Danica evades 'Big One' for another Daytona top-10

Posted on July 6, 2014 by Holly Cain

Patrick matches 2013 Daytona 500 finish of eighth in Coke Zero 400

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Danica Patrick was smiling and looking pretty satisfied standing in her Stewart-Haas Racing pit stall talking to her pit crew while waiting out the weather Sunday afternoon at Daytona International Speedway.

NASCAR decided to call the Coke Zero 400 48-laps early because of rain, but it did not dampen Patrick’s spirits. Her eighth-place finish equals her best career NASCAR Sprint Cup showing here (2013 Daytona 500) and was arguably every bit as hard-earned — even if not as headline-worthy — as any of the seven drivers who finished ahead of her.

Patrick maneuvered her No. 10 GoDaddy/Florida Lottery Chevrolet through two massive wrecks — one that included more than half the field — overcame two pit road miscues and drove to the front to collect her second top-10 of the season.

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"We missed more wrecks than I’ve ever seen here at Daytona not to be all torn up,” Patrick’s veteran crew chief Tony Gibson said moments after the race was called.

"We had some damage that looked like it was going to be bigger than it was. We got it on pit road and looked at it and it wasn’t too bad. We kept beating it out and cut some stuff off and actually the car ran pretty good.

"I know she was worried about it being able to perform with damage, but she did a good job staying tucked up in there. I didn’t know how good it was going to lead, but I’m pretty happy with P8 right there. Obviously I’d liked to have seen what would have happened there at the end with us and our teammate (third place finisher Kurt Busch) but I’m happy with that.

"Not being torn up that bad and a top-10 finish, I’m good."

Patrick was a bit more philosophical about the day. Although her Chevy suffered a glancing blow in the first 16-car accident on lap 20 and another in the 26-car wreck on Lap 98, her car was relatively unscathed — especially compared to her SHR teammates Tony Stewart and Kevin Harvick, who were taken out of contention in the first "big one" of the day.

In the second, larger accident, her bright green and pink Chevrolet literally emerged high on track as a spinning, flipping, smoking melee of cars erupted around her.

Ironically, she credits much of that good fortune in the accidents to her misfortune on pit road.

Gaining positions after the first accident, she had driven to sixth when she missed her pit stall while pitting on lap 85. But when Patrick returned to the track she was 30th and well behind the accident up front.

"Everything happens for a reason, so maybe that’s why I had the mistake on pit lane and put ourselves in a position to not be caught in [the second wreck]," Patrick said. "We would be sitting here with a crashed car, not sitting where we are now. I believe for sure, everything happens for a reason. That was a lucky one."

"They were big (accidents) for a lot of people and they were mini for me. Other than pitting when pits are closed and having to start at the back I think we’re real happy about catching yellow in the middle of the race and having a car that can run well here."

Patrick was so confident in the car she insisted she would have been fine if NASCAR had decided to restart the race instead of calling it early because of bad weather.

Gibson, however, was not surprisingly happy to head north with a top-10.

"It’s feast or famine,” Gibson said. "When it gets to this deal right here (later in the race), I guarantee you if it had gone back to green you’d have seen another wreck and most of the time you’re in it.

"I’m happy with this (finish). It keeps the momentum on our side. If we can finish strong (next week) at Loudon (New Hampshire) before the break I think we’ll be in good shape."

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Posted on July 6, 2014 by Staff Report

Moments that changed the course of the 19th race of the 2014 season

KESELOWSKI DOMINATES FOR WEEKEND SWEEP
Brad Keselowski won the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Camping World RV Sales 301 Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in a dramatic green-white-checkered finish.

This is Keselowski’s third win this season and a Sprint Cup career-first at the New England track.

Keselowski also won Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series Sta-Green 200, which marks the first time a driver has swept the weekend at Loudon.

"This was a hard fought battle passing cars and trying to stay up front all day," Keselowski said. "We had a couple bullets to dodge and I am not thinking of anything else right now than how thankful I am to have a team and car that is clicking this well. Hopefully we can keep it going."

LOGANO KNOCKED OUT AFTER CONTACT WITH SHEPHERD
Joey Logano looked to be having a strong run in Sunday’s Camping World RV Sales 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

He was riding in second place with Team Penske teammate Brad Keselowski in the lead when the No. 33 car of Morgan Shepherd came from behind and spun out Logano.

Shepherd stretched his own record as the oldest driver to compete in NASCAR’s top division at 72 years, 1 month and 23 days old. Shepherd set the record last July at New Hampshire at 71 years old.

Logano, clearly frustrated, said about the incident, "Slowest car on the race track took us out. Go figure. We had a pretty good AutoTrader Ford. We were just doing what we can to hang in there. We were obviously running second. Brad is really, really fast. He definitely is the car to beat right now. We were just doing what we can with strategy. Keeping our car up towards the front.

"Running some good lap times. Felt like we could have a Penske 1-2 again and then just to get taken out by the slowest car. I feel like there should be a driver’s test before you get out in a (Sprint) Cup car and make sure you know how to drive before you drive one, but I don’t know. I guess there isn’t."

