that last restart when we were behind Elliott that if I got around him and could hold it a little bit,” Kenseth explained. “I thought the rain was coming, Drew (Blickensderfer, crew chief) said it was coming, you could see the sky getting darker and it was sprinkling for a while.

“Then they had that accident where they threw the yellow, so you didn’t know if it was going to be the pass, but I knew it had the potential to be.”

Kenseth was winless in 2008, last visiting victory lane in the 2007 season-ending race in Homestead, Florida. It was the 17th win of his career and first on a restrictor plate track.

It was also the first race together for Kenseth and new crew chief Drew Blickensderfer. It was Blickensderfer’s debut race as a Sprint Cup Series crew chief, having moved from the Nationwide Series team of Carl Edwards.

The 500 win was the first for car owner Jack Roush.

Kenseth started from the rear of the field on Sunday after being forced to a backup car following a wreck in Thursday’s qualifying race and felt that his chances for the big win were out of the window, rolling off of the starting grid in 39th.

“I woke up this morning not really thinking I was going to win the Daytona 500, especially when you come to a speedway,” he said. “It’s really more about the team than it is about the driver.  It’s always about the team, but, really, they make the cars go fast and I wasn’t happy with my 500 car and it ended up getting wrecked in the 150s anyway. As soon as we unloaded this car it drove much, much better.

“I kept complaining about it and they kept adjusting on it all night and did the right stuff at the end, so it was pretty unbelievable to sit here and be able to actually be in the Daytona 500, much less win one. It’s just a dream come true.”

Richard Childress Racing’s Kevin Harvick, a former 500 winner himself, won last weekend’s Budweiser Shootout and assisted Kenseth by ways of the draft with the race-winning pass on Sunday, finished second.

“It’s also kind of bittersweet, I guess you could say, for the fact that Matt is the one that pushed me to my Daytona 500 win (in 2007),” Harvick said. “In the end, it’s kind of weird how that stuff works out.”
A.J. Allmendinger, Clint Bowyer and Sadler closed out the top 5.
There were nine different leaders throughout the rain-shortened, 51st running of the Great American Race.

Kyle Busch led the majority, spending 88 laps out front. But a multi-car crash on lap 125 eliminated him from contention, along with a string of drivers who had maintained runs within the top 10.

Setting up an upcoming restart, under a pit stop under yellow on lap 121, fan favorite and former 500 winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. overshot his pit box and was penalized a lap for pitting with the right front tire outside of the box.

Back under green flag conditions and knowing rain was in the area, Earnhardt was vying to regain lost track position and battling with Brian Vickers to be the first car a lap down. Earnhardt dropped his No. 88 Chevrolet low to pass but Vickers blocked and the two made contact, sending Vickers’s Red Bull machine up the racetrack and into Busch.

“I got a run on him and he saw me coming,” Earnhardt lamented of the run-in. “I just kind of eased on over there and he went to block me and hit me in the fender and sent us both off. (It) sent me down toward the grass, trying to recover my car. I got back into him coming back up the racetrack. I don’t hate it for him but for everybody else that got wrecked.”

Carl Edwards, Jamie McMurray, Denny Hamlin and reigning series champion Jimmie Johnson were also collected in the melee.

Earnhardt finished 27th while Busch, who dominated the race prior to the accident, finished 41st.

“I think we were the best car out there,” Busch said. “I felt like our car was the car to beat. We were awfully good and just running out front and biding our time. I don’t think we fell worse than sixth or fifth the whole time out there. (It’s) just a really sad feeling.”

Johnson, the 2006 Daytona 500 winner and defending three-time series champion, struggled throughout the day with the handling on his No. 48 Chevrolet. At one point Johnson radioed his crew and dubbed his car uncharacteristically as, “terrible,” before being involved in the wreck. He finished 31st.

