Daytona Int'l Speedway - Pepsi 400
RACE WINNER: JAMIE MCMURRAY
Kurt Busch: 3rd (started 16th)
- As I’d expected, Kurt made yet another great showing at an RP track, with the same car that was unfortunately wrecked during the Daytona 500. He led 45 laps and worked well with teammate Ryan Newman (something I always enjoy), but the best part of his night was at the end. He somehow made it to Kyle Busch’s back bumper and I was thrilled to see he was doing his best to push him to the win. Since the Busch brother crash at the All-Star race I’ve been uncertain about their relationship, but the Pepsi 400 showed me that they still care and want each other to be successful. Kurt’s effort to send Kyle to the front almost paid off, but 0.005 seconds kept Shurb from the victory.
- Quotes:
“I’m real proud of this team and real proud of this year. It feels good to come to a plate track and do well. We definitely came back strong to Daytona, looking for a good finish after the Daytona 500 didn’t turn out like we wanted. For me to finish third, it feels great to do that. It would have been great to win it, but we’re real happy with that; to be able to be in position at the end and to be able to try to push Kyle to victory lane. I had my foot through the floorboard and I had Jeff Gordon behind me. I thought we could hook up and go. I just didn’t quite have the run the 26 did.”
Martin Truex Jr.: 13th (started 10th)
- Martin had a pretty good night going before a late-race pit stop put the team in a difficult situation. When Martin pitted on the Lap 132 caution, he stopped too close to the wall and therefore had to settle with only right side tires. Twelve laps later when David Gilliland spun, Martin was concerned that he may have flat-spotted the tires and pitted for four, putting him back in the field. Despite their problems, Martin motored the Bass Pro Chevy to a Top-15 finish.
Casey Mears: 19th (started 21st)
- Not the finish he wanted, but good enough to bump him up two spots in points to 19th. He led 11 laps but tires turned out to be more important than the team had hoped for. Darian told Casey to stay out during the Gilliland caution, but when another caution flew soon after and bunched up the field Casey couldn’t hold onto the lead.
- Quotes:
"I wish we wouldn't have finished where we did. We had a good car. Right there at the end that last run we were a little bit too loose and then we stayed out and everybody came in. I think just not having that little bit of tire I was just hanging on, just didn't quite enough grip to really get up there with those guys. I thought it was a good call because if it would have went green I think we would have had a really good finish but when it bunched everybody back up we were just at a little bit of a disadvantage. Then my car was a little bit too loose so I had a really hard time keeping it on the bottom. It was crazy. That last lap was just out of control. It's almost like everybody just holds it wide open even if their car's not working and doing all they can to make it to the front. I was no exception. I was doing the same. It was exciting.”
David Reutimann: 26th (started 42nd)
- David did not have a very good night, with an ill-handling car as well as radio problems and a wall-slap. Luckily for him he didn’t crash and total the car, but it was a disappointing night after the run at Talladega this spring. I guess David can’t complain too much (and neither can I), for it was looking like a DNQ on Friday until the rain came pouring down!
- Quotes:
“I was coming off the corner and somebody was right behind me. The car got loose and when it got loose I got sideways and I got up into the fence and when I did everybody had to check-up behind me and just caused a wreck. I hate that it happened like that. Nobody was underneath me. They were behind me and when I hit the fence and slowed up so much those guys didn’t have much of a chance. Finishing is good but where we finished is not so much. Just kind of struggled all night. It was a weird night. Radios quit working and the thing was tight, just a bunch of stuff, you know. It ended up okay.”
Dale Jarrett: 27th (started 37th)
- Just not a good night, but DJ did a great job at avoiding the wrecks and bringing home a decent finish for an evil-handling car.
Brian Vickers: 29th (started 36th)
- A potentially good night gone bad, and the “gone bad” part was very frustrating. Brian was solid all race long and was likely going to get another strong finish when Joe Nemechek screwed that chance up for him. Nemechek drifted up the track and squeezed Brian into the wall, and if that wasn’t enough, he spun him out afterwards! I don’t know what Nemechek was thinking right there, but by good fortune Brian kept the Red Bull Camry off the inside wall. However, like David, this was better than DNQing, which is what would have happened if qualifying hadn’t been rained out Friday.
- Quotes:
“We got some points, but we could've been better. We got hit by the No. 13 car (Joe Nemechek) late in the race, which put us behind for the last few laps. Our car was decent tonight. If qualifying was finished, we wouldn't have made the race. Tonight, the car raced a little bit better than we were. It was a good handling car, but it wasn't that good. We were struggling to run what we were running. We still have a lot of work to do on the speedway program, but we'll keep at it.”