TIRE ISSUE ENDS JOHNSON’S DAY EARLY
Six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion and three-time 2014 winner Jimmie Johnson finished 42nd Sunday’s Camping World RV Sales 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway after having early tire troubles.

Johnson started the race on the front row, next to polesitter Kyle Busch, but that is where the fun ended for him. On Lap 8, Johnson’s left-rear tire went flat causing him to go to pit road.

Johnson returned to the track on Lap 11, but one lap down.

On Lap 14, Johnson suffered another tire going down and got into the wall between Turns 1 and 2 to bring out the first caution of the day. Johnson told his team over the radio that the tire just exploded. He also reported via radio that the car was "pretty tore up."

"The first one, I was able to drive the car all the way through Turns 1 and 2. Knew I had a flat and got down the back and came in. The other one just blew on the straight as soon as I hit the brakes so I’m not sure what caused it.

"I’m sure there will be a lot of speculation and, I’m sure, finger-pointing back to the teams or our team. But we’ve seen some issues here, especially with that particular tire over the last couple of days. We’ll try to dig in and learn more, but I promise you one thing, it wasn’t low tire pressure. I’ve been out here for two days running around and haven’t had a flat."

Goodyear made the folllowing statement regarding the incident: "Tires failed in a manner consistent with low inflation pressure."

Posted on July 6, 2014 by Staff Report

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.

Posted on July 6, 2014 by Staff Report

Check out the racers to run the number over NASCAR’s 65-year history

The No. 43 car has become synonymous with seven-time NASCAR premier series champion and NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty, who ran all but 60 of his record 1,185 starts and claimed 192 of his record 200 wins in the car. But 42 other drivers have run a race in the No. 43 for a total of 1,897 starts.

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In 1949, the first season of the Strictly Stock series now known as the Sprint Cup Series, Jack Russell finished 42nd at Langhorne (Pennsylvania) Speedway in the fourth race of the season on September 11. The No. 43 car first raced for Petty Enterprises on February 7, 1954 when Bob Welborn finished 11th at Palm Beach Speedway in South Florida.  

Six drivers have accounted for 199 wins with the number, second most all time behind the 204 victories by the No. 11. Those drivers are Aric Almirola, John Andretti, Bobby Hamilton, Jim Paschal, Lee Petty and Richard Petty.  

Here is a chronological history of the drivers who have run the No. 43 along with their starts and wins.  

1949
1) Jack Russell (3 starts)

1950
2) Shorty York (2 starts)

1951
3) Paul Newkirk (2 starts)
4) Billy Tibbett (1 start)

1952
5) Larry Mann (5 starts)
Paul Newkirk

1953
6) Ray Duhigg (1 start)
7) Jimmie Lewallen (4 starts)
8) Jim Paschal (12 starts and 2 wins)

1954
9) Whitey Brainerd (2 starts)
10) Billy Irvin (3 starts)
11) Danny Letner (1 start)
12) Bob Welborn (3)

1955
13) Slim Brown (1 start)
14) George Gregory (1 start)
15) Possum Jones (1 start)

1956
16) Len Fraker (1 start)
17) Louis Headley (1 start)
18) Bob Ross (7 starts)
Shorty York

1957
19) Bill Lutz (1 start)
20) Ken Marriott (1 start)
21) Howard Phillippi (1 start)
Bob Ross

1958
22) Bill Mitchell (1 start)
23) Jim Reed (1 start)
Bob Ross

1959
24) Bill Jarlick (2 starts)
25) Lee Petty (2 starts and 1 win)
26) Richard Petty (1,125 starts)

1960
Richard Petty
Bob Ross

1961
27) Joe Clark (1 start)
28) Maurice Petty (4 starts)
Richard Petty

1962
Maurice Petty
Richard Petty

1963
29) Jimmy Massey (2 starts)
Jim Paschal
Maurice Petty
Richard Petty

1964
Jim Paschal
Richard Petty

1965
Jim Paschal
Richard Petty
30) Fritz Wilson (1 start)
31) LeeRoy Yarbrough (1 start)

1966
32) Darel Dieringer (1 start)
Jim Paschal
Richard Petty

1967-1969
Richard Petty

1970
Jim Paschal
Richard Petty

1971
Richard Petty
33) Ernie Shaw (1 start)

1972-1980
Richard Petty

1981
34) Kyle Petty (1 start)
Richard Petty

1982-1992
Richard Petty

1993
None

1994
35) John Andretti (197 starts and 1 win)
36) Wally Dallenbach Jr.

1995-1997
37) Bobby Hamilton (94 starts and 2 wins)

1998-2002
John Andretti

2003
John Andretti
38) Christian Fittipaldi (10 starts)
39) Jeff Green (80 starts) 

2004-2005
Jeff Green

2006-2008
40) Bobby Labonte (108 starts)

2009
41) Reed Sorenson (36 starts)

2010-2011
42) AJ Allmendinger (72 starts)

2012-present
43) Aric Almirola (89 starts and 1 win) 

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