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2000 champ back on track one week after 704-race streak ends
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Bobby Labonte didn’t even watch the race.
“I was driving somewhere,” he said, “so I really didn’t get to.”
It would’ve been understandable had Labonte not had the stomach for it, given that last week saw his streak of 704 consecutive Sprint Cup Series starts come to an end. While AJ Allmendinger drove the No. 47 car at Kentucky Speedway for a JTG Daugherty Racing team that entered the event 30th in owners’ points, Labonte was far from the track experiencing his first idle race weekend since 1992.
“I ended up staying busy doing something,” Labonte said Thursday. “It wasn’t too bad. Wasn’t what I thought I’d be doing, but it worked out.”
Labonte is back in the No. 47 this weekend at Daytona International Speedway, but his streak — which had been the second-longest active run behind Jeff Gordon’s now 706, and third-longest all-time to Ricky Rudd’s record 788 — is history. Prior to Kentucky, the last premier-series race without Labonte was the 1992 finale at Atlanta, before he landed his first full-time ride.
"Got to start a new one now, I guess."
— Bobby Labonte, on his consecutive-start streak that ended last week
Although Allmendinger also piloted the No. 47 car at Michigan two weeks earlier, Labonte kept his streak alive by driving James Finch’s No. 51 Chevrolet — a one-time concession allowed by Toyota, which backs his regular ride. Allmendinger will also likely drive the JTG Daugherty entry at Watkins Glen, and potentially two other events where the team is still without sponsorship.
In the meantime, Labonte is left to hope all the driver shuffling will pay off for a single-car program that hasn’t finished better than 15th all season. JTG Daugherty used to be a satellite team of Michael Waltrip Racing, but went off on its own prior to last year. Allmendinger finished 22nd at Kentucky, where Labonte said the No. 47 car used a new engine package and a setup different from one the team tried at a test on the 1.5-mile track.
Meanwhile, Labonte experienced the end of a streak that had been 21 years in the making.
“You really just take it as it is, and try to handle it as good as possible,” he said. “You hate that it happened. You wish that it wouldn’t have happened. But if it helps our race team out, then it’s going to be as good thing. We’ve just got to make sure it does.”
A man of few words even in the best of circumstances, Labonte didn’t go into detail about how he spent last weekend. “I was off. Evidently,” he deadpanned. But it’s clear the consecutive-race streak meant something to a driver who’s earned 21 victories on NASCAR’s premier circuit, his most recent coming at Homestead in the final race of the 2003 campaign.
“Got to start a new one now, I guess,” Labonte said. “You know it’s going to end at some point in time, but I was really looking forward to going to Kentucky. We had a great two-day test there, the best test we’ve had. The only test we’ve been on other than Charlotte this year. So that was good. But didn’t never get to put it to play. You hate that happened, but there’s a reason for everything.”
Asked about next season, Labonte said he’s still “supportive” of his current race team, co-owned by Tad Geschickter and Brad Daugherty. “Tad and I, we’ve talked about racing the 47 car for a long time,” he said. And how much longer does he want to race? “I don’t know that’s a question I can really answer,” he added.
And yet at 49, with his consecutive-race streak behind him and his last victory nearly a decade in the rearview mirror, Labonte isn’t unaware that some wonder how much longer he’ll strap himself inside a race car. He likes to think that time is later than it is sooner, particularly if his race team can get a handle on whatever may be holding it back.
“You’d like to think that if we can make some things right, we can make some good success out of it,” he said. “You try not to think about (retirement), because you don’t want to.”
And clearly, he doesn’t want to. Although Labonte will admit that being uncompetitive in the car can sting as badly as not being in it all, he still has trouble envisioning himself anywhere else. There will be a time, he said, when he won’t want to do this anymore. Now is not that time. And until it arrives, he’s going to continue to compete.