Last year’s race winner, Ryan Newman, crashed three cars during Speedweeks, much to the dismay of new owner/teammate Tony Stewart. He finished 36th on Sunday. He had troubles throughout the race, including troubles on pit road.

Stewart waved the Stewart-Haas Racing banner through the weekend, first claiming the Nationwide Series race win on Saturday and, despite also starting in the rear of the field in a backup car, finished eighth.
David Ragan and Michael Waltrip finished sixth and seventh. Reed Sorenson joined Richard Petty Motorsports teammates Allmendinger and Sadler within the top 10 by finishing ninth and Kurt Busch closed out the top 10.

Rain, tears and controversy end Daytona 500

Doug Guthrie/detnews.com

DAYTONA BEACH, Florida -- The Daytona 500 was rough and tumble and it ended with a whimper, being called after 152 laps due to rain that threatened to fall all day long.

A grateful Matt Kenseth is declared the winner.

Kevin Harvick was second and A.J. Allmendinger an amazing third for the new Richard Petty Racing combination with the old Gillett Evernham team.

Kenseth's car owner, Jack Roush didn't tell us just before the race that one of his cars would win, only that it would be the driver who stayed out of trouble and made the right moves to be in front at the end.

"We've been at this for more than 20 years and it's my first win in this race," Roush said. "I've never been to an enshrinement before, where tomorrow morning they are going to put our car in the museum for a year. I think it will set in then."

It would have been more amazing if he could have predicted it was going to be the Daytona 380.

Tensions were building and some controversial wrecks happened late, including one that already has critics buzzing about whether Brian Vickers blocked or Dale Earnhardt Jr. spun him out. The wreck took out front-runners Kyle Busch, Jimmy Johnson and Carl Edwards.

"Everybody was racing hard knowing the rain was close," Harvick said in the post race interview.

The win will be popular with other drivers, Harvick said, because he's a stand up guy and not one who seeks the spotlight.

In victory lane, the normally unemotional Kenseth said, "It's really going to be wet out here because I was crying like a baby."

Now, his Roush-prepared race car will go into the museum for one year across the street from the track.

"It's bitter sweet because it was Matt who pushed me to my Daytona 500 win," Harvick said.

They'll be talking a long time about the Earnhardt/Vickers crash, but the immediate sympathy went to Elliott Sadler, who finished fifth after leading near the end. He lost his ride in the off season team restructuring, and had to go to court to get it back.

"It's disappointing that radar showed rain all around the racetrack when we needed it, but the lap I get passed is the lap it starts raining," Sadler said who admitted he got very emotional in the car under the caution period. "I can play that pass back in my head a million times... I just needed to make my car wider."

Logano, 18, greeted by Cup's harsh reality

By Gary Graves and Seth Livingstone, USA TODAY

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Joey Logano walked away uninjured, unlike his smashed-in Toyota Camry.

Logano could see fellow rookie Scott Speed having trouble in front of him but didn't see Greg Biffle coming on his left side, sparking a chain of events that saw him careen hard into the inside retaining wall off Turn 4 and ending his first Daytona 500 at 80 laps Sunday.

Welcome to NASCAR, kid.

"I don't think I should say what I'm feeling inside," said the 18-year-old, who started ninth and finished 43rd. "I'm not very happy for sure. I thought we had a ways to go to make the car better and some adjustments we could make to do that. We just didn't get there in time."

Indeed Logano, whose unveiling with Joe Gibbs Racing is perhaps the most watched in recent memory, was recognizing his limitations. He wasn't a serious factor but wasn't embarrassing himself either, heeding the guidance of crew chief Greg Zipadelli to build up laps while looking for more in the No. 20 Toyota formerly driven by two-time series champion Tony Stewart.

Logano didn't blame Speed, whose No. 82 Toyota was on a swivel for much of the day but only a lap down when showers red-flagged the race on lap 152. The tightness of Logano's own car created problems he had hoped to correct with time, which he learned was a precious commodity at Daytona International Speedway.

