Driver Notes & Quotes for Coke Zero 400 at Daytona

Harvick has two Daytona wins, including last July (Getty)

KEVIN HARVICK ON DAYTONA: "I think as a team we have a set strategy that we’re going to go into that race (Daytona) and see how it works. Whether that’s right or wrong, I don’t know. We’ve talked about it for a couple weeks now and have a good plan. The racing would be the same way that it is now if the race tracks – the worst thing in the world that happens to this sport is repaving race tracks. That is the absolute worst thing you can do to make the racing bad is to pave a race track. You look at some of the race tracks that have been paved for five or six years now and I don’t know if it’s the type of asphalt or whatever they’re doing, but the racing isn’t the same that it was and the race tracks just don’t get bad. Basically, if Daytona and Talladega would have been paved like they are now, however many years ago and everybody would have figured out how to do – that car would have done what we do now, it’s just that there’s enough grip on the race track with the way that the asphalt is to allow you to do that. There’s really no way to fix it as far as I’m concerned. Unless you just say, go back to the no bump-drafting in the corners. That’s the only way you can really fix it until the grip goes away. Paving the race tracks are a killer for the racing.”

HARVICK CHASSIS CHOICE: Will race chassis No. 343. Harvick has competed in this car twice so far in 2011: he led five laps before finishing 42nd when the car’s engine expired at Daytona in February and scored a fifth-place finish at Talladega in April.

JIMMIE JOHNSON ON DAYTONA: “I think we have more options as competitors (than at the Daytona 500) to make passes for the lead or to work your way through traffic and play some strategy and different things there. I feel as a group we’re all smarter and will be a more competitive race with the push draft, but I don’t see any reason why we’d be in a big pack. Until we have to lift and we can’t run nose to tail, I don’t see us getting away from what we’re doing. Certainly it’s been a year now since it’s been repaved. Maybe there’s a little bit of a loss in grip. If it was a day race, I think you might not be able to push each other around, but the fact that it’s still a night race, I think when the race comes, we’ll be pushing.”

JOHNSON CHASSIS CHOICE: Will be using his winning Talladega chassis from April.

Junior has had some rough times at Daytona

DALE EARNHARDT JR. ON RACING AT DAYTONA: “We’ve got a fast car. We sat on the pole there (Daytona) in February. We rebuilt that car and we’re taking it back. And I’m sure it’ll be great. I’m sure it will race really well. It looks like you’re just going to have to team-up with a guy and work with him all day long and try to stay out of wrecks and push him to the lead or get pushed to the lead you know, I don’t know. It’s all going to come down to circumstances. I don’t enjoy the two-car draft because when I push somebody I can’t see around him. And I would like to be in control of my own destiny all the time; be in control and be able to win the race. I was happy to push Jimmie (Johnson) to the win but in a perfect world, me and him both would rather just be racing our own cars and not have to worry about being obligated to push anyone to the win. You want to drive your own car across the finish line and that’s the way it ought to be. I think I learned more at Talladega. We ran okay at Daytona but it’s just circumstances. I thought it was a lottery five years ago (but) good Lord, it’s ridiculous now.”

JUNIOR AT DAYTONA: In 23 points-paying NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at Daytona International Speedway, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has recorded two wins, one pole position, eight top-five finishes, 13 top-10s and has led 395 laps. In February, Earnhardt earned his first Sprint Cup pole position at Daytona. He has an average starting position of 10.7 at Daytona, which is a personal best for Earnhardt.

EARNHARDT JR CHASSIS SELECTION: Crew chief Steve Letarte will unload Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 88-629. Earnhardt last raced this chassis to a fourth-place finish after pushing his teammate Jimmie Johnson to the win at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway in April.

Brad Keselowski finished 41st in the Daytona 500

BRAD KESELOWSKI ON PENSKE'S RESTRICTOR-PLATE PROGRAM: “Our speedway program is very good, very strong. I’m very happy with where we are with our cars. We led laps with our Miller Lite Dodge in the Daytona 500, and at Talladega, but we don’t have the finishes to show for how well we have run in those races. I just need to continue to make the right moves in the race and catch the right breaks. So far we’ve run up front, but we’ve had terrible luck with the restrictor-plate races. If we can get a little bit of luck on our side, I really think we can be a threat at any of the speedway races.”

