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The Best Seat at the Track, The Best View on the Net!
July 7th, 2014
Volume VIII, Edition CVIII
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Sprint Cup Race Recap: Almirola Earns First Win in Crash, Rain-Plagued Coke Zero 400
by Justin Tucker
On the 30th anniversary of Richard Petty's 200th and final Sprint Cup Series win at Daytona International Speedway, Aric Almirola would overcome three red flags, two multi-car accidents, and a long two-day battle with Mother Nature to score his first career Sprint Cup Series win in 125 starts, all while returning his car owner's famed No. 43 back to Victory Lane at Daytona.
"Man, I just took the 43 car to victory at Daytona," said Almirola, standing under an umbrella in Victory Lane. "This is amazing."
"I grew up two hours away from here in Tampa and grew up in those stands, watching Daytona 500s and Firecracker 400s and grew up dreaming about what it would be like to win here."
Petty wasn't at the track on Sunday afternoon but took part in the victory celebration via phone and emphasized the significance of today's victory.
"Today is the future," Petty said. "To be able to win a race down there, win it for the Air Force on the Fourth of July, the whole thing is great. We've had so many disappointments – and it rained on us today. But it rained on us at the right time."
"You know, I don't ever give up on anything. Looking back on the history of Petty Enterprises – the turmoil we've been through the last seven or eight years ... I've always said is that if I keep working on it long enough, you're going to overcome all of these things. One win doesn't get you over the hump but it makes it easier to go on from here."
Almirola's win on Sunday was the first for a No. 43 Petty car since John Andretti won at Martinsville in 1999, but more importantly, the win secured Almirola and Richard Petty Motorsports' first chase berth, a fact not lost on Almirola.
"Yes, and deservedly so for this race team," he said. "Now we're going to be a part of that, to have the opportunity, not only to take (our sponsors) to Victory Lane, but to have that added exposure of the Chase. It is really cool to give back to those people who took a chance on me and took a chance on our race team."
Rounding out the top 5 of Sunday's rain shortened Coke Zero 400 were: Brian Vickers in second, while Kurt Busch finished third after leading the most laps. After the race, NASCAR discovered an issue with the track bar split in Busch's No. 41. The car will be torn down at the NASCAR R&D Center later this week. Any penalties that come out of it will be announced either Tuesday or Wednesday. Casey Mears finished in fourth, and Austin Dillon finished a career-best fifth. Denny Hamlin finished sixth, while Michael McDowell also scored his best career finish with a seventh-place run for Leavine Family Racing. Danica Patrick finished eighth, Clint Bowyer was ninth, and Almirola's teammate Marcos Ambrose rounded out the top 10.
Two huge accidents were the main story of Sunday's race. The first accident happened on lap 20 when Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. lost control of his No. 17 Cargill Ford Fusion which caused Jeff Gordon to get into the rear of Tony Stewart, which set off a 16-car wreck that collected many of the race favorites such as Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Tony Stewart. Stewart was none too pleased with Stenhouse when the smoke cleared.
"We're a quarter of a lap from the competition caution and Stenhouse is going to be a hero," Stewart said. "I don't know what happened to him there, but it took out a bunch of good cars for no reason. I don't know what it is. No matter what I say right now, somebody's going to be mad and somebody's going to disagree with it. I think it's a pretty dumb excuse to have the caution come out 500 yards too early."
"Every week it's something kind of with him," Stewart said. "I love him like a little brother, but it makes me nervous to be around him on the race track."
Jimmie Johnson's day ended after the lap 20 crash, leaving the six-time Cup champion and 2013 Coke Zero 400 winner frustrated.
"I was kind of busy with my environment of three-wide and I just saw cars moving around and smoke in front of us," Johnson said. "So ,I don't know what triggered it or what happened. But I'm just thoroughly disappointed for everybody on the Lowe's team. Those guys have been down here for four days in this heat, working on the car; not to mention all the time and effort put into this, to go 15 or 20 laps is just a really big bummer."
The big one happened on lap 98 as rain was bearing down on the speedway and drivers were taking huge risks to get every spot before the rains came that ultimately ended the race. The 26-car incident was triggered when Greg Biffle tagged the rear of Kasey Kahne's Chevrolet spinning him into Joey Logano on the inside line in front of Clint Bowyer. From there, the melee was on as basically the whole field piled in. Kyle Busch's No. 18 Toyota was upside down on its roof in the aftermath. The frustration level was high for many of the drivers involved including Greg Biffle.
