Notes: Gibbs team a few laps from domination

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- With 30 laps remaining in Saturday night's Pepsi 400 at Daytona International Speedway, Joe Gibbs Racing's fortunes were looking rosy with Tony Stewart and Bobby Labonte running fourth and fifth.

	Stewart's No. 20 Chevrolet finished fifth on Saturday. Credit: Autostock

But what would have been a sweet bit of Daytona revenge for Washington Redskins head coach Gibbs, who was at the event, fell shorter when Stewart -- whose No. 20 Coca-Cola C2/Home Depot Chevrolet led from laps 142-153 -- fell to fifth.

Labonte's Wellbutrin XL Chevy, which also battled a tight condition, was seventh at the finish.

On his final pit stop, Stewart opted for two tires for track position. It enabled him to lead, but not to maintain his advantage.

"We gambled there and took two and it got us good track position," Stewart said. "My problem was I just couldn't hold 'em off. We were just too tight there and they got a big run on us."

After the critical green flag pit cycle ended at lap 142, it took eventual race winner Jeff Gordon only six laps to catch Stewart. But it took Gordon six more laps to connect with teammate Jimmie Johnson and find a way past Stewart.

Stewart's recent Daytona memories include finishing last with a blown engine in the 2002 Daytona 500 and a vicious tumble down the backstretch -- ironically in which he landed on top of his teammate Labonte in 2001, so his car's potency wasn't lost on Stewart.

	Bobby Labonte finished seventh on Saturday. Credit: Autostock

"It was fun -- it was good to get up there in the top-five today," Stewart said. "It was a big improvement from where the car was in Happy Hour to race time."

Labonte said his car was too tight all night, but in the end he was pleased with the result and to gain a spot in the standings, up to sixth. Stewart ended the night fourth in the points.

Stewart's two-spot gain, in particular, eased some of the pain he'd felt when he realized what was roaring up behind him -- namely a pair of Hendrick Motorsports cars pulling a snarling train.

"There's nothing you can do about it, first of all," Stewart said. "But I can tell you one thing, it's not a pretty sight watching a dot behind you get really big all of a sudden.

"I figured the whole line would go by us, but they caught me at the wrong spot on the track coming off of (Turn) 4."

That contributed to Stewart's six-lap respite, but it wasn't long enough.

"It got us going there and I thought we might have a shot at winning this thing, but it just kept getting tighter and tighter off of 2," Stewart said. "Once they got by it made it even tighter yet."

Junior's night the pits

Dale Earnhardt Jr. might have finished third, but even that high mark was far below the expectations of his crew. Problems in the pits -- from poor handling to sub-par pit stops, had Junior on edge.

Pepsi 400 Jeff Gordon celebrates his second straight win Play video Jeff Gordon heads to the checkers at Daytona Play video Earnhardt Jr. takes a wild ride through the grass Play video Ward Burton has big trouble in the early laps Play video  •  Results  •  Standings

Getting knocked out into the soggy trioval grass by rookie Brian Vickers after his best stop, executed while leading the race at Lap 72, did nothing to improve his mood.

"Some of these guys just don't watch where they're going," Junior growled. "They ain't got good spotters or something because the guy just ran me right into the grass.

"I was too far up on him to check up and get behind him or I would have done that anyways. But it didn't hurt the car any."

Vickers was contrite, but claimed, due to his safety gear and headrest in his GMAC Chevrolet's cockpit, he hardly knew what had occurred.

"I didn't even know about it until two laps later, to be completely honest with you," Vickers said. "Peter (Sospenzo, crew chief) is the one who gets me out of the box and I'm sure Junior knows this (because) I told Ricky (Hendrick, his spotter) to tell him that I was sorry about that -- I had no idea that he was out there.

"Peter and all the crew chiefs down pit road are the ones that clear the drivers out of the box. The way we are pulling out of the pit box at a 45-degree angle, the only thing that we can see in the mirror is our pit crew so we are pretty much in their hands as far as pulling out of the box and who is to our outside.

"As far as I was concerned and as far as my crew chief was concerned, he said 'Clear to the grass, go, go, go, clear to the grass,' so I went on out there. Jeff (Gordon) was actually to my inside and he probably didn't know that I was on his outside.

"Jeff just about ran me into the grass. I'm not saying that anything was meant by it. He probably didn't know that I was to his outside (because) I was all the way to his left rear tire and he was running me out.

"Junior must have been to my left rear tire and I was running him out. It was just a chain reaction. I had to check up to keep from going into the grass myself."

"Three of us were pulling out of the pits at the same time on the outside of each other," Earnhardt agreed. "I had so much racecar up beside the 25, lifting and getting behind him wasn't an option -- I'd end up hitting him so I just went into the grass."

Junior quite the historian

Dale Earnhardt Jr. often displays a keen affinity for the history of motorsports, and Saturday night was no exception, after he sailed into the wet trioval grass after a traffic jam on pit road.

	Dale Earnhardt Jr. says a little historical knowledge helped him Saturday night. Credit: Autostock

"You're not thinking about the grass being that wet at the time," Earnhardt said. "Once you hit it you really knew you're in for a hell of a time trying to get out of it.