KESELOWSKI CHASSIS CHOICE: The No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger team will race chassis PRS-639 during Saturday’s Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway. This is a new chassis to the No. 2 fleet.

CLINT BOWYER ON RACING AT DAYTONA: “I think my radio box is a little more advanced (than at the Daytona 500). It’s a little more easier to navigate. I can find my teammates. I think it even has a really cool light on it that lights up whose numbers they are so they’ve worked on it really hard. Other than that, just making sure you bring the fastest bullet to the race track. That’s all you can do. We were good there obviously in the 500, we were good at Talladega, I mean missed it by inches. This is a great opportunity for us to capitalize hopefully and get our first win of the season. It’s time. We need to do that. Obviously for the Chase and everything that happens with these crazy wildcard for the last two I’m telling you there are 15 teams that are plenty capable and have been in the Chase. That’s the thing; if you look at the top-15 teams they’ve all been in there and should be in there. But you’re just going to have to do a better job than the rest and beat them out of it.”

BOWYER CHASSIS CHOICE: Will be using the same car that won at Talladega last season and finished runner-up there this year.

Gordon sat on the front row in this years Daytona 500

JEFF GORDON ON RACING AT DAYTONA: “Just the bump drafting. That you can push all the way around the race track now. I think when we go back to Daytona; it will be about the temperature, the track and whether the grip has gone away at all and whether we can still do that. I’m expecting – right now I’m expecting us to be able to do that so it’s going to be about finding a partner, a drafting partner to work with and me and Mark (Martin) obviously worked well together at Talladega so we’ll have to look at maybe going that same route for Daytona. You know it’s not really about whether you have an opinion or like it, it’s just the way it is. If you want to be good and have a shot at winning, then you have to learn how to do it well. You have to learn how to cool the engine and you’ve got to find somebody that you can stick with and they can stick with you all day to be there at the end to win the race.”

RYAN NEWMAN ON DAYTONA: “I look forward to coming back there; and getting a little more experience from Daytona and Talladega, I’m sure our teams are going to be more competitive than they ever have been at that type of racing. It’s going to be hot. It will be interesting to see how much grip there is in the race car after this spring and if we still have to run wide open or if we have to lift at all. The racing itself, I wouldn’t say is my favorite kind of racing, but I do prefer it more over the old style of drafting, I guess you could say, that we have always done there. It’s nice to have an impact as a driver on the abilities of tandem racing, but I would rather be racing side-by-side, three-wide or four-wide or running wide open and having my car do the work than something else pushing me.”

NEWMAN CHASSIS CHOICE: This will be the first start for Chassis No. 39-664. The new chassis for the No. 39 Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) team was wind-tunnel tested just a
couple of weeks ago in preparation for the Coke Zero 400.

TONY STEWART ON DAYTONA: “Well, you just know you’re going to be partnered-up all day. I think it’s a bigger challenge for the crew chiefs going into Daytona next week, trying to figure out how to keep the cars cool and try to keep from the swapping down to a minimum and try to figure out how you can stay in line longer without having to do that exchange.”

MARTIN TRUEX JR. ON DRAFTING PARTNERS AT DAYTONA: “I think everyone has a handful of drivers that they like to work with. I know there are guys out there that when I get to them or they get behind me, I can trust them. I think what we saw at Talladega is what we will see on Saturday and that is teams dictating their drivers to draft and stick together all day long. There’s a need to keep it all in the family. We’re formulating our team strategy right now.”

MARK MARTIN ON DAYTONA: “I can honestly say that I like this style of racing way better than those big 35-car packs that we used to race in. There is just so much more that goes into this. It’s finding the right partner; finding which is better pushing. There’s got to be so much trust there. And then your spotters have to be working together and, most likely, one of them will do all the work for both teams. It’s tough. It’s mentally tough. That’s one of the reasons I like it so much. There is a huge challenge that goes into this style of racing that we don’t typically see every weekend. I know it’s a lot to get used to, but I love it. I’m looking forward to getting back out there and working with Jeff (Gordon) again.”