"Kasey Kahne got up and went to the middle and ran into the back of Mears and slowed way up," Biffle explained after being released from the infield care center. "I hit the back of Kahne. "We weren't lined up. He moved down for some reason when he hit Mears or something. It was just a chain reaction. You just never know when the cars slow down that quickly and I had a shove from Ragan behind. You just can't react that fast unfortunately."
Jamie McMurray was more confused than frustrated after the incident.
"I knew I was going to walk out here and you guys were going to ask me what happened but from my seat I didn't see anything," McMurray said. "Kasey Kahne came over and said that maybe Greg Biffle bumped him a couple times and got him squirrelly, but said he couldn't catch it. When you have a car spin out at the front of the field, there is just nowhere to go. I ran into the guy who was directly in front of me and the guy behind me clobbered me."
A look at Sunday's Coke Zero 400 by the numbers: There were 21 lead changes among 13 different drivers, and six cautions for 29 laps slowed the pace to 130.014 MPH. The race was called 112 laps in to the scheduled 160 lap event.
Next week the cup series heads to the "Magic Mile" New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the Camping World RV Sales 301. The green flag is scheduled for 1:15 P.M. ET on Sunday.
Justin Tucker is a Newsletter Contributor at Frontstretch. To reach Justin, please contact Newsletter Manager Phil Allaway at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com.~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chasing the Chase: Gordon Expands Lead Over Teammates
Phil Allaway is the Newsletter Manager and a Senior Writer for Frontstretch.com. He can be reached via email at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com. Follow him on Twitter at @Critic84.
Never Fear, The Underdogs Are Here: Daytona-2 Edition
by Amy Henderson
Are you a fan of a driver from a smaller team? Do you ever see one of these guys on the race results and wonder how he got there? NASCAR's small teams may not get much airtime during the race broadcast, but that doesn't mean there's nothing to talk about. Each week, we take a peek into how the little guys fared in the race.
Underdog Selection No. 1: Casey Mears for Germain Racing; started 22nd, finished 4th
This week, Mears was the best among a trio of drivers who had outstanding runs at Daytona. He's always a top-10 threat at a restrictor-plate track, and this week, he was a threat for the win until the rains came and ended the race 48 laps early. Mears drove smart, avoiding trouble, and the no. 13 team overcame what could have been a disastrous green-flag pit stop, where Mears came down pit road all alone and then reported a vibration immediately after the stop. The vibration went away and Mears drive easily in the top 5 for most of the second half of the race. The fouth-place finish was Mears' fist top 5 since 2009, when he was driving for Richard Childress Racing, and the best finish ever for Germain Racing in the Sprint Cup Series.
The kind of run they had this week is the kind of run this team needs to have. While they're not going to contend for wins every week, they need to be finishing inside the top 20 and top 15 on a regular basis. They have the equipment to do that, and the driver is capable.
Underdog Selection No. 2: Michael McDowell for Leavine Family Racing; started 27th, finished 7th
McDowell is the second in this week's trio of drivers who all produced the best finishes their teams have ever had. McDowell somehow managed to avoid significant damage from two multi-car crashes despite being right in the middle of them when they happened. That kind of good luck and heads-up driving was exactly what the doctor ordered, and McDowell took his part time team all the way into the top 10 this weekend, gaining 20 spots from the start in the process.
Underdog Selection No. 3: Terry Labonte for Go FAS Racing; started 38th, finished 11th
Like Mears and McDowell, Labonte posted the best finish ever for his team with his 11th-place effort. The two-time Cup champ returned to the seat this weekend and, in typical Labonte fashion, was quiet all day, only to make some noise when it counted. Avoiding trouble like the veteran he is, Labonte drove around the drama and gained 27 positions throughout the race. While Labonte may be past his racing prime, his presence this week was the shot in the arm his team needed.
Underdog Pick of the Week-Loudon: Reed Sorenson for Tommy Baldwin Racing
My pick for Daytona was Casey Mears who not only had a stellar performance, topping this group easily, but could have had a shot at winning had the race not ended early.
