'Same old Daytona' makes going rough

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- It was a rough start to a long season for some NASCAR Busch Series drivers Saturday.

The 120-lap EAS/GNC Live Well 300 had four cautions for a total of 21 laps at Daytona International Speedway. The first race of the year always has an anticipation of a wreck or two. On a superspeedway like Daytona, it’s a sure bet someone is going home with a crumpled car.

Kerry Earnhardt was the first driver to put his fabricators to work. Coming out of Turn 2 in the No. 12 Supercuts Chevrolet on lap 23, he brushed the wall and spun off across the track toward Jeff Fuller, who was moving low to avoid the spinning Earnhardt.

			Kerry Earnhardt spins out on the track.

No good. Earnhardt tagged Fuller in the No. 88 Tops Chevrolet.

“We were taking it easy at first and letting all the cars get lined up,” Earnhardt said. “We started to run back through the pack and were passing several cars. We kind of lost the lead pack and then started to run them back down.

“Trouble was, the car started to pick up a push, and coming off of Turn 2 it just pushed like it jumped out and hit the wall. I think it’s just a Daytona rookie mistake.”

On lap 74, an eight-car melee went down as the pack started to barrel through the trioval. Christian Elder brushed the wall with his No. 38 Great Clips Ford and collected Ashton Lewis in the No. 46 Civil Air Patrol Chevrolet.

The spinning cars picked up five others to bring out the third caution. Tony Raines, Hank Parker Jr., Tim Sauter, Casey Mears and Andy Kirby fell victim to the incident as it unfolded in front of them.

“Same old Daytona,” said Raines, from his wrecked No. 33 Bayer Chevrolet. “Guys are out there running into each other and driving out of control.”

Parker said he was in the wrong place at the wrong time in the No. 36 GNC Dodge.

“We were just running along there,” he said. “The car was really tight and we tried to free it up as the race went along. We had a bad pit stop and ended up near the rear and two cars got together in front of us.”

Hank Parker Jr. finished 35th after his wreck. Credit: Action Sports.

The final caution flag flew 19 laps from the checkered flag involving some cars that were running in the top 10. Randy LaJoie touched Greg Biffle, who was running seventh, and he spun as a result.

Biffle’s spinning No. 60 Ford forced David Green and Jamie McMurray to take evasive actions. All three spun to avoid making contact and sustained damage to their cars.

The series now heads to North Carolina Speedway for next Saturday’s race.