Montoya has fared very well at Daytona

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA ON RACING AT DAYTONA: “I think the easiest thing with the hotter conditions and the bump drafting there (at Daytona); if people were spinning around when we had 60 or 70 degrees track temperature, it’s going to be quite a challenge with the hotter conditions. It’s going to be interesting how people will approach the race. Because at the end of the race it’s going to be two-by-two-by-two with everybody pushing. The question is if you’re going to do it all night. Yeah, I think it’s better (two-car drafting) because you can make something happen. You know when you are three-wide before at Daytona and you were fourth row you were stuck. Now with it this way you can pass people, you can make something happen. I think that is great for the sport. When we were running in the second group going into the last lap and we left the door open for Carl (Edwards) on the bottom and I think we should have closed that door a little bit earlier. A lot of it goes on the lead guy. When you are pushing you go where the guy goes. So I think that was the harder thing.”

MONTOYA LIKES DAYTONA: Montoya has nine NSCS starts at Daytona International Speedway. He has picked up three top-10 finishes at DIS, all of them coming within the last four races. His best finish at the “World Center of Racing” came earlier this season in the Daytona 500, when he started in the 13th position and took the checkered flag in sixth.

MONTOYA CHASSIS CHOICE: Chassis #902 was run three times during the 2010 season, finishing 10th at the Daytona 500 and third in both Talladega races. The Target team also used this chassis in all four restrictor plate events in 2009 with a best finish of ninth in the July race at Daytona.

McMurray has two Daytona wins (Getty)

JAMIE MCMURRAY ON DAYTONA: “Daytona is always a fun place for me and of course after 2010, it is really special. I am looking forward to another restrictor plate race from the standpoint that we had a good car in both Daytona and Talladega, but came up short in the end. We were down a cylinder with only a handful of laps to go at Daytona in February and couldn’t work together with our teammate and drafting partner Juan Pablo Montoya, to help push for a solid finish. Of course we are going to see more of the same two-car draft tandems. That makes for a interesting race, because the car in the back of the tandem really has to trust the spotter and anticipate the moves from the front car in order to get around. We will plan to pair up with our teammate (Juan Pablo Montoya) and stick together and hopefully have some luck go our way to be a factor at the end of the race.”

McMURRAY CHASSIS CHOICE: Chassis #1009. This chassis was last raced earlier this year to a 21st–place finish at Talladega Superspeedway. It was also used in this season’s Daytona 500, finishing 18th, and both Talladega races last season, where it came home second and 36th.

JOEY LOGANO ON DAYTONA: “Daytona is just one of those unpredictable tracks. When you unload you pretty much have what you have. There’s not much you can do at that point to improve your race car. These two-car drafts and new style of racing make it so important to take of your equipment and make sure you are there at the end with a drafting partner. But everyone knows and everyone has seen that pretty much anything can happen.”

LOGANO CHASSIS CHOICE: The No. 20 Home Depot Team is taking chassis #298 this weekend to compete in the Coke Zero 400. This chassis served as the back-up chassis at Daytona earlier this season but has never been raced. The back-up chassis is #293 that Logano drove in the Daytona 500 and to a top-10 finish at Talladega in April.

REGAN SMITH ON DAYTONA: “I enjoy the road courses, but the comfort zone for our Furniture Row Racing team is superspeedway racing and that’s why we’re anxious to get to Daytona for this weekend’s race. We’ve had some success this season and it was all triggered by our strong Daytona Speedweeks performance back in February. We started the season with a second-place finish in the twin qualifying races followed by a seventh-place finish in the Daytona 500. With the ECR (Earnhardt Childress Racing) engines under the hood of our Furniture Row Chevrolet plus our background in superspeedway racing I feel really upbeat about this weekend. We have what it takes to win this race. We came close in the 500, and I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t be contending for the win on Saturday night.”

CARL EDWARDS ON DAYTONA: “Daytona is such a different race now with the new surface. It is all about pure speed and partnering up with someone. I know this weekend I don’t want to finish second like I did in the 500. I will be doing everything I can to win this race. The 500 in February was the closest I have been to winning at Daytona in a Cup car and I really, really want to win there. That would be cool.”

EDWARDS AT DAYTONA: In 13 NSCS starts at DIS, Edwards has achieved four top-five and six top-10 finishes. Edwards’ best finish at Daytona is second place, captured in this year’s Daytona 500 and in July of 2008.

