bigbadbrother
07-06-2014, 10:25 PM
Jay Penn
After four days of rain and multiple big wrecks, Mother Nature finally put an end to Sunday's Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway on Lap 112 of 160.
When NASCAR called the event, Aric Almirola was out front, scoring his first career Sprint Cup Series victory
"This is so awesome," Almirola said in a rain-soaked Victory Lane. "The amount of effort that's gone into this race team this year, everybody at Richard Petty Motorsports trying to get better and trying to build this team back to a winning race team the way it deserves to be, has been so cool to watch grow.
"To get this US Air Force Ford Fusion in Victory Lane 30 years to the weekend that Richard Petty got his 200th win is really, really special," he said. "The good Lord was looking out for us today. We had a really fast car nonetheless, but I'll take them any way we can get them."
Stenhouse Jr., Gordon trigger early 16-car wreck in Coke Zero 400 at Daytona
Sunday marked the first time the No. 43 car has gone to Victory Lane in the Sprint Cup Series since John Andretti won at Martinsville Speedway in 1999.
Team owner Richard Petty was not on hand for Sunday's victory, however, as he left Daytona early and was "reading the funny papers and watching the race."
"Well, 30 years ago is history, okay, and today is future," Petty said. "Today is today. So to be able to win the race down there, win it for the Air Force, Fourth of July, you know, the whole thing is just great. I just feel so good for the crew. They've been working ‑‑ they're like everybody else, they work hard. They've done this deal. We've had so many disappointments, and finally it rained on us, but it rained on us at the right time, okay. Overall it was just a great day for us."
Big One followed by Bigger One involving 26 cars at Daytona International Speedway
The victory also goes a long way in putting Almirola and his Richard Petty Motorsports team in the Chase.
"We're going to be in the Chase! This race team deserves to be in the Chase," he said. "I told everybody at the beginning the year, all our sponsors and everybody that was committing to our race team, I said, 'I promise you we'll get to Victory Lane.' Low and behold we've done it."
The first-career victory also came at Almirola's home track, Daytona International Speedway.
"I've said time and time again how bad I want to win here," Almirola said. "This is my home race, two hours away from Tampa, Fla. I grew up sitting in those grandstands right up there watching Daytona 500s and Firecracker 400s, dreaming about what it'd be like to race here. Man, I just took the 43 car to Victory Lane at Daytona."
Photos: Pair of crashes wreaks havoc on Coke Zero 400
While Almirola scored the win, Brian Vickers, Kurt Busch, Casey Mears, and Austin Dillon rounded out the top five.
Rain hampered on-track activity all weekend long at Daytona International Speedway, pushing Saturday night's race to Sunday morning, and then causing three different red flags in the race.
The race was slowed by eight cautions, the biggest of which included a 16-car wreck on Lap 20 and a 26-car wreck on Lap 98.
This was only the second time in history the July Daytona race has been shortened due to weather, the first coming in 1996 when Sterling Marlin was declared the winner.
Coke Zero 400
Jul 6, 2014 | Daytona International Speedway - Daytona Beach, Florida | 400.0 mi
Pos Driver Car # Make Started Laps Led Points Driver Rating
1 Aric Almirola 43 Ford 15 112 14 47 111.4
2 Brian Vickers 55 Toyota 30 112 0 42 74.6
3 Kurt Busch 41 Chevrolet 40 112 36 43 120.8
4 Casey Mears 13 Chevrolet 22 112 1 41 88.5
5 Austin Dillon 3 Chevrolet 23 112 0 39 84.1
6 Denny Hamlin 11 Toyota 37 112 0 38 101.8
7 Michael McDowell 95 Ford 27 112 0 37 77.0
8 Danica Patrick 10 Chevrolet 29 112 0 36 86.8
9 Clint Bowyer 15 Toyota 34 112 1 36 87.2
10 Marcos Ambrose 9 Ford 18 112 0 34 76.4
11 Terry Labonte 32 Ford 38 112 0 33 56.5
12 Jeff Gordon 24 Chevrolet 9 112 2 33 69.8
13 Alex Bowman 23 Toyota 43 112 0 31 60.2
