Tweet
Stewart wins wild second race at Daytona
Daytona Beach, FL (Sports Network) - Tony Stewart avoided a big crash and captured the second Gatorade Duel at Daytona event at the Daytona International Speedway. The No.20 Home Depot Chevrolet driver took the checkered flag 0.183 seconds ahead of runner-up Jeff Burton.
It was the first "Duel" win of Stewart's career. He led the final 12 laps after starting 13th on the grid.
"Thanks to all the guys on this Home Depot team," said Stewart. "The Monte Carlo was good today. We were a little bit tight and we need to work on it before Sunday, but we've got a pretty good race car obviously."
Meanwhile, the story of the nightcap was the accident on lap 36.
It was started when Kevin Harvick tried to "bumpdraft" Jimmie Johnson in the middle of the turn 2 and sent the leader spinning. Joe Nemechek, Mark Martin, Rusty Wallace and Dave Blaney got collected in the mass of bent sheetmetal.
"From the start of the race, Harvick tried to give me a flat," said an irate Johnson, who led a race-high 20 laps. "He tried to bumpdraft in the center of the turn. I guess all those years of watching TV and worshipping racing like he says he did, he didn't watch much of it to realize you're not suppose to bumpdraft in a turn.
"It's a shame, he just tore up six or seven good race cars. I hope that (Richard) Childress either fires him or NASCAR does something about this, because this is ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous."
"He's just driving stupid," said an equally unhappy Nemechek. "He'll get it back. It was totally uncalled for what happened out there. Everybody's racing and he's trying to turn people around in the corner."
After looking over his mangled race car, Martin was asked if he could possibly win his final Daytona 500 in his backup car; "Absolutely not! was his answer."
Kevin Lepage, Martin Truex Jr. and Scott Riggs completed the top-five.
In the race within the race, Truex Jr. and Lepage were the top-two finishers of nine drivers who were not already qualified for the Daytona 500 and earned themselves a place on Sunday's starting grid.
Dale Jarrett will start on the pole for Sunday's 47th running of the Daytona 500 which is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. (et). Johnson will start on the outside of Jarrett assuming he can still use today's car.
Michael Waltrip and Stewart will start in row two, their reward for today's victories. Meanwhile Dale Earnhardt Jr, the defending Daytona 500 champion and Jeff Burton will start in row three.
Daytona Beach, FL (Sports Network) - Tony Stewart avoided a big crash and captured the second Gatorade Duel at Daytona event at the Daytona International Speedway. The No.20 Home Depot Chevrolet driver took the checkered flag 0.183 seconds ahead of runner-up Jeff Burton.
It was the first "Duel" win of Stewart's career. He led the final 12 laps after starting 13th on the grid.
"Thanks to all the guys on this Home Depot team," said Stewart. "The Monte Carlo was good today. We were a little bit tight and we need to work on it before Sunday, but we've got a pretty good race car obviously."
Meanwhile, the story of the nightcap was the accident on lap 36.
It was started when Kevin Harvick tried to "bumpdraft" Jimmie Johnson in the middle of the turn 2 and sent the leader spinning. Joe Nemechek, Mark Martin, Rusty Wallace and Dave Blaney got collected in the mass of bent sheetmetal.
"From the start of the race, Harvick tried to give me a flat," said an irate Johnson, who led a race-high 20 laps. "He tried to bumpdraft in the center of the turn. I guess all those years of watching TV and worshipping racing like he says he did, he didn't watch much of it to realize you're not suppose to bumpdraft in a turn.
"It's a shame, he just tore up six or seven good race cars. I hope that (Richard) Childress either fires him or NASCAR does something about this, because this is ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous."
"He's just driving stupid," said an equally unhappy Nemechek. "He'll get it back. It was totally uncalled for what happened out there. Everybody's racing and he's trying to turn people around in the corner."
After looking over his mangled race car, Martin was asked if he could possibly win his final Daytona 500 in his backup car; "Absolutely not! was his answer."
Kevin Lepage, Martin Truex Jr. and Scott Riggs completed the top-five.
In the race within the race, Truex Jr. and Lepage were the top-two finishers of nine drivers who were not already qualified for the Daytona 500 and earned themselves a place on Sunday's starting grid.
Dale Jarrett will start on the pole for Sunday's 47th running of the Daytona 500 which is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. (et). Johnson will start on the outside of Jarrett assuming he can still use today's car.
Michael Waltrip and Stewart will start in row two, their reward for today's victories. Meanwhile Dale Earnhardt Jr, the defending Daytona 500 champion and Jeff Burton will start in row three.
Comment