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Happy Monday to one and all. HOLY Crap!!! What an awesome race, and what awesome coverage. Any of you out there that have any complaints about this weekend’s race and coverage must either be nuts, or just can’t be satisfied. The call by call, the easy rapport, and the real emotions and opinions on the coverage was above and beyond what I have become used to in this sport. If only FOX and ESPN would take a good look at that coverage, what a wonderful world this would be! Today In Nascar History July 6, 1983: Butch Lindley wins the Goody's 200 in the final Nationwide Series race at Caraway Speedway in Asheboro, N.C. Lindley beats Jack Ingram to the line on the half-mile track. Jimmy Hensley is third and Tommy Houston fourth, the only other cars on the lead lap. Thanks to Anthony for the heads up on these… Two really cool events going on at the moment. Please let your fans know about www.vest4k9. com and www.smokescamaro.com. Greg and Tony are doing some great work for their foundations, and allows fans some fun opportunities. Hi Momma ~
Victory Junction just started another great event!!! www.forthecamp.com!!!! Let all your friends, family and fans know!!!! Last year’s winner won over $20,000 dollars!!!! You got it Anthony! Quote of the Year
Stupid is Forever --Brian Vickers From Mansi Hey, Bits and Pieces Almirola hasn't discussed #1 ride: UPDATE: Earnhardt/Ganassi could have an opening in 2009 if, as expected, #1-Martin Truex announces this week he will leave for MWR, but Almirola says he had not spoken with Ganassi about it. "That's not up to me," he said. "Those have been internal discussions that really have not involved me. Whatever happens I will be ready, race there or race somewhere else." Almirola said Ganassi has suggested he would allow him to leave if he finds work elsewhere.(St. Petersburg Times) UPDATE: Aric Almirola was hanging out at the #42 transporter [at Daytona] with Earnhardt Ganassi Racing president Steve "Jake" Lauletta. If I [Lee Spencer] had to bet, Almirola will be back in the #8 Chevy by the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard. The race pays exceptionally well and apparently EGR is close to securing sponsorship.(FoxSports) Special silver scheme for Edwards at night races: #99-Carl Edwards is scheduled to drive the Aflac Silver Special scheme in the Lifelock.com 400 at Chicagoland on July 11, 2009 and in all the remaining night races during the 2009 season. MWR to make announcement on July 7th? UPDATE 2: On Friday Rowdy.com visited Michael Waltrip Racing [Cornelius, NC] which offers an amazing tour of the facility, including the fabricating shop. Even more interesting than the tour itself was this tidbit...someone in our group was asking how Ryan and Martin Truex Jr. (brothers) were related. Somehow this led to our tour guide telling us that Michael Waltrip Racing would be making a MAJOR announcement on July 7th.(Rowdy.com) UPDATE: Earnhardt Ganassi Racing President Steve Lauletta said no matter what happens with Martin Truex Jr., he expects Bass Pro Shops will remain with the organization for 2010. Truex, who drives for EGR, is expected to be announced as the 2010 full-time replacement for Michael Waltrip at Michael Waltrip Racing
on July 7.(SceneDaily)
Furr say Mayfield team can be ready for Chicago: Mayfield Motorsports' #41 Toyota hasn't been on the race track since the May 24 Coca-Cola 600. One week after that race, the Mayfields were forced to lay off their team members, including crew chief Tony Furr. Gaining sponsorship money to revive the team is their primary goal. Furr, who was at Daytona working as a consultant with owner Larry Gunselman's #64-Sprint Cup team -- which was sent home Friday when qualifying was rained out -- said he had a meeting set with Mayfield for Monday and that he saw no problem being ready for Chicagoland or anywhere else. "I want to figure out what he wants to do, because all the stuff is still there at the shop," Furr said. "We're a day-and-a-half away from having [a car] ready to go to wherever. The full crew worked for a week after the Charlotte 600 -- everyone worked together and left together." Furr said he'd continued to speak to his former Mayfield Motorsports co-workers and that getting them back together wouldn't be difficult. "I could have a team in place in less than an hour," Furr said. "There are a lot of people out on the street right now and most of the guys that were there to start with will come back -- I've talked to every one of them and been in touch with them since this [judge's] ruling.(NASCAR.com)
Did Not Finish Streak and stats: #14-Stewart and #19-Sadler have the longest current streak of finishing races at 41. #78-Regan Smith is at 51 but has not run all the races [Smith has never DNF'd in a Cup race]. The all-time record for the longest streak of NOT having an DNF is 84 races held by Herman Beam from April 30, 1961 thru March 10, 1963 [Beam didn't run all the races, but didn't DNF in 84 straight consecutive races that he ran]. Clint Bowyer holds the modern day (1972-present) at 83, next is Kevin Harvick at 81 and 58, then Jeff Gordon at 56 and Dale Earnhardt at 53. CNBC's "Inside Track: Refueling the Business of NASCAR": CNBC's "Inside Track: Refueling the Business of NASCAR" hosted by Emmy-Nominated CNBC Sports Business Reporter, Darren Rovell, examines a sport that was once seemingly unstoppable. Infamous for its ties to southern bootleggers and famous for filling some of the largest venues in the world - 200,000 fans at some speedways – a decade of growth made it the fastest growing sport in America. But the rise of the 90s has given way to a new century recession. An imploding car business and shrinking sponsorship budgets are threatening the corporate dollars that are the sport's very lifeblood. NASCAR is now feeling the pressure of the economic implosion as the companies whose names are decaled on the cars are reconsidering their investments. Owned and controlled by the France family, NASCAR is looking at ways to weather the storm. "Inside Track: Refueling the Business of NASCAR" will premiere on Thursday, July 9th at 9:00pm, 10:00pm and 1:00am and re-air on Sunday, July 12th at 10:00pm and Monday, July 13th at 10:00pm. Petty working with Chrysler on debt; Kahne in Toyota in Nationwide next year: Chrysler is working on a deal to pay off some of its debt to Richard Petty Motorsports [#9, #19, #43, #44] , co-owner Richard Petty said on Friday at Daytona International Speedway. Petty said last month that Chrysler's bankruptcy put cash flow from the manufacturer to the organization on hold. The subsequent layoff of nine RPM employees also was blamed on anticipated cuts from the bankruptcy. "They've stopped everything,'' he said of Chrysler's support. Petty said on Friday that RPM should expect some money soon. "Yeah, we'll get some money from them,'' he said. "Right now we're in the process of figuring out exactly what they can do to get back to us to see what we can do." Petty's initial comments increased speculation that RPM may leave Dodge for Toyota after this season. The organization is in the final year of its contract and has partnered with Toyota's Braun Racing for five Nationwide Series races in 2009.(ESPN.com) AND: Braun Racing [Nationwide Series team] announced that Great Clips, Inc., will return for another three seasons to sponsor the #38 Toyota in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. Jason Leffler will pilot the #38 Great Clips Camry for 27 of the 35 scheduled races while Kasey Kahne will drive the #38 in the remaining eight races.(Braun Racing PR)
France happy with double-file restarts, NASCAR overall: NASCAR Chairman Brian France praised the success of double-file restarts and reiterated his stance that the sport remains healthy despite the headaches of a sagging economy. France, speaking to reporters Friday afternoon at Daytona International Speedway, said double-file restarts "clearly are putting a nice energy around the events," which are producing "fantastic" racing overall. He said NASCAR remains the No. 1 or No. 2 most-viewed and most popular sport on any given weekend, which means that despite the economic downturn, "lots of people would like to have our problems." France said the product on the track is the "most important thing," and to that end NASCAR continues to evaluate possible adjustments - which he termed as minor changes - to its new model car. France repeated his comments from last month at Michigan, when he noted that other manufacturers may be interested in joining the sport. But he said nothing was imminent. Regarding the Camping World Truck Series and Nationwide Series, France said both were "relatively healthy" despite reduced manufacturer support and the economy in general.(SceneDaily)