Dale Earnhardt Jr.: 36th (started 13th)
- June’s night was just about over before it even began when one of the drivers I’d predicted was going to cause a wreck came through for me. Junior was piloting a gorgeous stars and stripes schemed Bud Chevy (one that reminded me hauntingly of Michael’s 2001 Pepsi 400 car) to the front when Tony Stewart decided, as usual, that he would not follow his own preaching about patience. He spun teammate Denny Hamlin out on the frontstretch (thankfully Hamlin did a good job taking Stewart out with him). In the ensuing melee, Dale Jr. was run into from behind by Bobby Labonte, who had been run into by Reed Sorenson. It was your typical RP track crash, but frustrating nonetheless because it was avoidable. The car handled horribly the rest of the race and ended up making a trip to the garage to get it drivable, which it was until he got caught up into another crash and hit the wall again.
- Quotes:
“I had slowed down and was clear and then somebody hit me hard from behind and I was looking backwards up the track. That's frustrating when you come out here with a great car that had what it takes to win the race and then get taken out by someone not paying attention. The rest of us got it slowed down alright, so I don't know what he was doing. Even after we wrecked, the guys fixed the car and we were pretty decent until the second time we go run into the wall. It's frustrating on a lot of levels because we've been doing so well lately and we believed we had something for them in the special paint scheme. (see notes below) But, it takes a lot more than this to get this team down, so we're going home and getting ready for next week.”
Michael Waltrip: DNQ
- This sucked because it looked like Michael was going to be locked into the field before the rain came. No one can control Mother Nature so it was easier to see him DNQ because of rain instead of just having a bad qualifying lap. Michael said on INC tonight that he understands this and knows the rules coming into each race, which is amusing to me since a good majority of Michael’s fans had a complete fit about NASCAR canceling qualifying. Thanks Mikey!!
Other Notes:
- What a finish!! The start of the race was nothing short of depressing, with crashes every few laps, but at least the end made up for that. I wanted Kyle to win very badly and wish that McMurray hadn’t hit him to cut his momentum, but I’ll take 2nd by 0.005 seconds! This time was tied for second since electronic scoring was put into place, while brother Kurt had a part in the first closest finish. It’s pretty cool that the Busch brothers have first and second, but I’d like it better if they had won those races!
- Speaking of Kyle, I felt awful for him. In general, his HMS teammates completely ignored him, as is the norm on RP tracks. Kyle helps them but gets little help in return. It was frustrating because Jeff Gordon chose instead to help Roush drivers when there was a hole for him to get behind Kyle! To make it worse he didn’t even acknowledge Kyle as his teammate in post-race quotes, and Kyle said that Gordon blew him off when he went to congratulate him. Nice. Now I like Gordon, but the one thing I really don’t like about him is that he only acknowledges Kyle as his teammate when he complains that he doesn’t move over for him, and he should because he’s his teammate.
- Tony Stewart: get out of your fantasy world!!!!
- All quotes from Race2Win
Kurt Busch: 3rd (started 16th)
- As I’d expected, Kurt made yet another great showing at an RP track, with the same car that was unfortunately wrecked during the Daytona 500. He led 45 laps and worked well with teammate Ryan Newman (something I always enjoy), but the best part of his night was at the end. He somehow made it to Kyle Busch’s back bumper and I was thrilled to see he was doing his best to push him to the win. Since the Busch brother crash at the All-Star race I’ve been uncertain about their relationship, but the Pepsi 400 showed me that they still care and want each other to be successful. Kurt’s effort to send Kyle to the front almost paid off, but 0.005 seconds kept Shurb from the victory.
- Quotes:
“I’m real proud of this team and real proud of this year. It feels good to come to a plate track and do well. We definitely came back strong to Daytona, looking for a good finish after the Daytona 500 didn’t turn out like we wanted. For me to finish third, it feels great to do that. It would have been great to win it, but we’re real happy with that; to be able to be in position at the end and to be able to try to push Kyle to victory lane. I had my foot through the floorboard and I had Jeff Gordon behind me. I thought we could hook up and go. I just didn’t quite have the run the 26 did.”
Martin Truex Jr.: 13th (started 10th)
- Martin had a pretty good night going before a late-race pit stop put the team in a difficult situation. When Martin pitted on the Lap 132 caution, he stopped too close to the wall and therefore had to settle with only right side tires. Twelve laps later when David Gilliland spun, Martin was concerned that he may have flat-spotted the tires and pitted for four, putting him back in the field. Despite their problems, Martin motored the Bass Pro Chevy to a Top-15 finish.
Casey Mears: 19th (started 21st)
- Not the finish he wanted, but good enough to bump him up two spots in points to 19th. He led 11 laps but tires turned out to be more important than the team had hoped for. Darian told Casey to stay out during the Gilliland caution, but when another caution flew soon after and bunched up the field Casey couldn’t hold onto the lead.
- Quotes:
"I wish we wouldn't have finished where we did. We had a good car. Right there at the end that last run we were a little bit too loose and then we stayed out and everybody came in. I think just not having that little bit of tire I was just hanging on, just didn't quite enough grip to really get up there with those guys. I thought it was a good call because if it would have went green I think we would have had a really good finish but when it bunched everybody back up we were just at a little bit of a disadvantage. Then my car was a little bit too loose so I had a really hard time keeping it on the bottom. It was crazy. That last lap was just out of control. It's almost like everybody just holds it wide open even if their car's not working and doing all they can to make it to the front. I was no exception. I was doing the same. It was exciting.”
