Nine cars suffered varying degrees of damage in the early wreck. Credit: CIA Stock Photo

Martin bids bitter farewell to Daytona with crash

Total of nine cars damaged in Lap 35 melee

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Mark Martin lives about five miles from Daytona International Speedway. He's never won a Nextel Cup points race at the 2.5-mile track. And unless he decides to return in the future to compete at Daytona in a Cup car, it appears he never will.

Martin was involved in a Lap 35 crash at Daytona that claimed nine cars, including Martin, who fell to eighth in the standings after finishing 39th.

The accident occurred during the first round of green-flag pit stops, and Scott Riggs said the fray was caused when some drivers failed to use hand signals to indicate they were heading to pit road.

Credit: CIA Stock Photo

Results Pepsi 400 at Daytona Pos. Driver Make 1. T. Stewart Chevrolet 2. J. McMurray Dodge 3. D. Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 4. R. Wallace Ford 5. D. Jarrett Ford • Complete results, click here • Standings, click here Final lapsA four-wide pass and big wreck highlight the last laps Costly wreckWaltrip cuts a tire, hits Biffle and then slams the wall Multi-car wreckThe Big One strikes on Lap 35 at Daytona Not in panic modeJeff Gordon says his team isn't scrambling just yet Sign up for TrackPass now BUY YOUR NEXTEL DRIVER PHONE

Jamie McMurray was immediately in front of Riggs on the frontstretch when Riggs darted to the left to avoid a slowing McMurray. Riggs' Chevrolet went directly into Martin's path, and the wreck was on.

Martin, Riggs, Casey Mears, Kurt Busch and Bobby Labonte suffered the most damage. Martin went to the infield medical center, where he was checked and released.

"[I am] glad this is the last time I have ever got to race here," Martin said. "That can happen anywhere, but that is goofy.

"I am doing fine, just disgusted. All I saw was somebody surprised Scott Riggs about pitting, and he hung a right on me, and that was it. I don't think he knew the car in front of him was getting ready to pit."

Riggs said there was nothing he could do.

"I didn't see the 24 [Jeff Gordon] nor the 42 [McMurray] use hand signals to let me know they were going to pit," said Riggs. "They just let off the throttle. Typical speedway racing. I have heard Mark several times complaining about speedway racing so I am sure he knows what it is all about."

McMurray, who went on to finish second, was surprised after the race when he was told that Riggs didn't see his signal to pit.

"I didn't know I was the guilty victim of that deal," McMurray said. "I waved going down the backstretch that I was going to pit. I waved, but my car was so loose on old tires that I had to have both hands on the wheel.

"I didn't know there was an issue, we were really low on the racetrack. I didn't know someone was behind me."

The crash ends an outstanding streak for Martin, who entered Daytona with top-10s in four of his last five races.

"I wasn't worried about winning. I just didn't want to wreck," Martin said. "Now we got to worry about making the Chase. Somebody wasn't communicating."

The crash was probably more damaging to Kurt Busch, who entered Daytona eighth in the standings.

Like Martin, Busch was able to make it back onto the track but eventually settled for a 37th-place finish. He lost 72 points to the Nextel Cup points leader.

"Yeah, we just have to smile about it and go to Chicago and race the best that we can," said Busch, who slid to ninth in the points. "It's a bummer, but we've got good tracks coming up."

Bobby Labonte was also involved, but he only had damage on his right front. After his team patched the damage, they sent him back out, and he wound up 35th.