"It just looked like (Speed) kept getting loose in front of me," Logano said, "so I jumped down below him in the middle of the corner just to try to get some air on my car because it was tight, and he kept checking up. … (Biffle) just came up and got us. This was not the way we wanted to finish the 500."

Rain comes too late:

It couldn't rain soon enough for Elliott Sadler, and it didn't.

Leading the Daytona 500 from laps 124 to 145, Sadler could feel the heat from Matt Kenseth among others.

"If I would have made a better and smarter move, I'd be in victory lane," Sadler said, kicking himself for not "dragging the brake enough," when Kenseth and Harvick charged by him on Turn 4.

"To be a half a lap short from being the champion of the Daytona 500 is very emotional to me."

Sadler, 33, settled for fifth place, not bad for a driver whose place in the revamped Richard Petty Motorsports lineup was uncertain in January. Not bad for a guy with three career wins in 358 Cup starts and none since his Sept. 5, 2004, win for Robert Yates Racing in Fontana, Calif.

"We had a chance to win it," Sadler said. "It was great having Reed and A.J. (teammates Sorenson and Allmendinger) behind me pushing. It would have been cool to finish like that. …"

Pit note:

The May 2 Sprint Cup race at Richmond International Raceway will be known at the Russell Friedman 400. Friedman, a two-time Purple Heart recipient from Huntington Station, N.Y., was selected in a national promotion conducted by race sponsor Crown Royal.

Tony Stewart not disappointed with eighth place in debut as driver/owner

By Brant James, Times Staff Writer

DAYTONA BEACH — New car, new team, new boss. Same old Tony Stewart. And same Daytona 500 outcome, for now.

Stewart, competing in his first points race for his Stewart-Haas team after 10 seasons at Joe Gibbs Racing, rocketed from the back of the pack (he was moved from his fifth spot on the grid to 38th for switching to a backup No. 14 Chevrolet after an accident in practice) to lead 15 laps early in Sunday's race. Still, he finished eighth. It was just like old times for a driver who has been tantalized by NASCAR's biggest prize, but he was thinking bigger picture.

Crew chief Darian Grubb cued the microphone on his team radio when Stewart took the lead under caution on Lap 58, saying, "Look at this, team. We're leading the Daytona 500."

"To leave here with a third (Budweiser Shootout), second (150-mile qualifying race) and eighth, can't really say that's disappointing," Stewart said.

SHORT STUFF: Joey Logano, 18, became the youngest to start a Daytona 500 and was the first out of it on Sunday.

The replacement for Stewart in the No. 20 Toyota brushed fellow rookie Scott Speed on Lap 79, careened off the tri-oval and hit a SAFER barrier in the infield nose-first, destroying his car.

"I don't think I should say what I'm feeling inside. I'm not very happy at all," Logano said. "I'm not very happy. That's for sure."

STAR-STUDDED: The drivers' meeting was among the most celebrity-speckled in recent memory. Among the luminaries: actors Gene Hackman and Tom Cruise (who sat at the foot of the stage in the packed room next to the grand marshal, Gov. Charlie Crist), Bucs Joey Galloway and Stylez G. White, South Carolina football coach Steve Spurrier, Jets coach Rex Ryan, Piero Ferrari, Gators quarterback Tim Tebow, and singer Keith Urban. Actor Nicole Kidman, previously wed to Cruise and now to Urban, did not attend.

White was invited to his first race through his association with David Reutimann's charity gold tournament.

"They told me I'd be a VIP and it was free. I'm all in," White grinned. "And I got to meet the drivers, which I like. All that metal around them, you can't tell what they're like."

White said he had already identified his favorite drivers: Reutimann, Carl Edwards and Marcos Ambrose.