Move to Cup unlikely for JR Motorsports: You can't cross JR Motorsports totally off of Brad Keselowski's list for a fulltime Sprint Cup ride in 2010, but it doesn't seem likely. Dale Earnhardt Jr., who co-owns JR Motorsports with Rick Hendrick, said on Friday it would be "quite a challenge for anybody to find the kind of financial support you need" to make the move from the Nationwide Series to Cup. He also talked more of Keselowski, who drives the JR Motorsports Nationwide car, as though he would be somewhere else after this season and how he looked forward to preparing another driver for the Cup series. "The way I see it Brad has a ton of opportunities and the doors are wide open for him,'' Earnhardt said. "We have to look at what our chances are for moving into the Cup series before we can put that before Brad."(ESPN Insider)
NASCAR plans no immediate changes to drug policy: NASCAR does not plan any immediate changes to its substance-abuse policy in light of Jeremy Mayfield's victory in obtaining a preliminary injunction forcing NASCAR to lift his suspension for an alleged positive drug test for methamphetamines, NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston said Thursday. Part of Mayfield's case questions the guidelines that NASCAR must follow in its drug-testing policy. Mayfield argues that NASCAR must follow the guidelines for federal agencies; NASCAR contends that it does not have to do so. NASCAR will continue with its random drug-testing policy, which it implemented this year, during this weekend's events at Daytona International Speedway just as it has done all year, Poston said. Poston said he is not aware of any challenges from any crew members suspended this year under the policy, and he did not think the ruling would prompt challenges.(SceneDaily) Matt McLaughlin's Thinkin' Out Loud Firecracker 400 Race Recap The Key Moment: Kyle Busch tried blocking Tony Stewart once too often on the final lap. Stewart took the win, while Busch took a savage ride into the wall and through the pack. In a Nutshell: Contrived excitement but very real danger, and a tragedy narrowly averted. Dramatic Moment: Certainly, the carnage coming to the checkers is what everyone’s going to be talking about this week. What They’ll Be Talking About Around the Water Cooler This Week One more time… before it’s too late. End plate racing now. Yes, the new car design probably saved Kyle Busch’s life Saturday night, but plate racing caused a wreck that didn’t have to happen. Sooner or later, our luck is going to run out; and to be frank, watching that last lap incident I was certain it already had Saturday night. Anyone else want to see the “no racing below the yellow line” rule rescinded on the last lap after the latest finishes at Talladega and Daytona? If you don’t, I figure you’re either a ghoul or a mortician. Some folks are already debating what would have happened in Victory Lane if NASCAR officials hadn’t headed off Kyle Busch’s apparently determined efforts to go congratulate Tony Stewart. For what it’s worth, my money is on Stewart. He’d have knocked Busch’s block off… so to speak. I love the fact the official finishing order lists the 18 car as “running” at the end of the race. About the only thing “running” on the 18 car after the race was its driver; and for that, I’m grateful to God. After an ugly finish, their contributions might be overlooked, but Tony Stewart’s pit crew was absolutely flawless all night, getting their boy out first during every sequence of stops. I’ve seen NASCAR throw a lot of competition cautions early in a race, but never one with fifteen laps left to go at a plate track. Oh, sure, there was debris on the track, right? Well, there was fixing to be a lot more debris on the track after that. It’s not like NASCAR didn’t expect and perhaps even welcome the last lap carnage. If NASCAR is genuinely interested in arresting the declining TV ratings we’ve seen this season, they need to ensure that TNT’s Wide Open broadcast style that allowed fans to keep following the race during commercials is used for all races. It wasn’t perfect, but it sure beat what fans at home normally have to endure. Thanks to all the sponsors who participated. (Though you’d think Coors sells enough beer that they could come up with more than one ad.) I’m not sure what Ramsey Poston’s official title is, but it ought to be “Official NASCAR corporate spokes-bully.” It seems lately when NASCAR wants to present its arrogant, churlish side to the world it will be Poston’s mouth moving. This week, Poston sneered at Jeremy Mayfield’s victory in a lawsuit urging a judge to lift his suspension, citing the urgency that he be allowed to return to the track when Mayfield failed to present a car for inspection for this weekend’s race. OK, let’s see. Mayfield has laid off ten workers from his tiny team and lost his sponsor as a result of the allegations NASCAR made against him. After the court ruling, he had less than 24 hours to prepare and transport a car to the track… and for a plate race, at that. And, he might have been a few bucks short of the 5,000-plus buck entry fee thanks to the torpedo strike below the waterline NASCAR inflicted on his career. Once again old Ramsey has proven himself a dirt bag. (I originally used a stronger term, but I’ve been told some parents let their kids read my columns. What are you, out of your minds?) To be frank, I’m sick of this whole mess and I don’t want to see it drag through court for years. Its cards on the table time for both parties. Mayfield should, at NASCAR’s bequest or on his own initiative, submit hair samples from his person to be tested by two independent labs under the tightest security and highest level of scientific expertise — with those tests witnessed by interested parties from both camps and the media. Yes, the hair on Mayfield’s head is pretty short, but there are other hairs on his body that grow more slowly and will reflect year’s worth of information. If the independent tests reveal Mayfield is a meth user, he’s gone with no possible reinstatement. If it’s proven he doesn’t use illicit drugs, NASCAR apologizes and writes him a big old check for setting off this whole dog and pony show with their incompetence. One way or another, the matter is settled once and for all, with both parties agreeing not to appeal the results. I’m not a meteorologist and I don’t play one on TV. (I lack the boobs, blonde hair and vacuous nature to pull it off.) But I do know this about weather in Florida during the summer: it’s hot, humid, and unpleasant as hell by late afternoon. That tends to set off wild thunderstorms late in the afternoon into the early hours of the night. It’s why the Firecracker 400 (and that’s the real name, soda companies be damned to Hell) used to start at 11 AM, before the heat got too oppressive and so it would end in time for folks to head to the beach for a little relief from the worst of the late day heat. Moving the Firecracker 400 to a nighttime starting spot greatly increases the risk of rain delays or cancellations. On a more human level, the nighttime race really messes up a lot of fan’s plans for the holiday weekend. If they’re going to watch the race, they can’t take the kids to the fireworks. They’ll have to miss Ms. Sheryl Crow on the Parkway here in Philly. They’ll have to turn down invitations to barbecues extended by friends, family and neighbors not addicted to the sport at this magic time of year when fireflies provide nature’s fireworks and Tiger Lilies as big as dinner plates light up embankments. As a big fan of Sheryl Crow, fireworks, fireflies, Tiger lilies, barbecues and beer, as well as this great old nation we live in, I think it’s high time that the July race at Daytona return to its rightful title, the Firecracker 400, and its 11 AM start time. We, the people, hold these truths to be self-evident… give us a race everyone will still be