Moments that changed the course of the 18th race of the 2014 season
RAIN SHORTENS RACE FOR ALMIROLA WIN
Aric Almirola got his first career Sprint Cup Series victory and first victory for the No. 43 car since 1999 on Sunday, winning the rain-shortened Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola at Daytona International Speedway. Scheduled for 160 laps on the 2.5-mile superspeedway, the race was called after 112 laps because of rain. Almirola, who entered with four top-five finishes in his seven-year career, led 14 laps.
“We’ve been right there where we need to be to be competitive; we just haven’t got to that next level,” Almirola said. “This is so cool to get this team and all these guys right here behind me that have been working on this race team for a long time and haven’t got to go to Victory Lane with this 43 car. It’s so, so special.”
“We had a very fast car nonetheless, but we’ll take them any way we can get them,” Almirola said. “We’re going to be in the Chase. This race team deserves to be in the Chase. I told everybody at the beginning of the year — I told my sponsors, everybody that was committing to our race team — I said, ‘I promise you I will get you to Victory Lane,’ and lo and behold.”
BIG ONE IMPACTS 26 CARS WITH KYLE BUSCH ON HIS ROOF
A second major pileup that involved 26 cars slowed the Coke Zero 400 on Sunday afternoon, forcing the second red flag of the day at Daytona International Speedway.
Three cars tangled near the front of the pack at the end of the backstretch, snagging multiple cars in the smoky mess and turning the No. 18 Toyota of Kyle Busch onto its roof. The melee caused a stoppage with 98 of a scheduled 160 laps complete.
Contact between cars driven by Greg Biffle and Kasey Kahne hooked the No. 22 Ford of Joey Logano heading to Turn 3, blocking the 2.5-mile track. By the time the tally of cars involved hit 26, very few lead-lap cars were remaining to contend for the win.
“Just so unhappy,” said Biffle, who led twice for nine laps before the stack-up. “Just close-quarters racing.”
The drivers involved with varying degrees of damage: Kahne, Clint Bowyer, Alex Bowman, Busch, Biffle, Cole Whitt, pole-sitter David Gilliland, Justin Allgaier, Ryan Newman, Paul Menard, Josh Wise, Michael Annett, Ryan Truex, Bobby Labonte, Matt Kenseth, Landon Cassill, Jamie McMurray, Marcos Ambrose, Logano, David Ragan, Denny Hamlin, Danica Patrick, Brad Keselowski, Terry Labonte, Reed Sorenson and Michael McDowell.
SIXTEEN-CAR WRECK CLAIMS CONTENDERS EARLY
A massive early 16-car crash has slowed an already delayed start to the Coke Zero 400, knocking out several heavy favorites at Daytona International Speedway.
The multi-car wreck as the field came to complete the 20th of 160 scheduled laps for a NASCAR-mandated competition caution. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.‘s No. 17 Ford got loose off Turn 4 then made contact with the No. 24 Chevy of Jeff Gordon and the No. 14 Chevrolet of Tony Stewart heading to the start-finish line, blocking the track and snaring many contending cars in their wake.
By the time the smoke settled in the trioval area of the 2.5-mile track, the cars of Stenhouse, Stewart, Kevin Harvick, Danica Patrick, Marcos Ambrose, Matt Kenseth, Trevor Bayne, Gordon, Kyle Larson, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, AJ Allmendinger, Michael Waltrip, Johnson and Carl Edwards were all involved. Some went back to the garage on the wrecker’s hook while others continued after minor damage or a drive through the infield grass.
“I just saw cars and smoke,” said Johnson, who swept both NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events at Daytona in 2013. “I don’t know what triggered it or what happened.”
The race had already been under caution and red-flagged once because of rain. Persistent showers delayed the race from a Saturday night event to a Sunday morning race.
The NASCAR Wire Service contributed to this story.