“Racers love to race,” he said. “I’d be lying to you if I said there weren’t days where I said, ‘What am I doing?’ But then there’s days I go, ‘What the heck? Why would I think that?’ You go through that. Everybody goes through that. I was watching a special the other night on TV about (women’s soccer) … and they were all saying a lot of the same things — this is my last year, this is my last year, this year. They said it over and over again, but they always worked hard and they always made it happen. You’ll decide whenever that decision (comes), I suppose. You’re just thankful for what you’ve got and what you do over what you can’t do.”
Besides, Labonte said, he’s not really certain what he might do once his competitive days are over. For now, he’s still passionate about driving the car.
“You really don’t have any promises for tomorrow. Whatever happens happens, you just better be happy and be ready for it,” he said. “I’d love to say that I’d be happy sitting on the beach, but that might not make me happy. I’d love to be happy sitting on a pit box, but that might not make me happy. I’m sitting in a race car now, and that’s my focus, and that’s what I want to do. Until somebody or someone else tells me different, you enjoy what you enjoy.”
And one week off can’t change that.
“You take it one day at a time, take it one step at a time,” Labonte said. “ Last weekend’s over, and we’ll start over this weekend. I can tell you this — there’s no way I’m going to go to 704 again.”
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No. 1 team hopes to send ‘Days of Thunder’-inspired City Chevrolet to Victory Lane
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — There ain’t nothing stock about a stock car. Particularly the one Kurt Busch is driving in the Nationwide Series this weekend at Daytona International Speedway — a vehicle that just might have tires matched perfect and staggered special.
The 2004 champion of NASCAR’s premier series will drop the hammer Friday night on a No. 1 car that will bear a very familiar paint scheme — the green and yellow made famous by Tom Cruise in the 1990 film “Days of Thunder,” complete with City Chevrolet sponsorship on the hood. With the blessing of Rick Hendrick, who owns the real-life Charlotte dealership, Busch gave Phoenix Racing a simple mandate — build him a car, and he’d win Daytona.
“We all have our harebrained ideas, and you never know when you can go full-throttle with it. But it was my objective to have this when we were together last year, but the timing wasn’t quite right. It really came down to getting Mr. H to jump on board, and he gave me that thumbs up when we were at his charity golf tournament together after the All-Star race this year,” Busch said Thursday.
"We all have our harebrained ideas, and you never know when you can go full-throttle with it."
— Kurt Busch
“…I was like, ‘We’ve got to do this. Come on, let’s do it.’ He said, ‘Not only will we do this, I’ll make sure I give you guys the best piece under the hood I can get you.’ Like that line out of the movie: ‘Where did you get that motor? Well, we stole it.’ So he was into it right away.”
It was a natural tie-in for Phoenix Racing, which uses Hendrick Motorsports engines and won the Nationwide race at Daytona last summer with Busch behind the wheel. Although he now drives for Furniture Row Racing on the Sprint Cup Series, Busch maintains the relationships he built last year competing with Phoenix on NASCAR’s premier circuit. Busch toyed with the idea of a “Days of Thunder” scheme last season at Talladega, a race for which the team didn’t have sponsorship, but wound up using “Talladega Nights” look — hard to forget that cougar on the hood — instead.
For Daytona, the timing was right — partly because the 2.5-mile track is such a focus in the film. Busch mentioned the idea to his girlfriend Patricia Driscoll, who is president and executive director of the Armed Forces Foundation, and they realized the paint scheme could also be used to raise awareness for traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress syndrome, maladies suffered by a pair of injured drivers in the movie.
The final step was approval from Hendrick, for whom City Chevrolet is the flagship of his automotive empire. He served as a technical advisor to the film, and also was the inspiration for the team owner in the movie. The real City Chevrolet car from “Days of Thunder” typically resides in the Hendrick Motorsports museum, although it’s currently on loan to the NASCAR Hall of Fame for its “Lights, Camera, NASCAR” exhibit. Hendrick not only gave James Finch’s team the green light, he also read a few lines for a short reenactment of a scene from the film (see the video below) that also included Busch and crew chief Nick Harrison.