SPARK PLUGS: Tampa native Aric Almirola was involved in two accidents. He was spun on the eighth lap by David Ragan, and by Sam Hornish on the last caution on Lap 146. Almirola finished 30th. … Daytona International Speedway president Robin Braig told drivers they worked "tirelessly" and thanked them for "helping fill the place up." Braig has made a point of ingratiating himself to them since Speedway Motorsports Inc. founder Bruton Smith criticized drivers for not doing enough to promote the sport, sparking a rebuke from Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Allmendinger Opens 2009 With Career Best Run

Mike Lovecchio · Frontstretch.com

With the weight off his shoulders just by making the Daytona 500, A.J. Allmendinger came out and ran the race of his life in the 51st running of the prestigious event. The young Richard Petty Motorsports driver — who is set to run only the first eight races of the season, pending sponsorship — ran in the top 12 for the entire second half of the race, leaving Daytona with a career best finish of third.

No question, it was a career-defining moment for a guy left at the curb by Team Red Bull last September after a surge of strong performances. Sitting at the podium in the media center following the race, Allmendinger could have easily blasted those that have given up on him in the past; but the former open-wheel driver did just the opposite.

“I think you quickly learn in this sport that it doesn’t owe you anything. I mean, you got to earn everything that you get,” he said. “You can sit back and feel bad about yourself or whine about everything that’s going on, but there’s a lot of people in this world that are a lot less fortunate than I am right now — even everything I went through.”

After losing his Team Red Bull ride to rookie Scott Speed at the end of 2008 and flirting with taking the No. 19 Richard Petty Motorsports ride of Elliott Sadler full-time, Allmendinger instead was tasked with piloting a fourth RPM entry — meaning he’s not guaranteed a spot in the field in any of the first five races, unlike his three teammates.

But for a program put together in only the past month and a half, the camaraderie within the new organization appears surprisingly strong. That’s why after those teammates pushed him into the field during Thursday’s Duel 150 qualifying race, Allmendinger was content to return the favor on Sunday for Elliott Sadler and Reed Sorenson up front.

 “I was hoping it was going to rain when Elliott was leading and Reed was second and I was fourth. That would have been a really great result for the team,” he said. “I was trying to push Reed and Elliott as much as I could. They are the ones that got me into the race. It was my turn to return the favor and try to get them the win.”

It’s been an up and down career for Allmendinger — who has dealt with naysayers ever since stepping into a Sprint Cup car — but some of the sport’s top drivers have begun taking notice of the young driver’s talent. Take Kevin Harvick, for example, who battled with the top go-or-go-home car in the final stages of the rain-shortened event.

“I think everybody forgets how many people have been run out of this sport from the open-wheel side that hadn’t had any success whatsoever,” Harvick explained. “He’s been pretty successful in a short amount of time.”

The former Champ Car World Series rookie of the year and race winner took some time to fully grasp the world of stock car racing — but with more experience has come more consistent finishes. Now, it seems only a matter of time before someone’s patience with the young driver will pay off.  

Tom Higgins Scuffs

Kyle Petty’s first and Allison’s fist lead Daytona memories list

By Tom Higgins

As racing’s radio and TV announcers are fond of saying, “The stars and cars of NASCAR” are back in Daytona Beach, Fla., to begin another Sprint Cup Series season.

This evokes indelible memories of 30 years ago when the teams gathered for what was to prove perhaps the most momentous Daytona 500 in history.

The race at Daytona International Speedway ended with three-peat Winston Cup champion Cale Yarborough brawling in a helmet-swinging, fist-flying fight with the Brothers Allison, Bobby and Donnie, while Richard Petty swept to an improbable victory that surprised even him.

But this is getting way ahead of the whole story…

The excitement and high expectations that something special was building had begun a week earlier on Feb. 11.

Third-generation driver Kyle Petty, Richard’s 18-year-old son, was making his very first start in a race car. The event was the ARCA 200.

My best media friend and traveling pal, Steve Waid, and I asked King Richard if we could join him to watch the race from atop the Petty team’s transporter. He graciously agreed.