talking about as we barbecue at dusk and wait for the fireworks, and NASCAR will have gone a long way to restoring the sport. You want to know just how bad things have gotten for NASCAR in the media? Every local and national media outlet I visited late Friday evening had verbiage about Saturday’s Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating contest (an event so disgusting I can’t watch) but not a word about the Firecracker 400. If qualifying hadn’t been rained out, a big name driver like Junior had won the pole and someone had been kind enough to crash to provide some chilling video, maybe the race would have gotten a little play. As it stands, apparently the mainstream media thinks people are more interested in watching gluttons vomit than stock car racing. Maybe what NASCAR needs is a vomitorium in the infield? To get the ball rolling, we can have Darrell Waltrip incite mass nausea with an impassioned “Boogity, boogity, boogity, let’s go retching boys!” I know that nonsense makes me sick to the stomach every time I hear it. By all indications, it appears the Dale Earnhardt Jr./ Brad Keselowski relationship is winding down. Keselowski says he’s ready to compete full-time in the Cup series, although there’s no room at HMS racing for him. Junior says it’s unlikely Junior Motorsports would be able to make the shift from Nationwide racing to the Cup series by next year. (In a scary statement, Earnhardt says that in this economy, finding sponsorship would be nigh on impossible. If the sport’s Most Popular Driver can’t lure a well-funded sponsor — who can?) I think Keselowski is going to find when a small satellite drifts out of the universe that is Dale Earnhardt Jr., it’s lost in space forever. It’s been 25 years since Richard Petty won his 200th race with President Reagan on hand to watch the triumph? Damn, that does make me feel old. As I recall that year, Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the USA classic album had finally deposed Michael Jackson’s Thriller atop the Billboard charts. Bruce is still doing OK. Jackson…not so well. Maybe I’m too sensitive, but it bothered me that on the Fourth of July the only car company to advertise during the Firecracker 400 was Japanese. I don’t know who Bill Weber pissed off with that loud profane argument at a hotel last week; but apparently they had some clout. Not only is Weber off the TNT team, they won’t even mention his name or discuss what happened. Looks like there were a few empty seats there on the backstretch Saturday night, huh? But don’t you worry, baby, Brian France went on record again at the halfway point of the season saying things are just peachy. Editor’s Note: Daytona chooses not to sell the superstretch section for its annual night races in July. Dagnabit, would somebody buy Dave Blaney’s Prism Motorsports team a new radiator? He keeps falling out of races after a couple laps with “overheating” issues. I’m sure they’re not just starting and parking to collect last place money. Similarly Tommy Baldwin’s driver, Partick Carpentier, is officially listed as falling out at Daytona after 18 laps with “engine” issue. What, did they forget to put one in the car? The Hindenburg Award For Foul Fortune There’s just something about Mark Martin and Daytona. He’s never won a points race here, and his chances at finally winning one ended early with a rare unforced error Saturday night. Jeff Gordon almost had the lap 77 wreck cleared. Unfortunately, he was racing… not playing horseshoes. Jeff Burton was running well right up until the last lap when he got caught up in that smoking pig pile. RCR really could have used a good finish with the season they’ve had and Burton is trying to claw his way back into the Chase. I’d guess in an unguarded moment Burton might admit the notion of decals on the windshield wasn’t the only thing “idiotic” going on at Daytona Saturday night. Kasey Kahne could see the checkered flag and the chance of a decent finish until the only thing he could see was the undercarriage of the No. 18 car — with its rear axle assembly about ready to come through his windshield. Several high profile team owners are going to be writing big checks to cover overtime at the body and fab shops this week after Daytona. RCR, Hendrick and Gibbs transporters all hauled a whole lot of junk back to North Carolina Saturday night. Their Cars of Tomorrow are now Cars of Never Again. My guess is Gibbs would be lucky to salvage the lug nuts off what was left of the 18 car. Joey Logano dodged a whole lot of wrecks throughout the race. He just didn’t dodge the last one. The “Seven Come Fore Eleven” Award For Fine Fortune My guess is that Kyle Busch is well and truly pissed off after that last lap wreck, but maybe he ought to review the tape. He made a bad mistake and survived it. Kurt Busch had a strong car but had his efforts waylaid by tire issues and contact trying to get back to the front. He rallied back to finish fifth. I’ll admit I was a little bothered to hear him say when the carnage broke out in front of him, he kept his boot in it on the last lap. Maybe if he’d known which driver was in the car at the front of the melee’ he’d have backed off a bit? Juan Pablo Montoya took a wild ride through the grass early in the race and survived some hard contact out on the track, then needed two free passes under caution but still managed an eighth place finish. Denny Hamlin advanced his position below the yellow line but NASCAR officials swallowed their whistles. He went on to finish third. He might have preferred a long overdue win, but the last lap at Daytona Saturday night ended up being a lot better for Carl Edwards than the last lap at Talladega. A fourth place finish was a decent result. The way the first half of the race went for Brian Vickers, I’m still scratching my head wondering how he finished in the top 10. Marcos Ambrose might have been treated like a leper in the draft, but he still came away with a finish somewhere in the top 10. My guess is NASCAR will be resorting the final finishing order at Daytona until next Saturday. On a plate track one mistake in the pits can end a driver’s chance at a decent finish. Jimmie Johnson’s rare mental error that caused him to slide through his pit box might have ended his evening; but instead, he came away with a second place finish. A tire problem forced Matt Kenseth to make an unplanned pit stop and could have cost him a lap. Instead a caution flag flew as Kenseth exited the pits, and he wound up leading the race en route to a ninth place finish. Worth Noting · The top 10 finishers at Daytona either drove or were helpless inside badly damaged cars sliding across the finish line in three Chevys, three Toyotas, two Fords, and two Dodges. · Joey Logano in 19th was the top finishing rookie. · Carl Edwards’ fourth place finish was the first top 10 result posted by a Ford driver since Michigan. · Tony Stewart has now managed four straight top 10 finishes. · Jimmie Johnson (second) has top 10 finishes in five of the last six races. · Denny Hamlin (third) posted his first top 10 result of his career in a points paying Daytona Cup race. · Kurt Busch (fifth) has strung together back-to-back top 5 finishes for the first time this season. Fiat has got to be proud. · Marcos Ambrose (sixth) has top 10 finishes in three of the last five races. · Brian Vickers’ seventh place finish was his best since Charlotte. · It’s hard to believe, but Matt Kenseth’s eighth place finish was his first top 10 result since Dover. Would you believe, it started out five months ago, could you conceive, we’d lose it all… · Juan Pablo Montoya (ninth) has top 10 results in four of the last five races. · Regan Smith’s 12th place finish was officially the best of his career. Of course, I still think he won at Talladega last year. He just neglected to trigger a huge wreck like we’ve seen in the last two plate races to claim the win. · Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth, and Kurt Busch are the only three drivers to post top 10 finishes in both this year’s Daytona 500 and the Firecracker 400. What’s the Points? Obviously Tony Stewart remains the points leader. His victory coupled with Jeff Gordon’s problems now leave Stewart 180 points ahead of second place Gordon. Even if Stewart were to stay home next week he’d still be leading the points. Despite all the carnage