“Mr. H is the best,” said Steve Barkdoll, general manager for Phoenix Racing. “He is the easiest, the funnest, he likes to think outside the box. He loves Kurt and he loves James. So no, I wasn’t surprised at all that he’d jump on board.”
It’s also no surprise that the driver behind the wheel of the green and yellow car is Busch, who’s never hidden his affinity for “Days of Thunder.” The 24-time Sprint Cup race winner regularly quotes lines from the film over the radio during races, and his younger brother Kyle took his Camping World Truck Series nickname — “Rowdy” — from a rambunctious character in the film.
“I was at that impressionable age of 12 when it came out,” Busch said. “Kyle watched the movie when he was 5. It hit us in that perfect time frame, because of my dad’s racing and the hype of NASCAR. It had just come to Phoenix and Sonoma, and it was coming West Coast. And then the Hollywood side took over the movie, and me and my dad would look at each other and say, ‘Really? That doesn’t happen out on the track.’ But NASCAR was going mainstream in the early 90s. I was 12 years old. It just hit me.”
Barkdoll sees another parallel. “I think that Tim Richmond mode — because that’s what ‘Days of Thunder’ was based on, really — I think they fit that mode,” said the general manager, who added that a prospective sale of the race team to a new owner is still on track for mid-July. “Reckless abandon, overabundance of talent, ready to rock and roll. Whatever it takes.”
This is no half-hearted effort — true to the movie, there are dozens of ice-cream sandwiches on order for a mid-race snack, and crewmen on the No. 1 team this weekend are wearing meshed-backed City Chevrolet caps just like their counterparts in the film. “Everybody wants these hats,” Busch said. “We only brought three boxes.” Busch will also serve as an in-race reporter for ESPN’s television coverage of the race.
“He’s memorized all of Tom’s lines, I’m sure,” Barkdoll added.
Behind the frivolity, there’s a serious message — raising awareness of brain injuries suffered by returning service members. Ryan Lamke, a Marine corporal serving as an Armed Forces Foundation ambassador this weekend at Daytona, said the brain trauma suffered by characters in the film helps people relate to similar injuries inflicted upon returning service members. Lamke suffered brain and orthopedic injuries from grenade and improvised explosive device blasts during his service in Iraq.
“While they’re not complete parallels, they are similar,” Lamke said of the conditions suffered by the fictional characters, and service members in real life. “And those types of analogies help the American population understand the difficulties service members returning from combat with these injuries are facing today.”
Added Busch: “There are so many of our wounded servicemen with invisible wounds. You get it in a Hollywood story, it’s something everybody can relate to or digest. This is a tasteful way to blend in what the foundation is about, and just creating awareness, and then the Phoenix Racing guys just having fun.”
That much is clear. And they’re hoping their race weekend concludes just like the movie does, in Daytona’s Victory Lane — that is, if they don’t go out under caution and hit the pace car first.
“There’s an interest level and the excitement level throughout the garage, and people just saying thanks,” Busch said. “Even like the Nationwide officials, they’re excited there’s something in their garage creating energy on a weekend like this.”
See the video posted by AFFDC on YouTube below (Editor’s note: Contains profanity):
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Son of legend who made the number what it is today thinks it ‘will be great’
RELATED: Up to Speed — Junior talks ‘3’ | Dillon in Dash 4 Cash Sweepstakes
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Some of Austin Dillon’s fondest childhood memories include afternoons celebrating in Daytona International Speedway Victory Lane alongside the man who made his car’s number “3” an iconic symbol of the sport.
Now 12 years after that driver, seven-time NASCAR champion and Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt passed away, Dillon is preparing to return his grandfather Richard Childress’ legendary No. 3 Chevrolet to the Cup Series again.
And one of his biggest supporters is Earnhardt’s own son, Dale Earnhardt Jr.
“I think it will be great,’’ Earnhardt said Thursday before the Coke Zero 400 opening practice at Daytona.
“It meant a lot to a lot of his (my dad’s) fans. It was an iconic number for my father. But this sport doesn’t retire numbers and all the numbers have history tied to them for several different reasons and the “3” is no different.’’