EDWARDS CHASSIS CHOICE: The No. 99 will have Subway as the primary sponsor for the second of three races this season. The team will be bringing RK-677 this weekend to Daytona. It is the same car Edwards drove at Talladega in April when he finished sixth.

GREG BIFFLE ON DAYTONA: “I’ve always liked the night race at Daytona. My first ever Sprint Cup win was this race in 2003 so it’s definitely a race on the schedule that means something to me and that I look forward to. Racing at Daytona under the lights adds a little extra excitement I think for both the drivers and the fans. We could definitely use a good finish and we need to avoid a bad finish at all costs. We’re getting a little too close to the Chase to have many more bad races. We had a decent run with this car earlier this year at Talladega because we were able to work well with Carl. If we can pair up with Carl or another good drafting partner this weekend, we should do well.”

BIFFLE'S CREW CHIEF GREG ERWIN ON DAYTONA AND THE CAR THEY'RE BRINGING: “We’re taking the car that we finished seventh with at Talladega earlier this year. Greg and Carl worked really well together to stay out of trouble and finish up front in that race and we hope to be able to do the same thing this weekend. We’re taking these weeks one race at a time and just focusing on running well and being in contention for a win at the finish. That’s what we’ll do this weekend and hopefully it will work out the way we hope.”

DAVID RAGAN ON RACING AT DAYTONA: “I can’t wait to get back to Daytona. Daytona is a track we’ve always run well at and we even had a chance to win the 500 earlier this year. We need to get a good run to get our season back in gear. We’ve struggled some the last few weeks, but I’m excited to race Saturday night in the Coke Zero 400. We’ve got a fast UPS Ford and we’ve got good teammates to work with.”

RAGAN CHASSIS CHOICE: Primary: RK-691 Last ran the Duel at Daytona – finished 20th; Backup: RK-717 Brand new chassis.

Busch won everything but the 500 last time in Daytona

KURT BUSCH ON TWO CAR DRAFTING AT DAYTONA AND GETTING HIS FIRST PLATE WIN: “We’ll see how the track has matured since the repave and what the grip level will be like. It’s going to be hot and slick because it’s July in Florida. We’ll see if we can still hook up in that two-car draft. The grip level was extremely high in February. I anticipate the grip to be good this time around. If so, you’ll see two-car drafting just like we had in February.”

“We certainly want to finally win us one of these things (restrictor-plate race), that’s for sure. But, we still have to keep focus on this season and what it’s going to take to move forward in the effort to make the Chase this year. We need to win races because that will be so important come September. At the same time, we have to stay consistent in posting the top-five finishes and top-10s. The bottom line is that we have to go after those race wins as hard as we can, but still exercise conservatism, if you want to call it that. Unlike the guys back there in 15th to 20th in the points who can gamble on fuel mileage and roll the dice out there in every race, we have to look at it as the big goal of completing all the laps and getting the best possible finish we can in every race.”

KURT BUSCH'S CREW CHIEF STEVE ADDINGTON ON DAYTONA: “With the Speedweeks that we had in February, we’re excited to head back to Daytona because Kurt is such a great plate racer. We won the (Gatorade) 125. We won the (Budweiser) Shootout. We want to get Kurt a restrictor-plate point’s win. The restrictor-plate engines at Penske are awesome. The guys are working really hard on the cars. I feel good about it. I feel like we can go win. Our testing is paying dividends and everyone on this Shell/Pennzoil Dodge team is working their butt off. We just need to keep the momentum going and go get us a win at Daytona.”

- From several team press releases

TNT's Wide Open Coverage: Fantastic!

by M Roberts

In the aftermath of the spectacular ending to Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400 at Daytona, not much has been said about the fantastic “Wide Open Coverage” TNT offered to NASCAR fans home across the country.

Saturday’s race was the third straight season TNT has offered the coverage of the summer Daytona race as a means to give the fans uninterrupted coverage of every green flap lap during the race.

In 2007 and 2008, despite the attempts, TNT missed a combined 12 green flag laps. On Saturday night, TNT didn’t miss any. We viewed the entire race uninterrupted and it was wonderful.