There were three other people up there: Papa Lee Petty, the patriarch of the clan from little Level Cross, N.C., a three-time driving champion who won the first Daytona 500 in 1959; and two fast-friend drivers, Donnie Allison and Cale Yarborough.

Kyle kept his Dodge Magnum near the front throughout, but once almost slammed into the second turn wall.

While Richard paled, Lee stoically puffed his pipe and observed in a distinctive drawl, “Kin’t go no higher than that.”

On the last lap the rookie Kyle showed savvy beyond his years by blocking ARCA veteran John Rezel to take the checkered flag. Richard essentially leaped from the transporter to rush to Victory Lane for his son’s arrival there.

Donnie Allison turned to Yarborough and, high-fiving with a grin, said, “Don’t tell me that genes don’t have a damn thing to do with it!”

The two could not have imagined what fate held for them the following Sunday on Feb. 18, 1979. As the 500 rolled toward conclusion, Donnie and Cale dramatically raced 1-2 respectively for 40 laps, just inches apart.

Everyone in the packed grandstands knew what was coming. On the final lap Cale would use the aerodynamic “slingshot pass” down the backstretch to pass Donnie and win the race.

Most in a massive national TV audience probably didn’t anticipate this. They’d never much watched racing before.

CBS had them as somewhat captive viewers as it televised the 500 live flag-to-flag for the first time.

A monster blizzard had swept across much of the U.S. that weekend, producing heavy snow as far south as Savannah, Ga. Millions were confined to their homes that Sunday and there was little exciting to watch on TV except the Daytona 500.

Sure enough, on the last of the 200 laps at the great 2.5-mile track Yarborough swung to the inside off turn two to make his move for the lead.

However, Donnie Allison didn’t relish the role of sitting duck and refused to yield. He kept drifting further and further leftward to the inside.

Approaching turn three all four of the tires on Yarborough’s car were in the grass. He turned hard right to get back onto the asphalt and slammed into the side of Allison’s car.

The collision seemed to weld the two vehicles and they slammed hard into the outer concrete wall, then bounced down the banking onto the apron.

From almost a mile behind, Richard Petty, running third, saw the yellow caution light flash.

“I sorta figured what had happened,” said Petty, who was running the 500 against doctor’s orders after having about half his stomach removed a few weeks earlier because of ulcers. “But I was still surprised when I went by to see those two cars settin’ there smokin’.

“The next time I came around on the cool-down lap it looked liked Saturday night at a quarter-mile track in the old days when post-race fightin’ was pretty common. I was tempted to stop and watch it.”

It was the sixth of Petty’s eventual record seven Daytona 500 triumphs and the 186th in a career than continued until 1992 and produced 200 victories, also a record.

The wild finish enthralled many in the TV audience, and tuned them into NASCAR.

I’ll contend forever that race is mostly responsible for the ensuing boom that has made stock car racing so amazingly popular.

Regardless, in 1979 at the Daytona track the top row of grandstand seats overlooking the start/finish line was on a level with the press box. When excited fans jumped up, they blocked the vision of the media.

And had these dramatic developments ever excited them!

Petty led Darrell Waltrip by only a car length, with tough ol’ A.J. Foyt only a few feet further behind. Waid jumped up on his chair in the press box. “Richard’s gonna win the race. Richard’s gonna win the race!” he shouted.

And Petty did win, using the same blocking technique Kyle had employed a week earlier.

I calmly replied to Waid, “Yeah, I know. What I want to see is the fight.”

I swear at that very moment CBS-TV’s adroit anchorman, Ken Squier, declared, “There’s a fight in turn three!”

There was a TV monitor to the left and slightly behind my shoulder. We turned to see Yarborough going at it against both Allisons.

Bobby had stopped to see if Donnie was okay, and the brawl ensued that Yarborough later dismissed as a “scuffle.”

That’s Bobby’s version.