“For a kid like Austin. … he drove the “3” dirt racing and in the (Camping World) Truck Series and Nationwide Series. He’s earned the right to run that number as long as he wants.
“It’s not right to deny someone that opportunity. I’m okay with it. I know that may not be how everyone feels, but I’m sure that’s a minority that feels that way. A lot of people will be telling Austin positive things about it.’’
"He’s earned the right to run that number as long as he wants."
— Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Dillon, 23, is currently contending for the Nationwide Series championship with the number on his AdvoCare-sponsored Chevy. But although the team says nothing is official yet, the plan is for him to move up to the Sprint Cup Series fulltime – possibly as soon as next season.
And while the idea of the number competing fulltime again in Cup may be an issue for some of the sport’s most sentimental fans, Dillon has never known any different.
“I’ve been associated with it with everything I’ve ever been in sports-wise, baseball, basketball, football and racing,’’ Dillon said. “It’s a sentimental number to our family. Dale Earnhardt made it famous, he made that number in racing. And he’s one of my heroes.’’
The family has lots of photographs of Dillon being cradled in his father’s arms as the Richard Childress Racing team celebrated yet another of Earnhardt’s 76 wins. And he still remembers the other Sunday afternoons at home watching NASCAR races on television.
“Being in Victory Lane when he won the Daytona 500 was very special,’’ Dillon said.
“Dale was our family hero. When we were sitting around on Sundays watching the race, we watched Dale and pulled for him. He was our guy.
Then, Dillon added with a big grin, “I always wanted him to win because that meant we got pizza after the race. Every time he won, we got to get pizza dinner and that was a big day for us.’’
NASCAR is unlike other sports, where a team retires jersey numbers to commemorate a legend. Instead, Dillon has a unique opportunity to pay tribute to his hero. And he has every intention of giving those legions of fans a chance to cheer again.
“It’s very heartfelt and sentimental,’’ Dillon said reverently choosing his words. “There’s a lot behind that number and a huge history that goes along with it. I understand that.
“I’m very fortunate to be running that number right now and I love the pressure that comes with it. I know the people love to see it up front and running well, and that’s where I like to be.
“It’s a number that motivates me and I’ve been in it every car I’ve ever been in, from the very beginning. I’m fortunate my grandfather has let me run that number and it’s pretty awesome we’ve made it this far with it.
“You have a lot of people that are true race fans that are very supportive of it, the guys that really know about racing and the history of it and what’s gone on. We’d never abuse the right to use that number.’’
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Five-time champ to focus on how rule is enforced, not how he interprets it
Related: Practice results | Standings | Complete coverage from Daytona
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — No more Mister Nice Guy.
That’s right. NASCAR’s ultimate “good guy” Jimmie Johnson figures if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em, and he said Thursday he’s going to rethink the way he goes about race restarts.
“I feel like I’m maybe a little focused on the way the rule reads exactly and paying maybe too close of attention to that,’’ Johnson said, reflecting on a late race restart at Kentucky Speedway last Sunday that the five-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champ still questions.
“Maybe I should lighten up and loosen up on the way some (other drivers) restart, and then certainly, the way I do.
“There were a lot of restarts — especially during the Kentucky race — that I brought down that I feel like a good citizen, a good student in doing exactly what I’m supposed to. There are other times when I don’t feel that exactly happens and it’s not called on or viewed from the tower… as the rule reads.’’
“At the end of the day, I’m just going to lighten up on how I think about it and use that zone and that area regardless of the way the rule reads to get an advantage and worry about myself.’’
And that’s about as rebellious as Johnson gets.
Four days after the Quaker State 400, Johnson is still adamant the restarts have not been policed as the rule reads. Last week, he was critical of the way then race leader Matt Kenseth restarted the race with 20 laps to go, convinced Kenseth “broke the speed of the pace car.’’
Johnson, who had led a dominating 182 laps, ended up spinning out. The result shuffled him back in the pack and after a frustrated and highly motivated move from the back, he ended up ninth — hardly the finish he expected after establishing himself a heavy favorite for the win.