But this week the Cup series heads to Loudon, New Hampshire, where the track is a challenging cross between a short track and an intermediate. My pick is Reed Sorenson, who not only has the best average finish among the small team drivers, but who has New England native Tommy Baldwin, who's had success at Loudon before, on his side.
Is your favorite driver among NASCAR's underdogs? Are you frustrated with the lack of coverage they receive during the race broadcasts? Amy has all the small teams covered each and every week in The Big Six. Be sure to check it out to see how your favorites fared!
Letter of the Race: Sunday's Coke Zero 400 was brought to you by the letter "A," for Aggressive. With weather at the back of everyone's minds for the entire race, you couldn't just sit around and let the race come to you. Drivers had to be proactive. - Phil Allaway
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Sidebar Stories
by Phil Allaway
On Saturday afternoon, NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France met with the assembled media at Daytona International Speedway. While he did not make any major announcements during his availability, he did take the time to address a number of topics important to NASCAR, and specifically, the Sprint Cup Series. Read more at Frontstretch.
After a check-up in the Infield Care Center, Hawksworth was transferred to Lehigh Valley Health Network in Allentown, PA. There, Hawksworth was diagnosed as having a myocardial contusion, or a bruise of the heart muscle. As a result, INDYCAR refused to clear Hawksworth for Sunday's running of the Pocono INDYCAR 500, won by Juan Pablo Montoya. Hawksworth will have to pass a re-evaluation by doctors before he can return to the seat at Iowa Speedway this weekend.
"I've told everybody outside and I'll say it again, but I couldn't have dreamed of a better place to get my first win. I said it last week, I went to Tampa to do a lot of pre‑event media for Daytona, and I said, man, of all the places I could pick to win, I would pick Daytona because I grew up two hours away. I'm a little bit selfish and I'm more worried about the fact that I've won my first Cup race. It's just so cool, and I'm so grateful for the opportunity that Richard and our owners have given us at Richard Petty Motorsports to go out and to try and be successful, and our sponsors have really stepped up in a big way, and it's just really gratifying to be able to give back to U.S. Air Force and Smithfield Foods and all the sponsors that took a chance on us and on our race team, on me as the driver, and to now be able to get them to victory lane, to be in the Chase and to be able to go race for a championship, it is really special, and our race team deserves that." - Aric Almirola, race winner
"There was a lot of strategy going on and it kept changing. When we started the race -- and knowing there was a competition caution coming at lap 20 -- we thought about kind of taking it easy and going to the back and then low and behold the lane we were in just kept going forward so we went to the front. And then it got a little bit too dicey for my comfort that early and guys were moving around a lot so we went to the back. Just had a bad feeling about kind of the energy in the pack and where it was headed, so we dropped back and about two laps later there was a big crash and we were fortunate to be out of that."
"The guys did a great job. They called a great race and put me in a position to win there at the end. It was just we were just a lap away from an opportunity to make a pass. I had one shot at the 43 (Aric Almirola) with a run and the 13 (Casey Mears) got to my right rear corner and I just couldn't move up and do anything with it. We were just kind of stuck there and then the rain just came at the wrong time for us and the right time for them. It's unfortunate. I'm just really proud of everyone on this Aaron's Dream Machine team. They've done a great job getting the momentum going back in the right direction and that's what we need right now. We would've really have loved to put this Florida State University national champions car in victory lane and that's frustrating. I was hoping they would wait it out. We've got lights -- it's Daytona. It's only two o'clock, but I guess they felt they needed to call it so it is what it is." - Brian Vickers, finished second
"We dominated, led most laps, and the Haas Automation Chevy was a good car right from the time it was completed and shoved into the wind tunnel, and those guys really did a good job back at the shop to prepare the No. 41 for all the speed that you need here at Daytona. Today it's disappointing to finish third after leading the most laps, but all in all, looking at the long‑term projection, it's been solid on the 41 car, and it was great to run good Daytona weekend, July 4th with a patriotic paint scheme with America's Machine Tool with Haas Automation as well as the symbolization for our Armed Forces, so it's great to have the race dedication that we had on the race this weekend from the Armed Forces Foundation." - Kurt Busch, finished third