Saturday night, all drivers in the top 10 in points held serve in their respective positions. Mark Martin’s early race wreck dropped him out of the top 12, two spots down to 13th in the standings. Juan Pablo Montoya moved up a spot to 11th. Kasey Kahne re-entered the top 12, up a spot to 12th despite a windshield full of Toyota coming to the line. If there was the slightest chance Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was going to make the Chase that chance involved a victory at Daytona, a track where Earnhardt has had some of his best runs. That didn’t happen and Junior fell another two spots to 21st in the standings. Overall Rating (On a scale of one to six beer cans with one being a stinker and a six pack an instant classic) — Until the last lap the race was pretty sedate by the standards of plate racing. Sedate is good sometimes. Tragic sucks. We’ll give this one three cans of Colorado Kool-Aid served up by that blonde in the cowboy hat in the ad. Next Up: It’s 48 miles from Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it’s dark out and we’re wearing sunglasses….hit it. Last-lap crash nixes solid run by Richard Petty Motorsports’ Kasey Kahne By Kenny Bruce/scenedaily.com DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Despite being caught up in a last-lap crash in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coke Zero 400, which resulted in a 15th-place finish at Daytona International Speedway, Kasey Kahne climbed back into Chase For The Sprint Cup contention. The Richard Petty Motorsports driver was 15th on the final restart on lap 157, but had climbed into the top 10 when he collided with Kyle Busch coming to the checkered flag. “We’ve been running real good the past few months,” Kenny Francis, Kahne’s crew chief, said, “but we don’t have a lot of real good finishes to show for it. But it’s been a lot of circumstances. A lot. And right here was another example of it tonight. [We were] on our way to a nice solid top-10 and then get in that last wreck there and end up 15th. “We’re fortunate to be 15th after getting in that wreck. I’ve got to thank the Lord that Kasey’s OK; that was a heck of a scary-looking wreck.” Kahne, who was also involved in a 13-car crash earlier in the race, climbed from 13th to 12th in the point standings and is now 65 points ahead of 13th-place Mark Martin. Roush Fenway's Carl Edwards slides through grass to finish fourth at Daytona By Lee Montgomery/scenedaily.com DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Roush Fenway Racing’s Carl Edwards took a unique route to his fourth-place finish in the Coke Zero 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday night. Because of a crash at the front of the field coming to the checkered flag, Edwards drove his No. 99 Ford through the grass to finish the race. “Man, that was a wild finish,” Edwards said. “I saw the 18 car [of Kyle Busch] turn right, the right-side tires lifted off the ground and he hit the fence, and I thought, ‘Ah, man.’ I just yanked the wheel left and drove the grass and hoped I didn’t hit him. “But it was a crazy, crazy finish. I thought I wanted to be up there racing with those guys, then I saw that and I was just fine with where I was at.” Edwards is used to wild finishes at restrictor-plate tracks, for he was involved in the last-lap wreck at Talladega Superspeedway in April when his car went airborne after contact with Brad Keselowski as the two raced toward the finish line. Edwards’ car slammed the retaining fence, and Edwards ended up running across the finish line after crawling out of his crippled car. He was vocal about restrictor-plate racing after Talladega, hoping things would be changed at plate tracks. After the Daytona race, he was more concerned about the health of Busch. “I was really concerned about Kyle,” Edwards said. “I saw the right side of his car lift off the ground, and he hit the fence. Man, that’s a hard hit. But I guess it’s exciting. The fans were all pumped up about it, but I was real nervous for him. I’m just glad we got through there and nobody hit him – I hope nobody hit him a second time. It was just a wild event.” Edwards was trying to help teammate Matt Kenseth on the final restart with four laps to go, but an unexpected push from Earnhardt Ganassi Racing's Juan Pablo Montoya forced Edwards to abandon Kenseth. “He was having trouble getting into fourth gear, so I just pushed him as long as I could, and then Montoya got a huge run and slammed me and I had to go around Matt.,” Edwards said. “We just did everything we could to make sure we both got a good finish.” Minor damage not enough to deny Kurt Busch fifth-place finish at Daytona By Lee Montgomery/scenedaily.com DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Kurt Busch’s Coke Zero 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race went from good to bad to surprising. And it ended with a fifth-place finish. Busch’s No. 2 Dodge was decent for most of the race, but on lap 123, Roush Fenway Racing driver David Ragan swerved in front of Busch and slammed the wall for the race’s fifth caution. Busch’s car was slightly damaged, and the goals for the race then changed. “We definitely had a strong car,” Busch said. “Our Dodge was steady, and we bounced back from those mid-race troubles. We were not in contention for the lead. We were about a fifth- or sixth-place car. We had some damage, so we were just looking for a top-10. “We definitely needed a solid run tonight just to give us that confidence we’re going to be OK, but we still have some work to do heading down this stretch run." Busch remained fourth in the Sprint Cup standings, but he fell 111 points behind third-place Jimmie Johnson. After the wreck with Ragan, Busch said his car went from “OK to bad right there.” “We came in and made some changes to make the car looser,” Busch said. "You just have to let it hang out and let ‘er rip. I was just hoping to hang on for a top-10. We got fifth tonight and that was more than we expected.” Juan Pablo Montoya rallies at Daytona, solidifies Chase outlook By Kenny Bruce/scenedaily.com DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – In spite of damage to his Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet early in the race, and a problem on pit road late, Juan Pablo Montoya was able to hang on and score a ninth-place finish Saturday night in the Coke Zero 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Daytona International Speedway. Coupled with the problems of others, the result moved Montoya from 12th to 11th in the Sprint Cup point standings. “I went in a little deep [in my pit stall] and I got stuck behind the 24 [of Jeff Gordon],” Montoya said of the lap-147 pit stop that saw him drop from fifth to 13th in the running order. “It was my fault.” Once back under green, however, Montoya was able to slice his way through traffic and come away with his fifth top-10 finish in his last seven starts. Damage to the Earnhardt Ganassi No. 42 Chevrolet early – Montoya was involved in a three-car crash with Matt Kenseth and Mark Martin just 13 laps into the 160-lap race – could have been the start of a long night. But the team, led by crew chief Brian Pattie, was able to dial in the necessary changes to get their driver back in the thick of the battle, with the help of at least two “free passes.” “We had a great car at the start. We damaged it a little bit when the 17 [of Matt Kenseth] and the 5 [of Mark Martin] got together, but our car and everybody on the crew did an amazing job today. We came back strong,” Montoya said. “The car at the end wasn’t as fast as it was at the beginning of the race, but we still got another top-10 and that’s important.” As for his ability to avoid a race-ending accident when trouble was lurking around every corner? “It was just pure luck,” he admitted. “You see smoke and you think, ‘[Go] low? High? Pray?’ “At the beginning we could stay with the leaders and at the end we couldn’t. We had a hole in the right side of the car and that didn’t help at all.” Roush Fenway Racing's Matt Kenseth slips to eighth in closing laps at Daytona By SceneDaily Staff DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Matt Kenseth’s evaluation of the final few laps of Saturday night's NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Daytona? “A lot happened,” he said. Kenseth finished eighth in the Coke Zero 400, somewhat of a frustrating result given he lined up fifth on the final restart and had Roush Fenway Racing teammate Carl Edwards behind him. This season’s Daytona 500 champion clearly hoped for a better result. “I don’t know what all went down behind me,” he said after the race. “We were all single file, and Carl was pushing me.” The cars Kenseth and Edwards were racing with suddenly went high, and Kenseth said someone moved Edwards up the track behind him. Suddenly, he said, “I lost my push from both sides.” “They lined up and got a run on me and I lost my push, and then Carl went by me like you’ve got to do at the end of the race.” It didn’t hurt Kenseth in the points, however, as he remained 10th in the standings with a 100-point margin between himself and 13th-place Mark Martin in the battle to see who makes the Chase For The Sprint Cup. Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin hangs on for third in late-race shuffle By SceneDaily Staff DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Denny Hamlin had a choice in the final laps as he, Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch and ex-JGR teammate Tony Stewart ran 1-2-3. Should he help push Busch to a possible victory or go with Stewart, who had the strongest car throughout Saturday's NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Daytona International Speedway? “It obviously put me to a decision to help my current teammate or former teammate, so I'm going to help my current teammate,” Hamlin said after finishing third in the Coke Zero 400. “I felt like the best opportunity for our team to win was to stick with the 18 [of Busch] even though I was going to give up the bottom and I knew I was going to give up position to the 48 [of Jimmie Johnson].” Hamlin did give up position to Johnson, but it wasn’t exactly how he expected. Instead of lining up two-by-two coming to the line, Busch wrecked after contact with Stewart. “Usually when you lead in the last lap your percentile for winning usually is pretty good,” Hamlin said. “But I'll tell you, those two cars behind [Busch] really got a good suck-up on them coming to the checkered, and it's just like Talladega. When you've got new tires and guys are one blocking and one being aggressive, you're going to have contact, and that's what happened.” As for the move midway through the race when Hamlin’s tires appeared to go below the yellow line while he passed Kurt Busch – NASCAR did not penalize Hamlin for the move – Hamlin said he would have rather been assessed a penalty than risk a wreck. “I had a pretty big run going and the 2 [of Busch] saw me coming and went to block,” he said. “…I felt like if they were going to black flag me I would have been OK with that versus causing a wreck. “But … my left side tires stayed on the yellow line. I'm not sure that they went below it. I think they saw it as more of an evasive move than a move to pass. I think that's probably what their judgment was.” Hamlin remained sixth in the point standings but now has a comfortable 201-point buffer between himself and 13th-place Mark Martin. Elliott Sadler somewhat satisfied with 10th-place Daytona finish By Lee Montgomery/scenedaily.com DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Richard Petty Motorsports driver Elliott Sadler was near tears the last time he left Daytona International Speedway, finishing fifth in the Daytona 500 moments after giving up the lead before rain ended the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. In Saturday’s Coke Zero 400, Sadler was pleased with a hard-fought 10th-place finish. His No. 19 Dodge team had a number of obstacles to overcome, and Sadler posted his second top-10 in the last three races. “Man, what can I say, this team tonight had to overcome so much,” Sadler said. “We had radio problems at the beginning of the race, lost some spots on pit road under weird circumstances and just got stuck in the outside lane on the final restart.” Sadler was sixth on that restart with four laps remaining, but the outside line led by Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson didn’t go, and Busch and Johnson ducked to the inside. The drivers left in the high line scrambled over the last four laps, and Sadler avoided the last-lap crash triggered when leaders Busch and Tony Stewart tangled off Turn 4. “Honestly, some things just didn't go our way, but our pit stops were awesome to help us regain some spots and we still got a top-10,” Sadler said. “We were hoping for better, and if it'd had stayed green, we would have almost had a top-five. This team deserved better tonight for all their hard work, but we'll take a top-10." Sickness not enough to slow down sixth-place finisher Marcos Ambrose at Daytona By Lee Montgomery/scenedaily.com DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Sometimes the best tonic for an ailing race car driver is a good finish. And maybe even a good movie. JTG Daugherty Racing’s Marcos Ambrose was sick as a dog the weekend of the Coke Zero 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Daytona International Speedway, but after a solid sixth-place finish Saturday night, he was all smiles. “It makes me feel a lot better,” Ambrose said. Ambrose said he was helped, too, by watching the racing-themed movies “Talladega Nights” and “Days of Thunder.” Why? Because Ambrose needed to avoid a last-lap accident to claim his fifth top-10 finish of the season. “I just saw smoke,” Ambrose said. “And I watched Talladega Nights and Days of Thunder, and they told me to head for the smoke. That’s what I did. I just went for the smoke and put the foot down and somehow got through it.” Ambrose said he was on antibiotics for an illness and even needed an IV before the race. But Ambrose was solid in the race, his second at Daytona and his third on a restrictor-plate track. “We fought all day at the front, just tried to keep track position,” Ambrose said. “We kept out of trouble at the end and had a great night. For the first year in the Cup series, I’m learning fast, but this drafting business – I made a few [mistakes] out there and picked the wrong lanes and stuff.” Ambrose perhaps was being hard on himself, for he followed a fourth-place finish at Talladega in April with a top-10 at Daytona. “I thought we had a great car in the long run," he said. "I was a bit worried on the short runs because we didn’t have the outright speed. We needed to get on old tires. We fought our way through there and held on.” Kyle Busch in no talking mood after crash spoils potential win at Daytona By Lee Montgomery/scenedaily.com DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch wasn’t in a talking mood after crashing on the final lap of the Coke Zero 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Daytona International Speedway. Busch had just gotten the lead from Tony Stewart coming to the white flag, but Stewart made another run off Turn 4 coming to the checkered. Busch blocked low, and then Stewart went high. When Busch went up to block high, he and Stewart made contact, sending Busch hard into the outside wall. He was fine, but quickly sped away in a golf cart after being checked out in the infield care center. Instead of a win, Busch left Daytona with a ruined race car and a 14th-place finish. And he left the track without speaking to the media. “We went for it right there at the end,” crew chief Steve Addington said as the team tried to unload the wrecked No. 18 Toyota. “That’s part of this. This is a product of restrictor-plate racing with these race cars. What are you going to say? Everybody on this race team worked their tails off and we had a good race car. “I can’t say anything. I’m not pointing any fingers at Tony. He was trying to win the race, Kyle was trying to block him for the win, and we got turned around.” Stewart said in his winner’s interview that he didn’t like the way the race ended. “It's nobody's fault, it's just racing,” Stewart said. “I mean, it's a product of the environment. It doesn't mean the environment is bad, it just means that's the way it is. Like I said, he did what he had to do, and he defended his spot and we held our [spot] – it wasn't even that we tried to hold our ground, we just got on his quarterpanel, and that's just how you suck up. As soon as he moved, I didn't anticipate him moving and went across the nose. Addington