14 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 88 Chevrolet 7 112 0 30 56.9
15 Martin Truex Jr. 78 Chevrolet 19 112 0 29 63.0
16 Paul Menard 27 Chevrolet 21 112 0 28 74.1
17 Joey Logano 22 Ford 28 112 0 27 95.4
18 Brad Keselowski 2 Ford 26 111 0 26 54.8
19 Michael Waltrip 66 Toyota 41 111 0 25 40.6
20 Matt Kenseth 20 Toyota 6 111 12 25 67.0
21 Michael Annett 7 Chevrolet 32 104 2 24 65.0
22 David Ragan 34 Ford 8 102 7 23 86.5
23 Josh Wise 98 Ford 33 101 0 21 58.7
24 Ryan Newman 31 Chevrolet 20 100 0 20 59.2
25 Justin Allgaier 51 Chevrolet 31 98 0 19 72.5
26 Bobby Labonte 33 Chevrolet 4 98 0 18 67.1
27 Kasey Kahne 5 Chevrolet 14 97 0 17 96.9
28 Kyle Busch 18 Toyota 39 97 0 16 79.3
29 Greg Biffle 16 Ford 10 97 9 16 108.0
30 Jamie McMurray 1 Chevrolet 36 97 11 15 88.7
31 Landon Cassill 40 Chevrolet 3 97 5 0 88.5
32 Ryan Truex 83 Toyota 42 97 0 12 63.4
33 Reed Sorenson 36 Chevrolet 2 97 4 12 74.3
34 Cole Whitt 26 Toyota 17 97 0 10 59.7
35 David Gilliland 38 Ford 1 97 5 10 90.2
36 Kyle Larson 42 Chevrolet 35 69 0 8 27.4
37 Carl Edwards 99 Ford 11 66 0 7 36.4
38 Trevor Bayne 21 Ford 25 46 0 0 33.8
39 Kevin Harvick 4 Chevrolet 13 46 0 5 32.0
40 Tony Stewart 14 Chevrolet 12 45 3 5 47.7
41 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 17 Ford 16 37 0 3 34.1
42 Jimmie Johnson 48 Chevrolet 5 20 0 2 48.3
43 AJ Allmendinger 47 Chevrolet 24 19 0 1 29.4
2014 Coke Zero 400 Stats
Scheduled Laps: 160
Total Laps: 112
Distance: 400.0 miles
Lead Changes: 72
After four days of rain and multiple big wrecks, Mother Nature finally put an end to Sunday's Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway on Lap 112 of 160.
When NASCAR called the event, Aric Almirola was out front, scoring his first career Sprint Cup Series victory
"This is so awesome," Almirola said in a rain-soaked Victory Lane. "The amount of effort that's gone into this race team this year, everybody at Richard Petty Motorsports trying to get better and trying to build this team back to a winning race team the way it deserves to be, has been so cool to watch grow.
"To get this US Air Force Ford Fusion in Victory Lane 30 years to the weekend that Richard Petty got his 200th win is really, really special," he said. "The good Lord was looking out for us today. We had a really fast car nonetheless, but I'll take them any way we can get them."
Stenhouse Jr., Gordon trigger early 16-car wreck in Coke Zero 400 at Daytona
Sunday marked the first time the No. 43 car has gone to Victory Lane in the Sprint Cup Series since John Andretti won at Martinsville Speedway in 1999.
Team owner Richard Petty was not on hand for Sunday's victory, however, as he left Daytona early and was "reading the funny papers and watching the race."
"Well, 30 years ago is history, okay, and today is future," Petty said. "Today is today. So to be able to win the race down there, win it for the Air Force, Fourth of July, you know, the whole thing is just great. I just feel so good for the crew. They've been working ‑‑ they're like everybody else, they work hard. They've done this deal. We've had so many disappointments, and finally it rained on us, but it rained on us at the right time, okay. Overall it was just a great day for us."
Big One followed by Bigger One involving 26 cars at Daytona International Speedway
The victory also goes a long way in putting Almirola and his Richard Petty Motorsports team in the Chase.
"We're going to be in the Chase! This race team deserves to be in the Chase," he said. "I told everybody at the beginning the year, all our sponsors and everybody that was committing to our race team, I said, 'I promise you we'll get to Victory Lane.' Low and behold we've done it."
The first-career victory also came at Almirola's home track, Daytona International Speedway.
"I've said time and time again how bad I want to win here," Almirola said. "This is my home race, two hours away from Tampa, Fla. I grew up sitting in those grandstands right up there watching Daytona 500s and Firecracker 400s, dreaming about what it'd be like to race here. Man, I just took the 43 car to Victory Lane at Daytona."