"It was a roller coaster day. We never could get going. I didn't like what I was seeing early in the race and I hung back. That turned out to be a good move as we missed being collected in the first wreck (Lap 21). Then we had a vibration in the car and later we needed to change the battery. As I was exiting pit road after the battery change, the second big wreck happened (Lap 97). We most likely would have been in that wreck had we not been on pit road changing the battery. We eventually got back on the lead lap and we were ready to move forward. But we never got that opportunity because of the race being declared official following more rain. It's been one of those weekends you want to forget about and move on." - Martin Truex, Jr., finished 15th
"It was okay. Just felt like a slow carnival ride. I guess that's fitting for the Fourth of July weekend -- but not here in Daytona. It's just unfortunate. I don't have any clue what happened. Somebody got squirrelly. I saw the 5 (Kasey Kahne) turn sideways across the field there and then all chaos ensued thereafter. And the grass is so wet my stuff just augured in started turning right and going back up the race track. I just wish it would have stayed straight. If it would have stayed straight, I might have had an opportunity to get through there and not be too banged up. But, then I just got T-boned there at the end and it just kind of toppled me over." - Kyle Busch, finished 28th (Crashed Out)
"The No. 17 car (Ricky Stenhouse Jr.) got sideways on the lap that we're all getting a competition caution. I don't know. I guess Ricky thought it paid something to get to lap 20. I don't know. It didn't make much sense to me, but I'm not that smart either; so I don't know. I don't know that I'm the right person to ask."
"I guess is was just Stenhouse being an idiot. It didn't make much sense when we're coming to the caution, we're like a quarter of a lap from getting to the caution and he does something stupid. It tore up a lot of people's cars and a lot of people's days. To get here on Wednesday night and sit here all day and run 19 and three-quarter laps and get wrecked by somebody who's doing something stupid." - Tony Stewart, finished 40th
"I was kind of busy with my environment of three-wide and I just saw cars moving around and smoke in front of us. So I don't know what triggered it or what happened. But I'm just thoroughly disappointed for everybody on the Lowe's team. Those guys have been down here for four days in this heat, working on the car; not to mention all the time and effort put into this, to go 15 or 20 laps is just a really big bummer." - Jimmie Johnson, finished 42nd (Crashed Out)
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TODAY ON THE FRONTSTRETCH:
Thinkin' Out Loud – Coke Zero 400
by Mike Neff
Pace Laps: First-Time Winners, Long-Time Winners and Ferrari's Forgettable Race
by the Frontstretch Staff
The Big Six: Questions Answered After the Coke Zero 400
by Amy Henderson
NASCAR Underdogs Had Their Chances
by Tom Bowles
FRONTSTRETCH TRIVIA:
Q: The 1994 Slick 50 300 at Loudon is known for being Ricky Rudd's first victory as an owner-driver, and for the 17 cautions that plagued the race. Jeff Gordon was an early contender that day, but failed to make the finish. What happened?
Check back Tuesday for the answer, here in the Frontstretch Newsletter!
Friday's Answer:
Q: In 2000, Terry Labonte was Winston Cup's resident Ironman, having started over 650 consecutive races. However, the Pepsi 400 at Daytona was the beginning of the end of that streak. What happened?
Frontstretch Trivia Guarantee: Take the shirt off our backs! If we've provided an incorrect answer to the Frontstretch Trivia question, be the first to email the corrected trivia answer to triviaanswers@frontstretch.com and we'll send you a Frontstretch T-Shirt ... FREE!
Coming Tuesday in the Frontstretch Newsletter:
-- Top News by Greg Davis
-- Fan's View Commentary by S.D. Grady
-- Numbers Game: Quaker State 400 by Phil Allaway
-- Links to your favorite Frontstretch articles, and more!
Tomorrow on the Frontstretch:
Who's Hot / Who's Not in Sprint Cup: Daytona-Loudon Edition by Brad Morgan
We'll take a look at which drivers are looking good as the summer stretch begins, along with who needs some help.
Racing to the Point by Brett Poirier
Brett returns with another interesting commentary.
Jeff returns with his typical blend of sarcastic humor tilted towards one of NASCAR's controversial issues.
Talk back to the Frontstretch Newsletter!
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