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Sprint Cup
CUP: Stewart Wins In Daytona Smoke
On a night marred by several major accidents, Tony Stewart emerges victorious…
When the smoke cleared, Smoke was in front.
On a wild night at Daytona International Speedway, Tony Stewart was the ultimate survivor, winning the Coke Zero 400 with a last-lap move that blunted a standout evening from the Roush Fenway Racing duo of Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle.
As Stewart was holding off Jeff Burton and Kenseth for the victory, chaos erupted behind them in turn four as other drivers, including Biffle, in the lead pack became enveloped in a 15-car wreck. Cars and parts and pieces were scattered across the turn as the caution flew.
The race ended with a two-lap dash for the cash, and the drafting pairs of Kenseth/Biffle and Stewart/Kasey Kahne were matched up at the front. Kenseth led the white-flag lap by a few feet, but the formation at the front became unsettled in the second turn of the final lap as Burton, drafting along with the help of Kevin Harvick, lost control of his car briefly and slid up the track into Kahne, breaking up the Stewart-Kahne pairing.
As Burton regained control of his car, Stewart shot around Kenseth to take the lead down the backstretch.
As drivers wrestled for positions in turns three and four, Biffle lost control of his car and the drivers in his wake began scrambling. Several of them crashed.
Burton and Kenseth survived the crash to finish second and third, respectively. Joey Logano was fourth, and Ryan Newman took fifth.
In the second five were Carl Edwards, Kahne, Brad Keselowski, Michael Waltrip and Bobby Labonte.
“I don’t even remember what happened,” said Stewart, who scored his third win of the season, tying Keselowski for the lead in that category. “In the second turn we tried to get the 17 and 16 pulled apart, and, once we did, it gave us a run on the outside. It was just a weird day. I’m still voting for a figure-8 race here.”
The win was Stewart’s fourth in the summer Daytona race, and he said later he’d trade all of those for his first Daytona 500 victory.
The first half of the race was caution-free as the field swept around the 2.5-mile track in formation. Kenseth and Biffle were dominant at the front.
The first caution flew on lap 82 as Sam Hornish Jr., substituting for the suspended AJ Allmendinger, slid across the track after one of his tires blew.
There was a tense moment on pit road during the caution period as Kahne and Newman collided while leaving their pits after being crowded by Jeff Gordon. The contact sent Newman’s car sliding into Keselowski’s, which was being serviced in his pit. A NASCAR official and several crewmen acted quickly to avoid Newman’s car.
The second caution occurred on lap 91 as Kurt Busch lost control of his car in the middle of a pack of traffic. Busch slid up the track into Trevor Bayne, and Bobby Labonte slid off the track as he slowed.
The lead pack was scrambled on lap 124 when heavy traffic at the entrance of pit road resulted in a multi-car crash, one that saw Jimmie Johnson’s car sail head-first into the inside wall in turn four. Others involved in the accident were Bill Elliott, Gordon, Logano, Waltrip, Martin Truex Jr. and Regan Smith.
Several cars, including the dominant Fords of Biffle and Kenseth, had dropped onto the pit-road entrance to head to pit road when the accident occurred, and pit road technically was closed as they crossed the commitment line. Biffle stopped for service, while Kenseth drove on down pit road without stopping.
Biffle was banished to the back of the field for the restart for pitting too soon.
Biffle needed only a few laps, however, to catch Kenseth and re-establish the killer draft they had had for much of the race. With 20 laps to go, they were running fifth and sixth, and advancing.
The night’s fourth caution flew for Keselowski, who lost control of his car exiting turn two on lap 144.
The race toward the finish began with a green flag with 12 laps to go. The Kenseth-Biffle draft shot past leader Stewart with eight laps left to send Kenseth into the lead. Two seconds later, Denny Hamlin lost control of his car while racing in the middle of the front pack, sparking a 14-car accident that scattered debris across the first turn. Also involved in the crash were Bayne, Juan Pablo Montoya, Clint Bowyer, Gordon, Kyle Busch and Marcos Ambrose, among others.
Stewart, 41, has won 18 races at Daytona, second all-time to Dale Earnhardt Sr. The victory, the 47th of his career, moved him into sole possession of 14th place on the all-time win list.
Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 30 years. He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
On a wild night at Daytona International Speedway, Tony Stewart was the ultimate survivor, winning the Coke Zero 400 with a last-lap move that blunted a standout evening from the Roush Fenway Racing duo of Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle.
As Stewart was holding off Jeff Burton and Kenseth for the victory, chaos erupted behind them in turn four as other drivers, including Biffle, in the lead pack became enveloped in a 15-car wreck. Cars and parts and pieces were scattered across the turn as the caution flew.
The race ended with a two-lap dash for the cash, and the drafting pairs of Kenseth/Biffle and Stewart/Kasey Kahne were matched up at the front. Kenseth led the white-flag lap by a few feet, but the formation at the front became unsettled in the second turn of the final lap as Burton, drafting along with the help of Kevin Harvick, lost control of his car briefly and slid up the track into Kahne, breaking up the Stewart-Kahne pairing.
As Burton regained control of his car, Stewart shot around Kenseth to take the lead down the backstretch.
As drivers wrestled for positions in turns three and four, Biffle lost control of his car and the drivers in his wake began scrambling. Several of them crashed.
Burton and Kenseth survived the crash to finish second and third, respectively. Joey Logano was fourth, and Ryan Newman took fifth.
In the second five were Carl Edwards, Kahne, Brad Keselowski, Michael Waltrip and Bobby Labonte.
“I don’t even remember what happened,” said Stewart, who scored his third win of the season, tying Keselowski for the lead in that category. “In the second turn we tried to get the 17 and 16 pulled apart, and, once we did, it gave us a run on the outside. It was just a weird day. I’m still voting for a figure-8 race here.”
The win was Stewart’s fourth in the summer Daytona race, and he said later he’d trade all of those for his first Daytona 500 victory.
The first half of the race was caution-free as the field swept around the 2.5-mile track in formation. Kenseth and Biffle were dominant at the front.
The first caution flew on lap 82 as Sam Hornish Jr., substituting for the suspended AJ Allmendinger, slid across the track after one of his tires blew.
There was a tense moment on pit road during the caution period as Kahne and Newman collided while leaving their pits after being crowded by Jeff Gordon. The contact sent Newman’s car sliding into Keselowski’s, which was being serviced in his pit. A NASCAR official and several crewmen acted quickly to avoid Newman’s car.
The second caution occurred on lap 91 as Kurt Busch lost control of his car in the middle of a pack of traffic. Busch slid up the track into Trevor Bayne, and Bobby Labonte slid off the track as he slowed.
The lead pack was scrambled on lap 124 when heavy traffic at the entrance of pit road resulted in a multi-car crash, one that saw Jimmie Johnson’s car sail head-first into the inside wall in turn four. Others involved in the accident were Bill Elliott, Gordon, Logano, Waltrip, Martin Truex Jr. and Regan Smith.
Several cars, including the dominant Fords of Biffle and Kenseth, had dropped onto the pit-road entrance to head to pit road when the accident occurred, and pit road technically was closed as they crossed the commitment line. Biffle stopped for service, while Kenseth drove on down pit road without stopping.
Biffle was banished to the back of the field for the restart for pitting too soon.
Biffle needed only a few laps, however, to catch Kenseth and re-establish the killer draft they had had for much of the race. With 20 laps to go, they were running fifth and sixth, and advancing.
The night’s fourth caution flew for Keselowski, who lost control of his car exiting turn two on lap 144.
The race toward the finish began with a green flag with 12 laps to go. The Kenseth-Biffle draft shot past leader Stewart with eight laps left to send Kenseth into the lead. Two seconds later, Denny Hamlin lost control of his car while racing in the middle of the front pack, sparking a 14-car accident that scattered debris across the first turn. Also involved in the crash were Bayne, Juan Pablo Montoya, Clint Bowyer, Gordon, Kyle Busch and Marcos Ambrose, among others.
Stewart, 41, has won 18 races at Daytona, second all-time to Dale Earnhardt Sr. The victory, the 47th of his career, moved him into sole possession of 14th place on the all-time win list.
Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 30 years. He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
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