Photos: Pair of crashes wreaks havoc on Coke Zero 400
While Almirola scored the win, Brian Vickers, Kurt Busch, Casey Mears, and Austin Dillon rounded out the top five.
Rain hampered on-track activity all weekend long at Daytona International Speedway, pushing Saturday night's race to Sunday morning, and then causing three different red flags in the race.
The race was slowed by eight cautions, the biggest of which included a 16-car wreck on Lap 20 and a 26-car wreck on Lap 98.
This was only the second time in history the July Daytona race has been shortened due to weather, the first coming in 1996 when Sterling Marlin was declared the winner.
Coke Zero 400
Jul 6, 2014 | Daytona International Speedway - Daytona Beach, Florida | 400.0 mi
Pos Driver Car # Make Started Laps Led Points Driver Rating
1 Aric Almirola 43 Ford 15 112 14 47 111.4
2 Brian Vickers 55 Toyota 30 112 0 42 74.6
3 Kurt Busch 41 Chevrolet 40 112 36 43 120.8
4 Casey Mears 13 Chevrolet 22 112 1 41 88.5
5 Austin Dillon 3 Chevrolet 23 112 0 39 84.1
6 Denny Hamlin 11 Toyota 37 112 0 38 101.8
7 Michael McDowell 95 Ford 27 112 0 37 77.0
8 Danica Patrick 10 Chevrolet 29 112 0 36 86.8
9 Clint Bowyer 15 Toyota 34 112 1 36 87.2
10 Marcos Ambrose 9 Ford 18 112 0 34 76.4
11 Terry Labonte 32 Ford 38 112 0 33 56.5
12 Jeff Gordon 24 Chevrolet 9 112 2 33 69.8
13 Alex Bowman 23 Toyota 43 112 0 31 60.2
14 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 88 Chevrolet 7 112 0 30 56.9
15 Martin Truex Jr. 78 Chevrolet 19 112 0 29 63.0
16 Paul Menard 27 Chevrolet 21 112 0 28 74.1
17 Joey Logano 22 Ford 28 112 0 27 95.4
18 Brad Keselowski 2 Ford 26 111 0 26 54.8
19 Michael Waltrip 66 Toyota 41 111 0 25 40.6
20 Matt Kenseth 20 Toyota 6 111 12 25 67.0
21 Michael Annett 7 Chevrolet 32 104 2 24 65.0
22 David Ragan 34 Ford 8 102 7 23 86.5
23 Josh Wise 98 Ford 33 101 0 21 58.7
24 Ryan Newman 31 Chevrolet 20 100 0 20 59.2
25 Justin Allgaier 51 Chevrolet 31 98 0 19 72.5
26 Bobby Labonte 33 Chevrolet 4 98 0 18 67.1
27 Kasey Kahne 5 Chevrolet 14 97 0 17 96.9
28 Kyle Busch 18 Toyota 39 97 0 16 79.3
29 Greg Biffle 16 Ford 10 97 9 16 108.0
30 Jamie McMurray 1 Chevrolet 36 97 11 15 88.7
31 Landon Cassill 40 Chevrolet 3 97 5 0 88.5
32 Ryan Truex 83 Toyota 42 97 0 12 63.4
33 Reed Sorenson 36 Chevrolet 2 97 4 12 74.3
34 Cole Whitt 26 Toyota 17 97 0 10 59.7
35 David Gilliland 38 Ford 1 97 5 10 90.2
36 Kyle Larson 42 Chevrolet 35 69 0 8 27.4
37 Carl Edwards 99 Ford 11 66 0 7 36.4
38 Trevor Bayne 21 Ford 25 46 0 0 33.8
39 Kevin Harvick 4 Chevrolet 13 46 0 5 32.0
40 Tony Stewart 14 Chevrolet 12 45 3 5 47.7
41 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 17 Ford 16 37 0 3 34.1
42 Jimmie Johnson 48 Chevrolet 5 20 0 2 48.3
43 AJ Allmendinger 47 Chevrolet 24 19 0 1 29.4
2014 Coke Zero 400 Stats
Scheduled Laps: 160
Total Laps: 112
Distance: 400.0 miles
Lead Changes: 72