Johnson was called for jumping the final restart at Dover International Speedway in June — that time he was black-flagged and ended up 17th instead of again, possibly hoisting the trophy.
Kenseth said Thursday he understands Johnson’s frustration. But he doesn’t feel he did anything wrong.
“Probably since Dover at least, I think Jimmie’s been very frustrated with restarts,’’ Kenseth said.
“And I think last weekend when I look at it ––and obviously I’m not objective because I was in the race — but I think that he just didn’t have good restarts.
“For whatever reason, his car wouldn’t restart fast. We’ve all had cars like that. I thought he had the superior car, but it just didn’t take off real great on restarts. ‘’
But, Kenseth added, “It’s hard to look at Jimmie and the 48 and that team and say there’s anything wrong with anything they do. …It’s really hard to pick anything apart about him as a driver or that program. You know if you’re going to have a chance to win a race or a championship, you always have to go through the 48.’’
Johnson also dismissed the idea that all this to-do about restarts had started getting to him, joking that “I’m not smart enough to let it get in my head.’’
And the only driver in NASCAR history to win five consecutive Sprint Cup Series championships took full responsibility for not finishing the day in victory lane.
“At times, I mean all drivers can be their own worst enemy,’’ Johnson said. “I feel like that one in Kentucky is definitely on me.’’
Instead, his argument is that the restart rules are just not being universally enforced in terms of the speed of the leader taking the green.
“We all learn from mistakes for starters, and at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how I interpret the rule, it’s how it’s enforced,’’ Johnson said.
“That is the thing that I’m trying to focus on now. It doesn’t matter how I read it, what I think. …the way it’s enforced is all that matters. That is where I’m focusing now.’’
Having had several days to review, analyze and settle, Johnson is now more matter of fact than aggravated.
Despite the frustration he voiced on the radio to his crew, Johnson drove like a man possessed to still earn a top-10 of the situation at Kentucky — a resounding reminder for any that doubt the Californian’s intensity.
“It might seem that I’m real calm all the time, but I think all drivers leave the track frustrated with something,’’ Johnson said. “I rarely leave the track and not go home in deep thought thinking about what I could have done differently.
“They sting a bit more when you lead all those laps and don’t leave with the trophy; there is no doubt about it. But I’ve been doing this long enough to know how to shrug that stuff off, focus on what is important and what I can learn from and then go to the next race.’’
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JR Motorsports teammates will be last to roll off for Coors Light Pole
| Track Qualifying Record: | Tommy Houston | 02/14/87 | 46.2989 seconds/194.389 mph |
| # | Car | Driver | Team |
| 1 | 70 | Tony Raines | ML Motorsports Toyota |
| 2 | 4 | Landon Cassill | Flex Seal Chevrolet |
| 3 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | AllSouthElectric.com Chevrolet |
| 4 | 00 | * Blake Koch | CompassionRacing.com Toyota |
| 5 | 92 | * Dexter Stacey # | MaddiesPlaceRocks.com Ford |
| 6 | 89 | * Morgan Shepherd | Racing with Jesus Dodge |
| 7 | 52 | * Joey Gase | Donate Life Chevrolet |
| 8 | 44 | Cole Whitt | Gold Bond / MOEN Toyota |
| 9 | 74 | * Mike Harmon | Paxco Dodge |
| 10 | 55 | * Jamie Dick | VIVA Auto Group Chevrolet |