"I just sat there trying to ride it out trying to keep the car from spinning out and getting stuck."

Junior's historical knowledge played a role there, he said.

"In the 1979 Daytona 500 the 11 (Cale Yarborough), 15 (Bobby Allison) and the 1 (Donnie Allison) spun out at the back straightaway (and) none of them could get out.

"I remembered that and to keep your car rolling and moving somehow or another when you get in the wet grass."

Petty outside the box

Richard Petty might have had a big-time weekend, celebrating his 67th birthday on Friday and the 20th anniversary of his 200th NASCAR Cup Series victory on Saturday; but he wasted no opportunity to take several entities to task, including NASCAR and the media.

	Richard Petty celebrated the 20th anniversary of his 200th Cup victory Saturday. Credit: Autostock

Asked to comment about Tony Stewart's penalty after Stewart verbally and physically accosted Brian Vickers after the Dodge/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway, Petty got to the point quickly.

"I think that's the difference from old school to new school -- everything is a little bit different now than it was 20 years ago or 40 years ago," Petty said. "Any time some of these guys go to the bathroom some of you guys follow him.

"You can't go on the backstretch and knock them out of the way like you used to and say, 'What happened to him?' There's always a camera or something watching."

That being said, Petty opined a little contention was good for the sport.

"I think you can overdo anything," Petty said. "You can overdo it and just leave it wide open or you can overdo it and pinpoint it too much. I think without a little bit of rivalry or competition, I think in the long run (NASCAR) would be hurting themselves.

"It can't be blatant, but a little bit of an argument, a little bit of pushing -- hey man, they do that in the grandstands. If you just get in an all-out brawl with a bunch of people, then you're getting into a different deal, but when we're just having an argument amongst ourselves, and there's a bunch of people around, it's between me and you.

"I think we're pushing the envelope a little bit too tight."

Pit miscue bites Johnson again

One of Nextel Cup Series point leader Jimmie Johnson's most notable career gaffes to this point was sliding through his pit stall in the 2002 Coca-Cola 600, costing him a shot at a potential victory.

	Jimmie Johnson says a mistake in the pits may have kept him from victory Saturday. Credit: Autostock

On Saturday night, Johnson had no question he pitted at the right time, in a group that included teammate Jeff Gordon. It was his execution of the stop that he rued after he couldn't beat Gordon.

"We played out (when to pit) right," Johnson said. "The problem was I got to pit road a little too hot and we had the left front locked up and slid up against the wall and lost a lot of track position.

"We were still able got second, but I wish I wouldn't have made that mistake. It may have cost us the win."

Martin happy with Daytona improvement

After Mark Martin completed only seven laps in the Daytona 500, finishing last with a blown engine in his Viagra Ford, he was ecstatic over a sixth-place finish in the Pepsi 400.

"Oh yeah, I'll take this," Martin said. "I only made eight laps in February. This is the kind of car I had in February, too (and) that's why I was so upset -- not only about the points but I thought I might have had a chance to be a contender in the 500.

"We certainly had a chance today. I know we finished sixth and that's nothing to brag about, but we just missed it by one lick."

Martin was in the camp that hated the two-hour rain delay that caused the race to finish at around midnight.

"Yeah, I really think if it hadn't rained and the weather hadn't gotten like it did, it would have been better for us," Martin said. "We got a little tight. If it would have been as tight as it was yesterday without the rain cooling the asphalt down we would have been better yet."

Harvick also endures

	Kevin Harvick

Kevin Harvick opted for a two-tire green flag pit stop with his Coca-Cola C2/Goodwrench Chevrolet and was second behind leader Stewart with less than 20 laps to go. But his car turned evil and Harvick ended up 14th.

"That was probably the loosest car I have ever driven," Harvick said. "We got back towards the front right before that last run and took two tires to put ourselves into a position to win the race.

"Five laps into the last run the car just got terribly loose again and I did all I could just to hold onto it. I have to give these guys some credit because we gave it what we had -- It just got so loose there at the end I couldn't really drive it."

Leffler answers rough driving charge

In a wild finish to Friday night's Winn-Dixie 250 Busch Series race, Jason Leffler made contact with leader Michael Waltrip, who then spun and then moved up the racetrack to block a charging Dale Earnhardt Jr., knocking both of them into the wall.

	Jason Leffler

Mike Wallace squirted through to win and Leffler recovered for second -- until about half an hour after the race, when NASCAR assessed Leffler a one-second penalty for "over-aggressive driving," which knocked him back to 13th in the rundown.

Leffler, who remained eighth in the Busch standings despite the penalty, contended he had done no wrong Friday night and he continued in the same vein Saturday.

"You know, this kind of racing is exciting -- this is what the fans come out to see and they saw it all (Friday night)," Leffler said. "On the last lap it looked like Michael lost it and I was content on finishing second and got in the back of him to help him get back to speed.

"I hate it for those guys, but I never had the intention to wreck anyone. The penalty was a horrible blow to me and the Haas Automation guys, but we'll make the best of it and go to Chicago and prove ourselves again."