said the finish was a “big disappointment.” “[Busch] was patient all night long and sat there and rode,” Addington said. “[Spotter] Jeff [Dickerson] kept telling him to just click off laps and we didn’t have any power issues. We were just fine. We took care of tires all night long and wanted to be there at the end because we needed to have a good points day and we were in a position to go for the win and he did and we end up wrecked. What are you going to say?” 13-car crash at Daytona ruins night for several Chase contenders By Lee Montgomery/scenedaily.com DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – A 13-car crash in Saturday’s Coke Zero 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Daytona International Speedway could shake up the battle for positions to be in the Chase For The Sprint Cup. Of the 13 drivers involved in the accident, three were ranked 13th through 15th in the Cup standings, just outside the top 12 that will make up the Chase in another eight races. The crash started on lap 77 when Penske Racing’s David Stremme was bump-drafted by Richard Petty Motorsports’ Kasey Kahne, sending Stremme sideways and into the car of Roush Fenway Racing’s Jamie McMurray. By the time the smoked cleared, 10 more cars were involved. Kahne came into the race 13th in the standings, one point behind 12th-place Juan Pablo Montoya of Earnhardt Ganassi Racing. Also involved in the wreck were 14th-place David Reutimann of Michael Waltrip Racing and 15th-place Clint Bowyer of Richard Childress Racing. Kahne was able to continue with damage, as was Reutimann. But Reutimann was later involved in another accident that put him many laps down. Bowyer limped home two laps down. Other drivers involved were Brad Keselowski (Phoenix Racing), Ryan Newman (Stewart-Haas Racing), Reed Sorenson (RPM), Michael Waltrip (Michael Waltrip Racing), David Gilliland (TRG Motorsports), Brian Vickers (Red Bull Racing) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Hendrick Motorsports). “A couple of guys got together, and I just tried to stay high and the No. 00 [of Reutimann] was crossed up, and we got together with him pretty hard and tore the upper A-frame off the chassis,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “So the car is tore up too bad to get back out there. But we just got it driving good, and just freed it up enough to where it could go up through there and we was just trying to get around them. Everybody was in the way at that point and we were just picking them off one at a time.” Rewind | Someone just crashed the block party By Jim Utter/charlotteobserver.com Rearview mirror Jimmie Johnson made a great point Saturday night. Lately, the media raise questions when there is no excitement, and then when there is - like the finishes at Talladega and Daytona - there are questions raised about how to "fix it." Restrictor-plate racing affords drivers only so many options. If they are willing to block to stay out front, then they should be willing to accept the consequences when that doesn’t work. Each race I am more and more impressed by the progress of Marcos Ambrose. The guy has limited NASCAR experience but has managed to stay out of trouble this season and more and more frequently is finding himself up front at the end of races. I think - sooner, rather than later - he will find himself with a chance to win. The end of the race produced a lot of fireworks - no holiday pun intended - but Busch’s dramatic pass for the lead one lap prior was impressive in the effortless manner in which he made it. Notes Second acceptable, Johnson figures There was no win, but given Jimmie Johnson’s struggles at Daytona lately, Saturday night’s second-place finish was well-received. In his previous six races, Johnson had one top-10 finish and since NASCAR began using the new car, Johnson had felt that his No. 48 team hadn’t been strong enough at the track to contend. “We haven’t been this strong in Daytona in a long time and I am really proud of the hard work my team has put in this chassis,” Johnson said. “The guys did a great job of setting this car up and I am very impressed with this.” Johnson chastised himself for sliding through his pit on one stop - a mistake that could have cost him an opportunity to get out front. “We worked our way back up to fourth and it worked out to be second, which was cool,” he said. Hamlin helps teammate, finishes third As the final two laps wound down Saturday night at Daytona, Denny Hamlin decided he would rather see one of his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates win if he couldn’t. Hamlin tucked in behind Kyle Busch and helped him pass then-leader Tony Stewart on the next-to-last lap - the only time Busch led. “It was a move to help a teammate. Instead of us going for the win, I felt like our best shot was for us to push (Busch),” Hamlin said. “We got him the lead - it took us out of position and let (Jimmie Johnson) get around us.” Busch ended up wrecking on the last lap after contact with Stewart, but Hamlin came away with third place - his first top-10 finish at Daytona in eight races. Ambrose finding consistency Not only is Marcos Ambrose becoming more familiar with his NASCAR surroundings, but the Australian is starting to string together some consistently strong results. Ambrose finished sixth in Saturday night’s race, his third finish of sixth or better in the past five. He remains 18th in the series standings, 218 points outside the cutoff to make the Chase. “I just keep growing as a driver and I just want to thank my team for believing in me,” Ambrose said. “This was an amazing night and another strong finish.” Ambrose fought a bad cold all weekend and required intravenous fluids. “This sixth-place finish makes me feel 100 percent better,” he said. Addington doesn't blame Stewart Kyle Busch’s crew chief, Steve Addington, said the finish to Saturday’s race was simply a product of restrictor-plate racing and that he wasn’t angry at anyone. “I’m not pointing any fingers at Tony (Stewart),” Addington said. “He was trying to win the race, Kyle was trying to block him for the win and we got turned around.” Addington credited Busch for his patience, as several times on double-file restarts Stewart elected to start in front of Busch. "We sat there, he was patient all night long and sat there and rode,” Addington said of his driver. “We were just fine. We took care of tires all night long and were there at the end.” Key moments Lap 13 Mark Martin and Matt Kenseth make contact. Martin hits the wall, then slides across the track and nearly takes out Juan Pablo Montoya. Lap 77 Kasey Kahne gets into the back of David Stremme, which ignites a 13-car wreck that collects David Reutimann, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick and Jeff Gordon, among others. Lap 155 For the seventh and final time, Tony Stewart pits and gets off pit road first - an impressive display by his pit crew. Lap 159 Kyle Busch, who hasn’t led a lap the whole race, makes an impressive move around Stewart to take the lead just before the start of the final lap. Lap 160 As Stewart and Busch approach the finish line, Stewart tries to get around once and Busch blocks him. Stewart then gets to the inside of Busch’s right-rear when Busch tried to block again. This time, Busch goes spinning in front of Stewart and careening into the wall, assuring Stewart’s win. Next race LifeLock.com 400 Where: Chicagoland Speedway, Joliet, Ill. When: 8 p.m. Saturday. TV: TNT. Radio: Motor Racing Network. Last year’s winner: Kyle Busch. Stewart gets win in wild finish at Daytona By Reid Spencer, Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.