David Reutimann: 26th (started 42nd)
- David did not have a very good night, with an ill-handling car as well as radio problems and a wall-slap. Luckily for him he didn’t crash and total the car, but it was a disappointing night after the run at Talladega this spring. I guess David can’t complain too much (and neither can I), for it was looking like a DNQ on Friday until the rain came pouring down!
- Quotes:
“I was coming off the corner and somebody was right behind me. The car got loose and when it got loose I got sideways and I got up into the fence and when I did everybody had to check-up behind me and just caused a wreck. I hate that it happened like that. Nobody was underneath me. They were behind me and when I hit the fence and slowed up so much those guys didn’t have much of a chance. Finishing is good but where we finished is not so much. Just kind of struggled all night. It was a weird night. Radios quit working and the thing was tight, just a bunch of stuff, you know. It ended up okay.”
Dale Jarrett: 27th (started 37th)
- Just not a good night, but DJ did a great job at avoiding the wrecks and bringing home a decent finish for an evil-handling car.
Brian Vickers: 29th (started 36th)
- A potentially good night gone bad, and the “gone bad” part was very frustrating. Brian was solid all race long and was likely going to get another strong finish when Joe Nemechek screwed that chance up for him. Nemechek drifted up the track and squeezed Brian into the wall, and if that wasn’t enough, he spun him out afterwards! I don’t know what Nemechek was thinking right there, but by good fortune Brian kept the Red Bull Camry off the inside wall. However, like David, this was better than DNQing, which is what would have happened if qualifying hadn’t been rained out Friday.
- Quotes:
“We got some points, but we could've been better. We got hit by the No. 13 car (Joe Nemechek) late in the race, which put us behind for the last few laps. Our car was decent tonight. If qualifying was finished, we wouldn't have made the race. Tonight, the car raced a little bit better than we were. It was a good handling car, but it wasn't that good. We were struggling to run what we were running. We still have a lot of work to do on the speedway program, but we'll keep at it.”
Dale Earnhardt Jr.: 36th (started 13th)
- June’s night was just about over before it even began when one of the drivers I’d predicted was going to cause a wreck came through for me. Junior was piloting a gorgeous stars and stripes schemed Bud Chevy (one that reminded me hauntingly of Michael’s 2001 Pepsi 400 car) to the front when Tony Stewart decided, as usual, that he would not follow his own preaching about patience. He spun teammate Denny Hamlin out on the frontstretch (thankfully Hamlin did a good job taking Stewart out with him). In the ensuing melee, Dale Jr. was run into from behind by Bobby Labonte, who had been run into by Reed Sorenson. It was your typical RP track crash, but frustrating nonetheless because it was avoidable. The car handled horribly the rest of the race and ended up making a trip to the garage to get it drivable, which it was until he got caught up into another crash and hit the wall again.
- Quotes:
“I had slowed down and was clear and then somebody hit me hard from behind and I was looking backwards up the track. That's frustrating when you come out here with a great car that had what it takes to win the race and then get taken out by someone not paying attention. The rest of us got it slowed down alright, so I don't know what he was doing. Even after we wrecked, the guys fixed the car and we were pretty decent until the second time we go run into the wall. It's frustrating on a lot of levels because we've been doing so well lately and we believed we had something for them in the special paint scheme. (see notes below) But, it takes a lot more than this to get this team down, so we're going home and getting ready for next week.”
Michael Waltrip: DNQ
- This sucked because it looked like Michael was going to be locked into the field before the rain came. No one can control Mother Nature so it was easier to see him DNQ because of rain instead of just having a bad qualifying lap. Michael said on INC tonight that he understands this and knows the rules coming into each race, which is amusing to me since a good majority of Michael’s fans had a complete fit about NASCAR canceling qualifying. Thanks Mikey!!
Other Notes:
- What a finish!! The start of the race was nothing short of depressing, with crashes every few laps, but at least the end made up for that. I wanted Kyle to win very badly and wish that McMurray hadn’t hit him to cut his momentum, but I’ll take 2nd by 0.005 seconds! This time was tied for second since electronic scoring was put into place, while brother Kurt had a part in the first closest finish. It’s pretty cool that the Busch brothers have first and second, but I’d like it better if they had won those races!
- Speaking of Kyle, I felt awful for him. In general, his HMS teammates completely ignored him, as is the norm on RP tracks. Kyle helps them but gets little help in return. It was frustrating because Jeff Gordon chose instead to help Roush drivers when there was a hole for him to get behind Kyle! To make it worse he didn’t even acknowledge Kyle as his teammate in post-race quotes, and Kyle said that Gordon blew him off when he went to congratulate him. Nice. Now I like Gordon, but the one thing I really don’t like about him is that he only acknowledges Kyle as his teammate when he complains that he doesn’t move over for him, and he should because he’s his teammate.
- Tony Stewart: get out of your fantasy world!!!!
- All quotes from Race2Win