| 11 | 14 | Eric McClure | Hefty / Reynolds Toyota |
| 12 | 19 | Mike Bliss | Tweaker Energy Shot Toyota |
| 13 | 85 | * Bobby Gerhart | Lucas Oil Chevrolet |
| 14 | 10 | * Jeff Green | TriStar Motorsports Toyota |
| 15 | 43 | Michael Annett | Flying J Travel Plaza Ford |
| 16 | 01 | Mike Wallace | JD Motorsports Chevrolet |
| 17 | 99 | Alex Bowman # | ToyotaCare Toyota |
| 18 | 24 | Jason White | JW Demolition Toyota |
| 19 | 23 | Robert Richardson Jr. | North Texas Pipe Chevrolet |
| 20 | 98 | * Kevin Swindell # | Curb Records / Spitfire Ford |
| 21 | 40 | Reed Sorenson | e-Swisher.com Chevrolet |
| 22 | 87 | Joe Nemechek | AMFMEnergy.com Toyota |
| 23 | 79 | Jeffrey Earnhardt # | Tobacco Free Florida Ford |
| 24 | 2 | Brian Scott | Rain-X / Advance Auto Parts Chevrolet |
| 25 | 30 | Nelson Piquet Jr. # | WORX Chevrolet |
| 26 | 54 | Kyle Busch(i) | Monster Energy Toyota |
| 27 | 18 | * Matt Kenseth(i) | GameStop Toyota |
| 28 | 34 | * James Buescher(i) | Florida Lottery Chevrolet |
| 29 | 20 | Brian Vickers | Dollar General Toyota |
| 30 | 11 | Elliott Sadler | SportClips Toyota |
| 31 | 12 | Sam Hornish Jr. | PPG Ford |
| 32 | 22 | Joey Logano(i) | Discount Tire Ford |
| 33 | 33 | Ty Dillon(i) | Hunt Brothers Pizza Chevrolet |
| 34 | 1 | * Kurt Busch(i) | City Chevrolet Chevrolet |
| 35 | 31 | Justin Allgaier | Brandt / TradeMark Nitrogen Chevrolet |
| 36 | 32 | Kyle Larson # | Clorox Chevrolet |
| 37 | 6 | Trevor Bayne | Cargill / Winn-Dixie Ford |
| 38 | 60 | Travis Pastrana | Roush Fenway Racing / RaceTrac Ford |
| 39 | 77 | Parker Kligerman | BanditChippers.com Toyota |
| 40 | 3 | Austin Dillon | AdvoCare Chevrolet |
| 41 | 7 | Regan Smith | Hellmann’s Centennial / Winn-Dixie Chevrolet |
| 42 | 5 | Brad Sweet | Great Clips Chevrolet |
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Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender Ricky Stenhouse Jr. rolls off last
| Track Qualifying Record: | Bill Elliott | 02/15/87 | 42.783 |
| # | Car | Driver | Team |
| 1 | 56 | Martin Truex Jr. | NAPA Batteries Toyota |
| 2 | 38 | David Gilliland | Long John Silver’s Ford |
| 3 | 13 | Casey Mears | GEICO Ford |
| 4 | 35 | Josh Wise(i) | MDS Transport Ford |
| 5 | 9 | Marcos Ambrose | Stanley Ford |
| 6 | 34 | David Ragan | Peanut Patch Boiled Peanuts Ford |
| 7 | 31 | Jeff Burton | Kwikset Chevrolet |
| 8 | 99 | Carl Edwards | SUBWAY Ford |
| 9 | 43 | Aric Almirola | U.S. Air Force Ford |
| 10 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Miller Lite Ford |
| 11 | 95 | Scott Speed | Ford |
| 12 | 14 | Tony Stewart | Bass Pro Shops / Ducks Unlimited Chevrolet |
| 13 | 98 | Michael McDowell | Phil Parsons Racing Ford |
| 14 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Axalta Coating Systems Chevrolet |
| 15 | 10 | Danica Patrick # | GoDaddy.com Chevrolet |
| 16 | 20 | Matt Kenseth | Home Depot / Husky Toyota |
| 17 | 16 | Greg Biffle | 3M Ford |
| 18 | 33 | Landon Cassill(i) | LittleJoesAutos.com Chevrolet |
| 19 | 30 | David Stremme | Lean 1 Toyota |
| 20 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Interstate Batteries Toyota |
| 21 | 27 | Paul Menard | Rheem / Menards Chevrolet |
| 22 | 22 | Joey Logano | Shell Pennzoil Ford |
| 23 | 51 | AJ Allmendinger | Phoenix Construction Chevrolet |
| 24 | 39 | Ryan Newman | Outback Steakhouse Chevrolet |
| 25 | 87 | Joe Nemechek(i) | Royal Teak Collection Toyota |
| 26 | 32 | Terry Labonte | C & J Energy Ford |
| 27 | 21 | Trevor Bayne(i) | Motorcraft / Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford |
| 28 | 55 | Michael Waltrip | Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota |
| 29 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Hendrickcars.com Chevrolet |
| 30 | 36 | JJ Yeley | Golden Corral Chevrolet |
| 31 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | FedEx Ground Toyota |
| 32 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Lowe’s Dover White Chevrolet |
| 33 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | National Guard Chevrolet |
| 34 | 15 | Clint Bowyer | Blue DEF Diesel Exhaust Fluid Toyota |
| 35 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Cessna Chevrolet |
| 36 | 78 | Kurt Busch | Furniture Row Racing / Sealy Chevrolet |
| 37 | 42 | Juan Pablo Montoya | Target Chevrolet |
| 38 | 29 | Kevin Harvick | Budweiser Folds of Honor Chevrolet |
| 39 | 7 | Dave Blaney | Florida Lottery Chevrolet |
| 40 | 93 | Travis Kvapil | Burger King / Dr Pepper Toyota |
| 41 | 83 | David Reutimann | Burger King / Dr Pepper Toyota |
| 42 | 47 | Bobby Labonte | Scott Products Toyota |
| 43 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. # | Fifth Third Ford |
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JR Motorsports teammates Brad Sweet, Regan Smith take opener, while Parker Kligerman owns final session | Practice results
Parker Kligerman once again showed serious Daytona speed, topping the leaderboard in the final Nationwide Series practice on Thursday ahead of the Subway Firecracker 250 powered by Coca-Cola at Daytona International Speedway.
Kligerman, who was third in the opening session earlier in the day, ran nine laps, the last of which was good for a best speed of 184.000 mph with a lap time of 48.813 seconds. The Kyle Busch Motorsports driver was followed by Joe Nemechek (183.996, 48.914), Robert Richardson (178.752, 50.349), Jason White (178.742, 50.352) and defending race-winner Kurt Busch (178.579, 50.398) to round out the top-five. Reigning Camping World Truck Series champion James Buescher (178.056, 50.546), running just his second Nationwide race of the season, was sixth, while current points leader Regan Smith (175.970, 51.145) was 10th. Only 21 drivers participated in the final practice, which saw Richardson run the most laps (12).
In the opening session, JR Motorsports teammates Brad Sweet and Smith nearly matched each other atop the leaderboard, with Sweet running his 15th lap in 46.688 seconds at 192.769 mph and Smith running his 22nd in 46.689 seconds with a speed of 192.765.
The duo knocked Kligerman and Austin Dillon from the top, but they still finished right behind the two Chevrolets. Kligerman and Dillon each ran their fifth lap in 47.117 seconds for a best speed of 191.014 mph. Dillon, one of four participants in the Dash 4 Cash Sweepstakes, is looking for his second consecutive pole and his sixth in his past seven races.
Travis Pastrana was fifth on the leaderboard with a best speed of 190.730 mph, achieved on his 13th lap. Trevor Bayne (190.706), Kyle Larson (190.299), Justin Allgaier (190.293), Busch (190.227), and Ty Dillon (190.210) completed the top-10. Larson, Elliott Sadler (13th, 189.938), and Brian Vickers (14th, 189.909) join Austin Dillon as the other three participants in Dash 4 Cash.
Sprint Cup Series regulars Joey Logano, Matt Kenseth and Kyle Busch finished 11th, 16th, and 17th, respectively. They did not participate in the final practice.
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Bowyer bettered by slimmest of margins in opener | Practice results
David Reuitmann followed up a 28th-place spot in the leaderboard in the opening Sprint Cup Series practice by taking the final session at Daytona International Speedway on Thursday.