Some of the juiciest quotes ever from NASCAR’s top series followed.

Here’s how I recorded them in my stories and columns three decades ago for The Charlotte Observer:

Yarborough blamed Bobby Allison for setting up to block him, even though Allison was several hundred yards ahead of the two leaders.

“It’s the worst thing I’ve ever seen in racing,” huffed a red-faced Cale. “I knew how to win the race. Donnie drove right down into me and carried me into the grass. I had him set up perfectly and I had the car to get him and he knew it. It was as intentional on his part as all get out. He knew he couldn’t beat me any other way. What hurts more than anything, including losing the race and all that money (a winner’s share of approximately $75,000) is how Donnie jeopardized our lives. We were running way over 190 (mph).”

Donnie: “Cale had made up his mind that he was going to pass me low, and I’d made up my mind that if he was going to pass at all, it was going to be high. When he went low, he ran off the track, spun and hit me. When Bobby drove up, Cale went over and punched him while he was still sitting in the car. Then he started calling me names and it was on. Cale ain’t wearing no halo in this.”

Bobby Allison: “After the wreck I stopped to see if they were hurt. I asked Donnie if he wanted to climb in my car and ride back to the garage. He didn’t, and about that time here came Cale running up. I couldn’t hear what he was yelling about, so I unhitched the window screen. Durned if he didn’t reach in and hit me. Then, when I got out, he tried to kick me.”

A famous photo shows Bobby holding a fallen, wild-eyed Yarborough by his left ankle.

Someone asked Junior Johnson, owner of the team fielding Yarborough, what he thought of the fight.

“I don’t give a damn if they’d beat the hell out of each other,” responded Johnson. “All I know is we lost a race we should have won and I’ve got a tore-up race car.”

Because of the raging controversy and the horrid highway conditions brought on by the blizzard, Steve Waid and I decided to stay in Daytona Beach until Tuesday.

Early on Monday morning we went to NASCAR headquarters to see what sanctioning body president Bill France, Jr., was going to do about the last-lap crash and the fight that followed.

We were told to wait in a room just off France’s office. Cale and Donnie already had been in to plead their cases and had departed. Bobby was in there at the time.

After a few minutes, Bobby, bearing a slight bruise under his left eye, emerged with a grin and this amusing, humorous remark:

“All I’ve got to say is that all of a sudden I found Cale Yarborough’s nose pounding on my fist.”

Ah, for the good ol’ days and drivers as spirited and fun as the Allisons and Cale Yarborough!

When Steve and I finally got to meet with France, he gravely spoke of possible heavy fines and suspensions for Yarborough ad the Allisons.

However, both of us could sense that he privately was delighted with the developments of the day before.

Neither big monetary penalties nor suspensions came about.

Fact is, the trio had delivered NASCAR the biggest favor it ever has received.

Earnhardt lashes out after big Daytona crash

by Lee Spencer/foxsports.com

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Most of Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s afternoon in the Daytona 500 was the pits.

Then he turned the tables on the field — unintentionally.

Earnhardt missed his pit box entirely on Lap 57 and had to complete a full circuit before pitting again. Then Earnhardt was penalized one lap for pitting outside of his box on Lap 121. On the restart, Earnhardt lined up behind Brian Vickers on the inside lane for the restart on Lap 124. With rain approaching, there was a sense of urgency among the drivers battling for the Lucky Dog award — which enables the first lap down car to return to the lead lap.

Earnhardt made a move on Vickers, who in turned blocked the No. 88 Chevrolet.

Earnhardt then pulled beneath the yellow line and moved back up into Vickers, turning the No. 83 Toyota into the leaders which triggered a nine-car crash.

"We're all racing for the Lucky Dog there and my goal was to keep Junior behind me and I went to block him," Vickers said. "I beat him to the yellow line and then he just turned us. He hit me the first time on the way down — which is fine. We all do that. Then when he came back up he just hooked me in the left rear.