Much to the dismay of NASCAR fans everywhere on a normal week, there is nothing more irritating when watching a race that goes to commercial and when they finally come back, the announcer says, “While we away, we have a new leader” or “While we were away, a big crash on turn three”, and that’s after they go through thirty seconds of sponsors on graphics leading back into coverage from the break.

Unfortunately, the ’Wide Open Coverage” is a one race and out deal with Daytona. The deal was struck as part of the original NASCAR negotiated package deal with the networks, which at least shows NASCAR understands their fans wishes. However, going back to the standard coverage is like letting someone drive a new Mercedes for a day and then telling them to go back and enjoy their daily routine in a Pinto with no air conditioning.

The real question is how did this standard coverage with commercial breaks going on during live action begin, and how has it been allowed to go on for so long. NASCAR remains the only major and minor sports broadcasted on television that goes away while play on the field, court, track, course, or pitch is live. Bowling and Darts get continuous action, why not NASCAR which is paid a little bit more for their coverage?

The theory I come up with most, beyond the obvious of NASCAR being paid heavy to litter the races with commercials, is that all the other major sports were around when television made it’s sports debut in 1939. Fans were delighted to be able to watch every play from their home and the few networks there were made it a point to get better each year with their coverage.

Fans got used to the coverage and then sponsorships got on board with a product that was already in place and set by the Networks.

NASCAR came on board to network TV with only a few laps being shown of each race on ABC’s Wide World of Sports. It was a concession that NASCAR was glad to make just for the coverage and exposure.

Then came the 1979 Daytona 500 on CBS which became the first Nationally televised race from start to finish. Again, NASCAR was happy to just be there and made concessions with their product for the sake of coverage. They didn’t have a lot of leverage.

After the great returns of that race with a fantastic infield fight between Donnie Allison and Cale Yarbrough, NASCAR was on it’s way with the Networks.

The first major Network deal began with a $2.4 billion six year deal beginning in 2001 and that was followed by a gigantic $4.6 billion eight year deal that currently exists. Through that whole time span, the Networks crammed more commercial breaks than ever to get the most out of their deal. They marketed NASCAR fans loyalty to sponsors everywhere with pie-chart comparisons to other sports about brand loyalty and it worked.

Prior to the big contract deals, NASCAR coverage still had commercial breaks while racing was going on, but not like today. ESPN and The Nashville Network did nice jobs on their coverage and gave the fans more live racing, but NASCAR wasn’t getting the big bucks from them.
So essentially, NASCAR’s growth and desire to get the big money diluted the coverage for the fans and they were fully aware that their product wasn’t going to be properly covered.

With the way the current ratings have decreased all season long in 2009, It’s likely that more concessions will have to be made in order for NASCAR to better their last contract with the Networks.

The one hope NASCAR fans may have for better coverage is the rating results from Saturday’s Daytona race. The last two seasons of ratings from TNT’s “Wide Open Coverage” have risen from a 3.7 share in 2007 to a 4.5 share in 2008. If the trend continues for the cable network after Saturday’s race, which had a drama filled ending, some of the suits at the Networks may take notice and say this is the way to future success in covering NASCAR and a win-win for the fans and sponsors.

If the NASCAR fans hold to their stereotypical loyalty for the ten sponsors of the “Wide Open Coverage”, that coupled with ratings increase could see changes in how NASCAR is covered.

Stewart Brilliant and Classy in Daytona Win

by M Roberts

NASCAR’s recently implemented double file restarts was thrust into action to create some excitement at the end of races, and Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400 at Daytona was the perfect platform for a captive National audience to watch it results unfold on America’s Independence Day.

With just over one lap remaining, Kyle Busch had taken the lead from Tony Stewart who led most of the night. Busch got a great push from teammate Denny Hamlin that propelled him to the lead. Just as Busch was coming out of turn three of the last lap, he had Stewart all over his rear bumper.

As Stewart made a move for the pass inside, Busch blocked the move near turn four, but then Stewart moved outside and had position. Busch attempted to block again moving up on the track and into Stewart which then propelled Busch into a succession of cars piling into him with several violent hits.

Tony Stewart raced to his second victory of the season, but was very somber and apologetic after the race despite it being just hard racing and a product of today’s restrictor plate racing. He stated that he hated to see Busch have his day end that way because Busch was working well with him all night in the draft and helped him get the win.

