Rewind | Debris cautions vs. end of race: NASCAR knows drama

DAVID POOLE and JIM UTTER

The Charlotte Observer

Sunday, Jul. 06, 2008

Rewinding the tape, taking another look at Saturday night's Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway:

POOLE'S REAR-VIEW MIRROR

Every car owner who had his race car damaged in the wreck that ended Saturday night's race should send the bill for fixing it or replacing it to NASCAR. Those wrecks never should have happened because the race should have been over when Jeff Gordon spun as the green-white-checkered began.

NASCAR tells you it sometimes has to throw a caution for debris because officials aren't sure if something on the track is dangerous or not. So how could NASCAR be sure Gordon could get his car going again before the entire field came back around to where it was sitting, or that Gordon was not in need of any assistance?

It couldn’t, of course.

Only 34 points separate eighth from 13th in the race for the 12 Chase spots, but there's a pretty nice gap behind that. Martin Truex Jr. is 14th now, but that will change when his team gets penalized for the car NASCAR confiscated Thursday.

It's 100 points from Kevin Harvick in 13th to David Ragan who'll likely be 14th after the penalty.

Actor Kevin Costner also plays in a band called Modern West, which played in the Fan Zone before Saturday's race. Costner came to the media center and did a Q&A with reporters in which he sounded like a really decent guy. He didn't try to fake that he knew more about racing than he does and didn't seem to take himself nearly as seriously as some "stars" who've done similar media sessions.

PIT STOPS

Stewart planning to visit his doctor

Tony Stewart said he hasn't been feeling well for two weeks and plans a visit to his doctor this week after he experienced severe flu-like symptoms on Saturday and was forced to get out of his car after 72 laps. He was relieved by driver J.J. Yeley.

"It didn't bother me at Loudon (the last race) because it wasn't as physical of a race, but it got to where somewhere between (Friday) night and where we started (Saturday), it got to where I started feeling worse and worse," Stewart said.

"I thought we were going to be able to (make it), but once the car got a little bit loose and we had to start really sawing on the wheel, it liked zapped the energy out of me and I started making mistakes."

Yeley finished 20th, which left Stewart in 12th in the series standings, just two points ahead of 13th-place Kevin Harvick.

Earnhardt Jr. winds up in eighth

Dale Earnhardt Jr. led five times for 51 laps Saturday night, but spent the final laps outside of the battle for the victory in the Coke Zero 400 and finished eighth.

"Those last several laps it was rough out there," he said. "We tried to do the best we could. Jeff (Gordon) got a great run on me and went to the outside and got the lead doing what he can to win the race. That's what you got to do. ...But it shuffled us back a little bit and we tried to work our way back up to the front and we got back into third a couple of times.

"Matt (Kenseth) got a good run. I wasn't up on my toes there watching him. And he got a good shove and got on the outside of me. The bottom wasn't where I wanted to be, so I was trying to get back to the top and we was getting turned into everybody and wrecked and it bent something in the front end. ...The steering wheel went off-center and I was just trying to hang on from there on."

"I thought it was going to be OK. We got it back to the top and were about fourth in line and I guess the race was over with, hell."

Earnhardt Jr. said the final laps might have been a little too exciting.

"Some of it was ignorance even though it was still amazing to watch," he said. "We should have won, you know, had the best car. But there at the end though, man, I didn't want to be racing with any of them guys out there I was around. I didn't want to be near anybody that was driving. It was crazy. They were running into each other and wrecking and carrying on."

Carpentier earns career-best finish

Patrick Carpentier had to rebuild his car and rally from the back but still managed a Cup career-best 14th place finish at Daytona and earn rookie of the race honors for the first time this season.

His previous best finish was 22nd at Watkins Glen last season.

Because it was an impound race, Carpentier's No. 10 Dodge was still in qualifying setup when the race started and required extensive changes during the race.

"It was amazing. I mean, we started with a qualifying car and took a while to change it, but the last 60 laps it really came alive and the guys did a good job in the pits. And we had some power, so it was good," Carpentier said.

"It was fun. I it was so much fun to be part of it at the end when you can race your way out. I was trying to hold it wide-open no matter what, so it was cool."

Ragan closes in on top 12

David Ragan's fifth-place finish gave him more top-five finishes at the halfway point of this season (three) than he had all of last year. His improvement can also be seen in the points standings, where he gained two spots to 15th and sits just 102 points outside the top 12, the cutoff for the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

"This is what it's going to take to make the Chase," Ragan said. "To get out of Daytona with a good finish, we've just got to look at some of the next few races and stay focused on the big picture."

Kurt Busch rallies for top-five finish

Fresh off a victory at New Hampshire, Kurt Busch got off to a bad start, wrecking his No. 2 Dodge during practice on Thursday. Using his backup car and starting from the rear of the field, Busch, this year's Daytona 500 runner-up, was able to race his way back and held on to finish fourth.

"We just fought all day with making changes trying to make our car better," he said. "It was about the same setup we had here in February and it showed up there at the end. To finish with two top-fives in a row is a good twist of fate for our team and we'll try to build on it."

Robby Gordon dodges mistakes

Robby Gordon finished sixth Saturday and said if he had been able find some help it might have been better than that.

"I know everybody is out to win this thing," he said. "I definitely think if we had some help there at the end, we had a shot at the win.

"But for us to come back after getting shuffled out, getting stuck in the middle and still finish sixth, it shows how strong our little team is getting in this world that everybody tells us single-car teams can't compete.

"We have been very fast lately. We seem to mess it up when it comes to race time, but we've been eliminating those mistakes lately. We didn't mess up tonight."

KEY MOMENTS

Lap 72

Tony Stewart, suffering from flu-like symptoms that had him feeling lousy all day Saturday, gets out of the No. 20 Toyota, allowing J.J. Yeley to take over. Stewart's car was good enough to win, so for him to get out of it he must have felt terrible.

Lap 83

Kyle Busch saves his car after he said the air pushed the nose down and pinned it to the track when he pulled out to try to take the lead. That not only could have ended Busch's night, it could have started a big, ugly wreck if Busch hadn't made the save.

Lap 156

Jeff Gordon is leading with Busch on his rear bumper in the low line and Matt Kenseth leading a line charging up the outside. Gordon elects to block the run to the outside, but that opens the door for Busch to get by him in the low lane.

Lap 157

What causes the wreck that sets up a green-white-checkered finish? Who knows? It's Daytona and the race is coming to an end. With cars piled on top of each other the real question is how come only six or eight cars - and not the whole field - is in the wreck.

Lap 161

Instead of perhaps co-operating so both might pass Busch, Jeff Gordon and Carl Edwards get together and Gordon goes spinning down the Turn 1 end of the frontstretch as the race restarts for the last time.

NEXT RACE

LifeLock 400

Where: Chicagoland Speedway, Joliet, Ill.

When: 8 p.m. Saturday.

TV: TNT.

Radio: Motor Racing Network.

Last year's winner: Tony Stewart.

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