"To wreck somebody intentionally like that in front of the entire field is really kind of dangerous. That's my biggest problem with it, but apparently he wanted a caution pretty bad."

When Earnhardt was told of Vickers comments, he radioed to his spotter T.J. Majors to tell Vickers' spotter to deliver the message that if there was an issue, the racers could discuss it in the motor coach lot following the race.

"If he wants to come by the bus after the race and get his ass whopped," Earnhardt said. "I'll do it."

Some of the best cars were wiped out in the incident, including Kyle Busch, who was running third at the time and led 88 of the 124 laps to that point. Busch and his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin were just about coasting while planning their strategy for the finish. Then all hell broke loose and Busch's day ended with a 41st-place finish.

"One guy that had problems all day on pit road made his problems our problems and then our problems a big problem," Busch said. "It was just unfortunate with that and it was really uncalled for to have two lapped cars to be racing each other and bumping each other like that.

"You'll have that in big time auto racing."

Earnhardt was denied the Lucky Dog award since he was involved in the crash on the sixth caution. However, when the seventh caution was called seven laps later after Paul Menard and Jeff Burton tangled on the backstretch, Earnhardt received the honor and returned to the lead lap in the 31st position.

Once the race was called for rain, Earnhardt defended his actions.

"I got a run on Vickers and the guy he was beside," said Earnhardt, who finished 27th. "I went to the bottom of him. Vickers drove me below the line. He ran in to me and sent me below the line. ...

"It was unfortunate man. If he wasn't so damn reckless, we would have never had that problem. That would never happen. As far as I am concerned, it is all his responsibility."

Vickers, who was scored 39th, felt that Earnhardt should have been penalized for reckless driving — similar to the five-lap penalty issued to Jason Leffler on Saturday for turning Stephen Wallace in the Nationwide race.

"I think the 38 was penalized for doing the same thing," Vickers added. "I guess they're not going to penalize (Earnhardt) for it. It's kind of sad."

Earnhardt felt the notion of the No. 88 being penalized was preposterous. He said the blamed rested with Vickers for blocking in the first place.

"Penalize me? For what? I got ran in to and sent below the line," Earnhardt said. "What the hell? I don't want to go down there. I didn't aim to go down there. I got sent down there. What the hell am I supposed to do? Then what am I supposed to do? Stay down there? No. I got to get back up on the racetrack."

Ultimately, the final judgment went to NASCAR, and they sided with Junior.

"Today's incident was nothing like yesterday's incident, which was deemed intentional," NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston said. "Today, the two cars were racing hard and got into each other. It was an unintentional racing incident that did not warrant further action."

Still, Vickers felt adamantly that he was blocking Earnhardt. He had been blocked by Juan Pablo Montoya and said that Earnhardt was blocking the driver behind him as well.

"You watch your mirror, you try to keep the guy behind you behind you," Vickers said. "My goal is to not let him pass me.

"People blocked me the whole race. When I'd go to pass, they'd turned left and try to keep me behind them. That's part of superspeedway racing. I don't just hook them in the left rear and turn then in front of the field. I don't think that's an excuse to do that."

Another race, another excuse for Junior

By Dan Wetzel, Yahoo! Sports

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Twice Dale Earnhardt Jr. blew his pit stop, both mind-numbing mistakes. The second cost him a one-lap penalty. Soon after, “fighting over nothing,” as Kyle Busch called it, Junior sparked a nine-car wreck that took out many of the serious contenders for the Daytona 500. Later, he got blamed for an incident with another driver.

It left Matt Kenseth to win a frustrating, rain-shorted race and left many wondering if Junior is going to insist on ruining his own race, he might be kind enough to spare everyone else. No one was hurt more than Busch, who had the best car all day, leading 88 of the first 125 laps.

“Yeah it was accidental,” said Earnhardt of getting into Brian Vickers after Vickers forced him onto the back stretch grass. “I wouldn’t want to wreck the field.”

No one thinks Earnhardt is a bad guy, just one who keeps wasting away immense possibilities.

Bad run after bad run, late season fade after late season fade, silly error after silly error, it all just keeps happening.

Here in his 10th season, it’s long past time for Earnhardt to start delivering on the track the way he does at the merchandise booth. He’s turned the grandstands from red to garish green, from Budweiser to Amp Energy, from 8 to 88, yet all those devoted members of Junior Nation once again have little to cheer about except his likable personality.

At age 34, he’s running out of reasons to explain his career and running out of time to change it.

With virtually every advantage given to him, he’s failed to win a Cup championship. He’s won just three races since 2004 and just one in his last 99 starts.

So many Earnhardt fans love to bash Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon, but they are self-made men in this business. It wasn’t those two who grew up rich and famous.

Earnhardt left his late-father’s company, Dale Earnhardt Inc., because he wanted to win a Cup championship. He went to Hendrick Motorsports, where Johnson and Gordon have won a combined seven titles.

Junior has the support necessary to get serious. He certainly had a capable car here, even leading for a lap. It was set up nice for him in one of his preferred restrictor plate races at a track where he’s won multiple times and his family name is sacred among blue-collar fans.

Yet, once again the story is what he couldn’t pull off, not what he could. It’s about mental errors and confusing collisions and the inevitable pointed fingers.

With Junior there’s always an excuse, always a story on why it wasn’t his fault.

He blamed his first pit mistake – overshooting his box – on there being too many teams waving the same pink-colored sign.

“It’s hard to see,” he said. “I just wasn’t thinking.”

He admitted guilt on the second, having his left-front tire on the outside line, but bristled that NASCAR’s one-lap punishment was too severe.

“Only an inch on the line,” he said. “Maybe it’s time we reevaluate that rule.”

We revaluate? And Earnhardt wonders why many believe he’s coddled by NASCAR?

Vickers accused Junior of wrecking him on purpose and said Earnhardt clipping his back fender as he moved back onto the track was a clear rule violation.

“Typically NASCAR penalizes (five laps for that),” Vickers said. “I guess they aren’t going to penalize him.”

“Penalize me, for what?” Junior shot back. “I got [run] into and sent below the line. What the hell?”

He turned his anger back on Vickers.

“I don’t hate it for him [being wrecked], I hate it for everybody else that got wrecked.”

Later Junior forced Jeff Burton three wide on a restart causing him to crash.

“He was upset at me,” Earnhardt said. “I should’ve worked with him and all that.”

That sounds diplomatic, but Junior defended his aggressive driving by claiming that with the rain coming, he needed to make a move to win. The truth was, he had no realistic chance at that point. There was no justification for it.

Earnhardt is a fun guy, a nice guy and a guy who represents his sport off the track in all the best ways. He’s been voted the sport’s favorite driver six times.

At some point there has to be more, though. At some point there needs to be some steak that goes with the sizzle. At some point he needs to deliver or forever be known for his fame and fans, not his ability.

He spent much of last season, his first with Hendrick, in the top five of the standings. When the pressure hit late in the year though, he fell all the way to last in the Chase.

Now there’s this inauspicious start to the season.

Five years ago Earnhardt won Daytona and his future seemed limitless. Since then, it’s been too many unforced errors that speak not to a bad day but concentration breakdowns. There are only so many things that can be argued away before it comes back to the driver impacting the race in all the wrong ways.

“One guy had problems all day on pit road and his problems became our problems and then our problems [became] big problems,” Kyle Busch said.

Earnhardt could only offer happy-go-lucky innocence – forgive me because you like me.

He left his car and headed for his hauler, the rain falling harder and harder. A group of fans weathered it though. What’s a downpour when they could get a glimpse of their famous hero? Clad in his colors, they followed right behind him like always.

What exactly they’re following is the question.

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