Stewart was a class act afterwards in press interviews and had genuine concern for Busch's health and final finish position. Busch was upset and refused to talk with the media afterwards, which was likely a good decision because of some of his past rants.

Busch was taken to the medical infield care center and treated for a headache, which if seeing the plows his car took from the front by the wall, the back end by Kasey Kahne and then being T-Boned by teammate Joey Logano, Busch looked to have surely had more trouble than just a headache. The Car of Tomorrow did a great job on this night for sure.

The ending to this race was almost identical to the ending in NASCAR’s other restrictor plate race in April at Talladega that saw Carl Edwards flip air born in the same type of block move on rookie Brad Keselowski. While many of the drivers have openly complained about the current state of plate racing and how the cars being bunched up so tightly makes the spectacular crash inevitable, things aren’t likely to change.

Preliminary television ratings aren’t available until Monday, but the combination of a spectacular finish and great continuous coverage with all live action shown, the ratings are likely to be high compared to the downward trend seen all season. The sinking television ratings could be the reason for the sudden change in double file restarts as a measure to spice things up, and it looks like it worked.

After the dust settled among all the cars piled up near the finish line, Jimmie Johnson finished second followed by Denny Hamlin, Edwards, and Kurt Busch.

Unofficial Coke Zero 400 Results: http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2009/18/data/results_unofficial.html

Daytona Post Practice; Nothing Very Telling

by M Roberts

In thirty-two of the thirty-six NASCAR Sprint Cup series races, the practice and happy hour sessions prior to the race are pivotal and telling to who will do well on race day. Average lap times over a distance and finding out exactly what a team was trying to accomplish in those practices go a long way into sifting through the legitimate candidates to win.

The four races where the practice sessions should be looked at and treated with little fan fare to any equation in determining who should win the race are at Talladega and Daytona. The times mean very little and are heavily clouded from teams that were spending lots of time in and out of the draft. When cars are in the draft, their speeds are drastically higher than out of the draft.

Usually, I like to post what I saw in the practices that could lead to finding some drivers to do well for either your fantasy team or betting, but this is one of those weeks where practice means little.

However, a few observations couldn’t hurt. I came into this week’s Coke Zero 400 feeling really good about the Roush Fords, the Dodges, the Chevy’s of Childress and DEI, Kyle Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

A major shift in plate racing has occurred over the last two seasons where the only Chevy to win, after a seven year dominant stretch, was driven by Brad Keselowski for a single car team; no Team Hendrick, Childress, DEI, or Stewart/Haas. Since last years Daytona 500, we have seen every manufacturer win a plate race.

Even though Matt Kenseth doesn’t have his winning car from the Daytona 500 because it’s on display for a year at the Daytona Experience, he looks pretty fast in and out of the draft. The Roush Ford’s should all be fast Saturday night as Ford looks to get it’s first sweep of Daytona since 2000. If looking at the speed charts as a normal week, we’d be salivating over David Ragan and Jamie McMurray’s first practice times where they both finished in the top three.

Casey Mears and Kevin Harvick switched teams a few weeks ago with Mears team responding a little better than Harvick’s, but both will excel Saturday night. For whatever it’s worth, Mears was second fastest in both practice sessions driving a new chassis. I bring up the new chassis, because Harvick had his best 2009 finish in the Daytona 500 with second place and if there might be one race to use the Harvick stuff, it would be this one.

Kyle Busch has had the best restrictor plate car on the track for the six plate races he’s run for Toyota. He only has two wins to show for it, but is easily the favorite to win this week.

Dale Jr led the most laps in this race last season and in the last plate race run at Talladega, Junior took second. Each and every sign out there points to Junior getting the win Saturday. I don’t choose him to win much, but the last time I had a feeling about Junior winning after a slump was in this race back in 2001.

First Practice: Top Five Speeds
1) #6-Ragan 190.714
2) #07-Mears 190.666
3) #26-McMurray 190.460
4) #20-Logano 190.166
5) #83-Vickers 189.398
slowest: #64-Wallace 181.965 & #37-Raines 180.926

Happy Hour: Top Five Speeds
1) #00-Reutimann 192.135
2) #07-Mears 192.061
3) #29-Harvick 192.029
4) #83-Vikers 191.980
5) #42-Montoya 191.591
slowest: #66-Blaney 183.760 & #64-Wallace 182.994
notes: #77-Hornish and #16-Biffle were involved in Turn 2 late in the session. Both drivers will go to a backup car. The session started over an hour late after a rain shower move across the track.