Reutimann, whose best speed was 197.889 earlier in the day, ran his second lap in 45.561 seconds for a best speed of 197.537 to top the 17-driver field. David Ragan (197.442, 45.583), Marcos Ambrose (197.373, 45.599), Jeff Gordon (197.347, 45.605) and Michael Waltrip (196.721, 45.750) rounded out the top-five. Tony Stewart was 16th out of the 17th drivers, despite completing a practice-high 19 laps.
In the opening session, AJ Allmendinger was one of just two drivers to break the 200 mph barrier. Allmendinger, who recently earned his first NASCAR national series victory at the Nationwide Series race at Road America, ran his fourth lap in 44.951 seconds, averaging a best speed of 200.218 mph. Clint Bowyer was right behind him, running the 2.5 mile tri-oval in 44.952 seconds.
Carl Edwards (199.831, 45.038), Juan Pablo Montoya (199.707, 45.066) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (199.344, 45.148) rounded out the top-five. Danica Patrick, who earned the pole earlier this season for the Daytona 500, was seventh on the leaderboard.
Points leader Jimmie Johnson (198.636, 45.309) was 10th, while restrictor-plate maven Matt Kenseth (198.566, 45.325) followed in 11th. Reigning Sprint Cup Series champion Brad Keselowski (198.531, 45.333) was 13th and ran the most laps of the session with 31. Gordon (197.252, 45.627) ran 25 laps, but found himself in 32nd on the leaderboard.
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Penalties may arise from issue at Daytona that involved drivers from Joe Gibbs Racing, Penske Racing, Roush Fenway Racing and more
Related: Practice results | Standings | Complete coverage from Daytona
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — NASCAR officials confiscated roof flap spacers from 16 Sprint Cup Series teams and 15 from teams competing in the Nationwide Series on opening day here at Daytona International Speedway.
NASCAR spokesperson Kerry Tharp announced the Sprint Cup Series infractions following the first of two practice sessions for the series. Following the second Cup session, he announced similar violations had been discovered in the Nationwide Series garage.
The spacers “support the hinge bar of the roof flaps,” Tharp said.
The roof flaps are built to deploy and allow air to escape from inside the cockpit of the car if the car is spun, lessening the chance it would become airborne.
The Cup cars affected were those of drivers Jamie McMurray, Casey Mears, Aric Almirola, Marcos Ambrose, Greg Biffle, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Carl Edwards, Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, Trevor Bayne, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, Clint Bowyer, Michael Waltrip and Martin Truex Jr.
Because the spacers were confiscated shortly before the opening practice for Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400 (8 p.m. ET, TNT), several Cup teams were late getting on track.
Tharp said it was too soon to determine if the infractions would result in points or monetary penalties, which typically would be announced 2-3 days after the completion of an event.
“They weren’t in compliance with the kits that the manufacturer provide,” he said.
The spacers confiscated were not uniform in size or appearance.
Former driver Kyle Petty, speaking during SPEED’s coverage of the day’s two practice sessions, said altering a piece that was built specifically to enhance safety would be looked at differently by NASCAR officials.
“In the past when team has altered a safety device … mandated by NASCAR to keep the cars on the ground in the case of a spin … that’s different than adjusting other parts,” Petty said.
“Now you’ve stepped over that line into the safety area.”
Nationwide teams found with non-compliant spacers were those of drivers fielded by drivers Bayne, Busch, Brian Vickers, Cole Whitt, Jeffrey Earnhardt, Landon Cassill, Kenseth, Blake Koch, Mike Bliss, Michael Annett, Travis Pastrana, Reed Sorenson, Robert Richardson, Jason White and Dexter Stacey.
“As is very customary, in one garage you communicate over to the other … and say, ‘hey, this is what we found.’ And we looked into it,” Tharp said.
The Subway Firecracker 250 (8 p.m. ET, ESPN) NASCAR Nationwide Series race is scheduled for Friday night at DIS.
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