—Tony Stewart said he didn’t want to win Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400 Sprint Cup race the way he won it. Kyle Busch certainly didn’t want to lose the race the way he lost it. Nonetheless, Stewart crossed the finish line at Daytona International Speedway, Jimmie Johnson in tow, moments after contact between Stewart and Busch sent Busch spinning hard into the frontstretch wall. Though Stewart won his second race of the season, his second as an owner/driver for Stewart-Haas Racing and the 35th of his career, he was ambivalent about the win as he climbed from his car in victory lane. With a push from teammate Denny Hamlin, Busch had taken the lead approaching the white flag and held it through Turn 4 of the final lap. But Stewart drove his No. 14 Chevrolet up to the left rear of Busch’s No. 18 Toyota off the corner, forcing Busch to go to the bottom of the track to maintain control of his car. As Busch slid back up to block Stewart, contact with Stewart’s car turned Busch into the wall and ignited a dramatic multicar wreck near the finish line. Hamlin finished third, Carl Edwards fourth and Kurt Busch fifth. “I went where I had to go, and he went where he had to go,” Stewart said. “He went to block us, and we were already there. … It doesn’t matter who it is, you don’t want a race to be decided like that. “I just don’t feel as much gratification from winning this race as I probably should, I guess, because I don’t like the way the outcome happened. I don’t want any part of winning a race because the guy who was leading got wrecked.” Watching a replay of the incident didn’t soothe Stewart’s feelings completely. “I don’t know that we did anything wrong,” he said. “I’ve seen replays of it, and he was protecting his position, which he’s got to do. That’s what he has to do as a driver. He can’t just sit there and let us make a move like that and not try to defend it. “You don’t want to see somebody that ran up front all day lose that many spots and lose an opportunity to win because of an accident like that coming to the checkered flag.” Johnson had a front-row seat for the accident but didn’t see a way to avoid it. “Tony didn’t mean to dump him,” Johnson said. “It’s just the product of restrictor-plate racing. Every time we use the restrictor-plate tracks, there’s questions about how we can keep from having the big wreck and things like that, and you just can’t. When you run plates, and we run wide open all the way around the track, situations like this come around.” Busch, who slid across the finish line in 14th place, climbed from his wrecked car at the end of the tri-oval and began walking down pit road as Stewart completed his cool-down lap and entered pit road from the opposite end. NASCAR officials restrained Busch and prompted him toward a truck that transported him to the infield care center, where he was examined and released. Busch declined comment to the media after the race. Were it not for trouble to most of the Chase “bubble” drivers, Mark Martin’s postseason aspirations might have suffered a significant setback, thanks to a wreck on Lap 13 that relegated him to a 38th-place finish and dropped him two spots in the standings to 13th. The top 12 qualify for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. As Martin exited Turn 2, Matt Kenseth gained momentum to the outside, and Martin’s Chevy wasn’t clear of Kenseth’s Ford when Martin moved up the track. Martin’s car spun into the infield and sustained serious damage. “Matt ran the top side there and got a run up off the corner, and I was just trying to keep it down and leave us room, and I just pinched him,” Martin said. “Front wheels were cut, and it just didn’t turn quite enough. My fault.” Martin’s wreck was nothing, however, compared with the 13-car pileup on Lap 77 that eliminated Dale Earnhardt Jr. Contact between the Dodges of Kasey Kahne and David Stremme triggered the wreck, but the cars of Earnhardt and David Reutimann perhaps were the most severely damaged, as Reutimann slid up the track into Earnhardt’s path. “A couple of guys got together, and I just tried to stay high, and the No. 00 (Reutimann) was crossed up, and we got together with him pretty hard and tore the upper A-frame off the chassis,” said Earnhardt, who finished 39th. Reutimann entered the race 14th in the standings, 12 points out of 12th. He finished 36th, and although still 14th, he is now 74 points behind Kasey Kahne, who moved up a spot to 12th with a 15th-place finish. Jeff Gordon was another victim of the Lap 77 wreck but was able to continue. Though his car was damaged too severely to contend for the win, Gordon stayed on the lead lap and finished 28th, just enough to maintain second place in points, 180 behind Stewart and 14 ahead of Johnson in third. Five Points to Ponder Daytona Edition Mike Lovecchio · Frontstretch.com A change is needed After his devastating crash at Talladega in April, Carl Edwards prophetically addressed the current state of Sprint Cup superspeedway racing by saying, “We’ll do this until someone gets killed.” Perhaps it is a warning that the NASCAR brass should not take lightly. Saturday night’s thriller under the lights in Daytona proved that the devastation in Talladega was no isolated incident, and that the apparent combination of the CoT, restrictor plates, and the yellow line rule is a recipe for late-race disaster. I don’t know what NASCAR should do, nor am I in the position to offer any type of advice — but if safety is the sport’s number one concern, something must change before an even higher stakes Chase race at Talladega in November. Fan safety is bigger concern As a NASCAR fan who has seen every race in Daytona from the stands for a decade before moving to the media center, I have a growing concern for fan safety at the track. At Daytona, fans can walk right up to the safety fence as there is no brigade separating them from being just inches from the outside wall. Sure, there are security guards who police it and make sure fans don’t linger, but come the closing laps fans line the fence in hopes of beating post-race traffic to the parking lot. It’s my concern that if a car were to get into the fence a la Edwards at Talladega, the outcome would potentially be far more devastating. So with the way cars are flying through the air at superspeedways these days, it may be time to think about making a change. Is it so hard to set up a brigade five feet or so from the fence? Isn’t it worth it if can ultimately save fans’ lives? Let’s get it done. DO NOT repave Daytona Back in February, a number of drivers complained about the abrasive racing surface at Daytona, saying it was triggering unnecessary crashes. I stated that I prefer the aged surface because it gives the track a type of character that you don’t see at a Talladega. After February, I felt I was in the minority with my opinion, but a live poll during the Frontstretch live blog proved me a wrong. A surprising 71 percent of our viewers said that they do not feel the track should be repaved, and I couldn’t agree more. Save the parade for Talladega and keep Daytona what it is — a demanding track where handling is at a premium. You can blame NASCAR or Mayfield, but not the drivers The overturned suspension of Jeremy Mayfield dominated the headlines this weekend at Daytona. You all know the story by now so I’ll spare the details, but I have a problem with those people who disagree with those drivers afraid to share the track with Mayfield. Even if you’re pro-Mayfield and think there’s no possible way he used any drugs, remember we do not have any definitive word either way. In the drivers’ eyes, Mayfield failed a drug test (which he did, whether it was a false positive or not). Remember, the judge who lifted the suspension NEVER said Mayfield was innocent. Ryan Newman said it best when he claimed, “As a federal judge, when you release somebody to go back and race without necessarily, in my eyes, clarifying everything, that’s not cool.” Frontstretch.com LIVE BLOG comment of the race Each week, I will further expand on some of the more interesting fan comments from our weekly Frontstretch.com LIVE Cup race blog. This week, however, I want to further expand on a comment made by our very own Phil Allaway: Maybe it’s not the drivers that are the problem. Maybe it’s the cars. — On the struggles of the second Red Bull team Painted nails, chic glasses, and an eccentric personality aren’t necessary turn-ons for NASCAR purists — and Scott Speed has never been high on the popularity meter because of it. Still, it’s too soon to decide whether he’s got what it takes to succeed in stock car racing’s highest level. Remember, Allmendinger couldn’t do anything in the second Red Bull car either, but turned it on as soon as he moved over to RPM. Speed may or may not be able to do the same thing, but give the guy some time to develop before you think he has — or lacks — talent. Stewart victory may rile Busch family By TONY FABRIZIO/tbo.com DAYTONA BEACH - Tony Stewart already had a rivalry with one Busch. Does he have one with his younger brother now? Stewart and the younger Busch were racing for the win in Saturday night's Coke Zero 400 at Daytona when Busch tried to block Stewart as he was trying to pass on the outside. Stewart held his line and hit Busch's lime green Toyota, sending it careening into the outside wall and collecting several cars behind them. Stewart went to Victory Lane and Busch, amazingly not seriously injured, to the infield care center. The worst of the crash occurred after Busch hit the wall. He rebounded into traffic, where Kasey Kahne hit him from behind, lifting the rear of Busch's car onto Kahne's windshield. Busch then hit the wall again and was T-boned on the driver's side by teammate Joey Logano. After the replays were watched and everybody had their say late Saturday night – everybody except Kyle Busch, that is – blame was placed on the combination of the new car and restrictor-plate racing that has caused so many hard crashes in recent years. Stewart didn't apologize, because he didn't think he did anything wrong, but he was humble and contrite. "Even if it was 100 percent [Kyle Busch's] fault, I still won't feel good about it," Stewart said "There were a pack of cars that were the strongest, and we were one of those, and we definitely deserved to have a shot at the end. The outcome may go your way, but it doesn't mean you have to like how it happened." Nobody had a better view than Jimmie Johnson, who wound up second. Johnson speculated that Busch didn't know Stewart had gotten up to his quarter-panel and that he thought he had time to block. He said both drivers were racing for a win, and, "Tony didn't mean to dump him." Busch left for the infield care center without commenting – probably a good thing, given his penchant for speaking before thinking in the heat of the moment – but his crew chief didn't fault Stewart. "I'm not pointing any fingers at Tony," Steve Addington said. "He was trying to win the race. Kyle was trying to block him for the win, and we got turned around. … It's part of this [restrictor-plate] racing." Stewart and Kyle Busch are former teammates at Joe Gibbs Racing and have generally gotten along OK, but that hasn't always been the case for Stewart and Kyle's older brother, Kurt. Their differences came to a head after an on-track incident during Bud Shootout practice at Daytona in February 2008. The drivers were called to the NASCAR officials' trailer afterward, and during a meeting there, Stewart reportedly punched Kurt Busch. Before that, at Dover in June 2007, Kurt Busch was fined $100,000 and docked 100 championship points after nearly injuring one of Stewart's crewmen on pit road. Busch was upset about an on-track incident before the pit stops. Saturday night, Stewart said he was having trouble getting much gratification from his third Coke 400 win in five years. He said he would talk to Kyle Busch about what happened. "You don't want to see a race decided like that," he said. "It's hard work that gets these cars to the racetrack. It's just a bad situation." TNT Sets The New NASCAR TV Standard John Daly/The Daly Planet It took a little while for fans to get the hang of TNT's Wide Open coverage. The network inserted a white-framed video box in the lower right corner of the screen and played the commercials in the box. Meanwhile, on the rest of the screen the Sprint Cup Series race from Daytona continued without interruption. Tom Higgins Scuffs Petty and the president It was a day during which a county commissioner upstaged the President of The United States. The date was July 4, 1984. The county commissioner was Richard Petty. The president was Ronald Reagan. How did Petty, the “King” of NASCAR, do it? By winning the Pepsi 400 at Daytona International Speedway while Reagan, the first sitting chief executive ever to attend an auto race, was among the awe-struck throng looking on. It was Petty's 200th victory on NASCAR's major circuit, an astounding accomplishment. As I grow older, approaching age 72, I sometimes can’t recall everything that happened the day before. But I vividly remember that Independence Day dating back 25 years, more than a quarter of life expectancy for most of us. Me and my media buddies were up early to go to the track. We anticipated, correctly, that traffic would be snarled more than usual because of heightened security associated with Reagan’s visit. We were right. After finally getting parked, we found long lines at the gates into the grandstands and press box. Everyone entering had to go through metal detectors manned by Secret Service agents and local law enforcement. Still more metal detectors waited inside the fence. Finally, we reached the foot of the steps leading to the press box. A husky Secret Service agent was standing there. “Okay, guys, take ‘em apart,” he said, pointing to our computers and offering a small screwdriver. I panicked. “Sir,” I said, “it’s all I can do to turn this durn thing on and off. I’ll never get it apart and back together.” “I sympathize,” he said. “But I can’t let you up there to the box until you show me what’s inside the computer. There could be a bomb in that thing, and the President is going to be sitting in a nearby suite.” Somehow, I managed to remove the cover from the bulky, early-model computer, called a Port-A-Bubble. And I got it back on. President Reagan wasn’t present for the 400’s green flag, but he was en route to the famed 2.5-mile Florida track, where the Coke Zero 400 is scheduled this weekend. Reagan memorably gave the command to start engines by phone from Air Force One high above either South Carolina or Georgia. In an incredible moment of luck, a photographer snapped an iconic picture of the president’s plane landing at the Daytona Beach airport just as Petty sped down the backstretch, which is parallel to the runway. It appeared Petty’s Pontiac was under the left wing of the beautiful aircraft. Terry Labonte, Bobby Allison, Dale Earnhardt, Harry Gant, Petty and pole-winner Cale Yarborough took turns leading during the first half of the 160-lap race. As the finish neared, it was Petty and Yarborough far ahead at the front, leading Gant by about a half-lap. Starting the 157th lap, rookie driver Doug Heveron lost control just past the start/finish line and flipped into the grass separating the racing surface and pit road. The accident forced a yellow flag. Since Petty and Yarborough had passed the line, both knew whoever got back first under caution would win the race. NASCAR did not freeze the field the first moment of yellow as it does now. Racing back was permitted. Petty was the leader in his famed red, white and blue No. 43 Pontiac. Yarborough right behind in an orange and white No. 28 Chevrolet. Down the backstretch Yarborough pulled an aerodynamic slingshot pass to forge ahead. Petty drew alongside coming off the fourth turn for a dash through the homestretch trioval to the flag. Yarborough was on the outside, Petty the inside. Their cars scraped sheet metal hard enough to send sparks and smoke spewing. At the line Petty was ahead by less than a foot. Although two laps were left to go, King Richard had won his 200th race! Me and other media members could see President Reagan next door in the VIP Suite owned by NASCAR’s ruling France Family. Like everyone else at the speedway, he appeared astonished in breathless excitement and was holding his chest. As the field slowly circled the track on Lap 159, Yarborough drove onto pit road, only to be frantically waved back out by his crew. One more lap and it was over. Richard Petty had claimed a 200th triumph in NASCAR’s big-time, a seemingly unachievable plateau. Richard didn’t go to Victory Lane. Instead, he parked the car that was destined to be enshrined in the Smithsonian Institute on the start/finish line and was met by a jubilant Buddy Parrott-led pit crew. Petty then was ushered up the steps to meet Reagan, who had been interviewed on TV by former driving champion Ned Jarrett just before the dramatic finish unfolded. Reagan exuberantly shook hands in the France suite with Petty, a fellow Republican and member of the governing local commission in Randolph County, N.C. Petty and fellow NASCAR star Bobby Allison had arranged for Reagan’s visit to the Daytona speedway on Independence Day. “The president said it blowed his mind that me an |
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