Daytona Preview: Coke Zero 400

by Micah Roberts
VegasInsider.com

This Saturday night the NASCAR Sprint Cup series goes under the lights for restrictor plate racing at high speeds in Daytona for the Coke Zero 400. There have been a few other sponsors other the years, but the summer Daytona race will always remain the Firecracker 400.

While spending a holiday weekend with family and friends celebrating the United States Independence and Freedom, there isn’t anything much more of an American tradition than turning on a stock car race from Daytona.

This fourth of July, Daytona will be celebrating the 25th anniversary of Richard Petty’s last and final win of his career, win number 200, a nice round even number that stands out among all others drivers in the history of NASCAR.

On that day in 1984, NASCAR royalty and “The King” were cheered by the thousands of followers. That day also marked the first time an acting U.S. President visited a NASCAR race.

Ronald Reagan was on a re-election campaign and thought it might be a good idea to see if they could win some NASCAR dads over, a republican trademark that continues to this day.

The way Richard Petty see’s it, That marked a major stepping stone to where NASCAR is today in mainstream America.

“I always figure that we went upstairs, and we’re still going upstairs,” Petty said of NASCAR.

“You know, we got the president of the United States on the sports page, and the president of the United States got us on the front page. So it was a pretty good tradeoff.”

The favorite to win this weeks race is Kyle Busch, who won this race last year. Ever since joining Joe Gibbs racing in his Toyota, no one has been better than Kyle Busch at Daytona. We could be discussing how he’s won three in a row there, but has had trouble in each of the last two Daytona 500’s.

Last season in the Daytona 500, while Busch and teammate Tony Stewart were jostling for late positioning and battling for what seemed to be their race to win, Ryan Newman and his teammate Kurt Busch worked together pushing Newman to the win.

This season in the Daytona 500, Kyle Busch led the most laps and was cruising to what looked to be a well deserved win for the Las Vegan, but then some thing got in the way. A lapped car driven by Dale Earnhardt Jr got over-aggressive on the re-start causing a giant wreck up front where many of the leaders, including Busch, had their day finished.

This weeks race may not have that type of pile up on a restart, at least caused by a lapped car, because of the new double file restarts which puts the leaders side by side up front. We’ll still have some aggression early on, but consequences are much more damaging for a leader than a lapped car which is taken into consideration before making a move like Junior did in February.

Speaking of Junior, this could be a race where he gets himself going in the right direction after getting a new crew chief. So far, the new marriage hasn’t reaped any rewards yet, but things looked encouraging last week at New Hampshire as Junior was competitive for a change running in the top-10 frequently in that race.

In this race last season, Junior led the most laps before finishing eighth. He has two wins all time at Daytona to go along with his five restrictor plate wins at Talladega. His first win at Daytona came in this race in 2001. It was Junior first win following his father’s passing and was on the same track where he died. It was a one the great moments in NASCAR and solidified Junior’s fan base to a plateau that no one may ever get to.

Junior’s other Daytona win came in the 500 in February of 2004. I remember the race vividly because I watched most of it stuck on the concourse by the beer stand. Another President winning favor of NASCAR dads made the visit that day. George W. Bush and a brigade of about 30 black Chevy Tahoe’s came rolling up through the concourse and everyone had to freeze as he was going to the television booth.

The race had just started and I was in line again for another Ice Cold Bud Light when all these Tahoe’s pinned me in and we were told not to move. We couldn’t go to our seats or anything as sharp shooters dressed in black SWAT gear peered through the cracks of the windows in the cars. It wasn’t all bad; I mean I had beer I could I buy, a monitor to watch the race in front of me, and I could still hear the cars, and smell the fuel and burnt rubber from the track.

Luckily I didn’t have to go to the restroom until they left. Unluckily, however, is that GW didn’t even flip me a drink ticket or a sawbuck for the inconvenience. He could have bought me a beer, right?

In the last two Daytona 500’s we saw a lot of different occurrences than we have from the past.

Generally, Chevy has had the dominant teams in restrictor plate racing led by Hendrick, DEI, Childress, and Joe Gibbs when they drove Chevy’s. They weren’t a lot of intruders to the Chevy bow-tie part in plate races over the last 8 seasons. That all changed last year when Newman won in a Dodge with only one Chevy making the top-10.

This year, Matt Kenseth won in a Ford and only two Chevy’s cracked the top-10. Four Dodges, three of which run for Richard Petty made the top-10 also. Couple all that with Kyle Busch having the most dominant car in a Toyota, and it’s clear to see that Chevy is no longer a serious player in the restrictor plate race any more.

Some of the best in plate racing, like Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson, haven’t even cracked the top-10 at Daytona in their last three starts. Johnson hasn’t even sniffed a top-20 in that span. The best Chevy team right now mat be the Childress drivers, who are struggling everywhere else currently.

Despite the lack of Chevy success recently in plate races other than Brad Keselowski at 100 to 1 odds winning at Talladega, I’ll go with the fan favorite this week in Dale Jr and hope that he gets things back on track. He finished 2nd at Talladega and saw enough of him in that race to believe between his desire, struggles, and legacy on the line, he’ll show up for a big performance.

No President this week however. Though a great sports fan, he sticks to football and basketball and hasn’t warmed up to NASCAR yet. Maybe in 2012 he’ll make a visit on the campaign trail.

TOP 5 Finish Prediction:
1) #88 Dale Earnhardt Jr (8/1)
2) #2 Kurt Busch (12/1)
3) #18 Kyle Busch (5/1)
4) #14 Tony Stewart (8/1)
5) #29 Kevin Harvick (20/1)

Daytona Facts

compiled by Mike Forde
NASCAR media services

At Daytona International Speedway

History
• Groundbreaking for Daytona International Speedway was on Nov. 25, 1957. The soil underneath the banked corners was dug from the infield of the track and the hole filled with water. It is now known as Lake Lloyd.
• The first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Daytona was a 100-mile qualifying race for the Daytona 500 on Feb. 20, 1959.
• The first NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Daytona was held on Feb. 13, 1982.
• Richard Petty won his 200th career race on July 4, 1984 at Daytona.
• Lights were installed in the spring of 1998. However, the race was delayed until October that year due to thick smoke from wildfires. The second Daytona race has been held under the lights ever since.
• The first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Daytona was held on Feb. 18, 2000.

Notebook
• There have been 124 NASCAR Sprint Cup points races at Daytona International Speedway since the track hosted its first race in 1959: 51 have been 500 miles, 46 were 400 miles and four 250 miles. There were also 23 qualifier races that were points races (one in 1959; two from 1960-1971).
• Fireball Roberts won the inaugural pole at Daytona.
• Bob Welborn won the first race at Daytona, a 100-mile qualifying race for Daytona International Speedway.
• Lee Petty won the inaugural Daytona 500 on Feb. 22, 1959.
• Fireball Roberts won the first 400-mile race at Daytona, the 1963 Firecracker 400.
• 52 drivers have posted poles at Daytona; 19 have more than one.
• Cale Yarborough leads all drivers with 12 poles at Daytona.
• Bill Elliott leads all active drivers with five poles at Daytona.
• 54 drivers have won at Daytona; 24 have won more than once.
• Richard Petty leads all drivers in victories at Daytona, with 10.
• Jeff Gordon has six victories at Daytona, more than any other active driver.
• The Wood Brothers have won 14 races at Daytona, more than any other car owner.
• Fifteen full-length races at Daytona have been won from the pole. Thirteen have been won from the second starting position – a total of 28 race winners from the front row.
• A driver has swept both races at Daytona only four times, most recently by Bobby Allison in 1982.
• Matt Kenseth won this season’s Daytona 500 from 39th, the deepest in the field that a Daytona race winner has started.
• Other than qualifying races, there have been four Daytona races run caution-free: 1959 spring, 1959 summer; 1960 summer; 1961 spring; 1961 summer and 1962 spring.

NASCAR in Florida
• There have been 160 NASCAR Sprint Cup races in Florida.
• 154 drivers in NASCAR’s three national series (all-time) have their home state recorded as Florida.
• There have been nine race winners from Florida in NASCAR’s three national series: