Backstretch Motorsports

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (July 4, 2009) — With Kyle Busch slamming the frontstretch wall after an unsuccessful attempt to block, Tony Stewart won Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway.

The victory was Stewart’s second of the season, his second as an owner/driver for Stewart-Haas Racing and the 35th of his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career.

With a push from teammate Denny Hamlin, Busch had taken the lead approaching the white flag and held it through Turn 4 of the final lap. But Stewart drove his No. 14 Chevrolet to the left rear of Busch’s No. 18 Toyota off the corner, forcing Busch to go to the bottom of the track to maintain control of his car.

Stewart then moved high, and as Busch slid back up to block, contact with Stewart’s car turned Busch into the wall and ignited a dramatic multicar wreck near the finish line.

It doesn’t matter who it is, you just don’t want a race to be decided like that. You know, it’s hard work that gets these cars to the racetrack, and you know, it’s just a bad situation,” said a subdued Stewart in post-race press conference. “It’s not bad because we’re put in a bad position. It just is what it is. But nobody — I guess I just don’t feel as much gratification from winning this race as I probably should, I guess, just because I don’t like the way the outcome happened. I don’t like — if we didn’t win the race, we didn’t earn it. But I don’t want any part of earning a race because the guy that was leading the race got wrecked.

You know, you don’t want to see a guy that’s — you don’t want to see anybody, but you don’t want to see somebody that ran up front all day lose that many spots and lose an opportunity to win because of an accident like that coming to the checkered flag. ”

“We went for it right there at the end,” said crew chief Steve Addington of the No. 18 Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing. “This is a product of restrictor-plate racing with these racecars. What are you going to say? Everybody on this race team worked their tails off and we had a good racecar. I can’t say anything. I’m not pointing any fingers at Tony. He was trying to win the race, Kyle was trying to block him for the win and we got turned around.”

Jimmie Johnson followed Stewart to the stripe, with Hamlin in third, Carl Edwards in fourth and Kurt Busch in fifth.

Were it not for trouble to most of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup “bubble” drivers, Mark Martin’s postseason aspirations might have suffered a significant setback, thanks to a wreck on Lap 13 that relegated him to a 38th-place finish.

As Martin exited Turn 2, Matt Kenseth gained momentum to the outside, and Martin’s Chevy wasn’t clear of Kenseth’s Ford when Martin moved up the track. Martin’s car spun into the infield and sustained serious damage.

“Matt ran the top side there and got a run up off the corner, and I was just trying to keep it down and leave us room, and I just pinched him,” Martin said. “Front wheels were cut, and it just didn’t turn quite enough. My fault.”

Martin’s wreck was nothing, however, compared with the 13-car pileup on Lap 77 that eliminated Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Contact between the Dodges of Kasey Kahne and David Stremme triggered the wreck, but the cars of Earnhardt and David Reutimann perhaps were the most severely damaged, as Reutimann slid up the track into Earnhardt’s path.

Reutimann entered the race 14th in points, 12 points out of 12th, the final position eligible for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. He finished 33rd and lost ground.

“A couple of guys got together, and I just tried to stay high, and the No. 00 (Reutimann) was crossed up, and we got together with him pretty hard and tore the upper A-frame off the chassis,” said Earnhardt, who finished 39th.

Jeff Gordon was another victim of the Lap 77 wreck but was able to continue. Though his car was damaged too severely to contend for the win, Gordon stayed on the lead lap and finished 28th.

NASCAR Race Number 18
Unofficial Race Results for the Coke Zero 400 Powered By Coca-Cola (51St
Running) - Saturday, July 4, 2009
Daytona International Speedway - Daytona Beach, FL - 2.5 Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 160 Laps - 400 Miles - Purse: $6,332,752
Leader
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Pts Bns Driver Rating Winnings Status Tms Laps
1 1 14 Tony Stewart Burger King Chevrolet 160 195 10 141.5 $349,873 Running 9 86
2 3 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s / Kobalt Tools Chevrolet 160 170 117.1 $248,326 Running
3 6 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Office Toyota 160 170 5 128.1 $180,325 Running 6 63
4 5 99 Carl Edwards SUBWAY Ford 160 160 104.8 $185,831 Running
5 4 2 Kurt Busch Miller Lite Dodge 160 160 5 107.5 $143,575 Running 1 1
6 18 47 Marcos Ambrose Kingsford / Clorox / Bush’s Baked Beans Toyota 160 150 89.0 $138,523 Running
7 17 83 Brian Vickers Red Bull Toyota 160 146 86.2 $142,373 Running
8 10 17 Matt Kenseth R & L Carriers Ford 160 147 5 105.3 $153,915 Running 1 3
9 12 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Target Chevrolet 160 138 80.3 $149,598 Running
10 23 19 Elliott Sadler Stanley Dodge 160 134 94.7 $115,800 Running
11 22 26 Jamie McMurray IRWIN Marathon Ford 160 130 84.1 $112,900 Running
12 43 78 Regan Smith Furniture Row Chevrolet 160 127 65.5 $103,125 Running
13 31 6 David Ragan UPS Ford 160 124 90.4 $111,750 Running
14 8 18 Kyle Busch Interstate Batteries Toyota 160 126 5 109.1 $145,273 Running 1 1
15 13 9 Kasey Kahne Budweiser Dodge 160 118 90.7 $140,398 Running
16 16 31 Jeff Burton Caterpillar Chevrolet 160 120 5 101.1 $142,731 Running 1 2
17 30 44 A J Allmendinger PVA.org Dodge 160 112 86.6 $98,975 Running
18 9 16 Greg Biffle 3M / Scotch-Brite Ford 160 109 58.9 $114,400 Running
19 21 20 Joey Logano # The Home Depot Toyota 160 106 77.9 $142,551 Running
20 7 39 Ryan Newman US Army Chevrolet 160 108 5 57.6 $126,029 Running 1 1
21 28 96 Bobby Labonte Academy Sports & Outdoors Ford 160 100 58.7 $123,429 Running
22 34 7 Robby Gordon MAPEI / Menards Toyota 160 102 5 50.9 $113,835 Running 1 1
23 33 98 Paul Menard Johns Manville / Menards Ford 160 94 57.3 $125,656 Running
24 36 09 Brad Keselowski Miccosukee Indian Gaming & Resort Chevrolet 160 91 45.7 $93,575 Running
25 24 1 Martin Truex Jr. Bass Pro Shops / Tracker Boats Chevrolet 160 88 61.2 $128,315 Running
26 27 29 Kevin Harvick Pennzoil Platinum Chevrolet 160 85 62.2 $129,428 Running
27 35 34 John Andretti Taco Bell Chevrolet 160 87 5 46.9 $99,325 Running 1 1
28 2 24 Jeff Gordon DuPont Chevrolet 160 84 5 58.4 $128,051 Running 1 1
29 15 33 Clint Bowyer Cheerios / Hamburger Helper Chevrolet 159 76 67.6 $97,975 Running
30 42 37 Tony Raines Grander Mountain / Remington Dodge 158 73 32.4 $88,800 Running
31 37 82 Scott Speed # Red Bull Toyota 152 70 52.2 $101,698 Accident
32 25 77 Sam Hornish Jr. Mobil 1 Dodge 152 67 67.3 $105,760 Running
33 26 43 Reed Sorenson Air Force Dodge 146 64 50.6 $125,176 Running
34 20 07 Casey Mears Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet 144 61 62.3 $104,750 Running
35 32 12 David Stremme Penske Dodge 129 58 58.2 $119,065 Running
36 14 00 David Reutimann Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota 127 55 58.3 $106,498 Running
37 29 55 Michael Waltrip NAPA Auto Parts Toyota 124 52 36.7 $94,250 Running
38 11 5 Mark Martin CARQUEST / Kellogg’s Chevrolet 79 49 45.8 $94,100 Running
39 19 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Ntnl Grd Srvng America/AMP Energy Chevrolet 76 46 45.5 $103,975 Accident
40 38 71 David Gilliland TRG Motorsports Chevrolet 76 43 35.2 $85,830 Accident
41 39 87 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Toyota 25 40 25.4 $85,675 Transmission
42 41 36 Patrick Carpentier Tommy Baldwin Racing Toyota 18 37 28.5 $85,580 Engine
43 40 66 Dave Blaney PRISM Motorsports Toyota 2 34 26.3 $85,938 Over Heating
Race Comments: Before an estimated crowd of 115,000, Tony Stewart won the Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola, his 35th career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory. … Prior to the race’s start, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field for reasons indicated: # 00 (engine change); # 16, 77 (backup car).
Failed to Qualify: (2) 13, 64.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 48 Mins, 28 Secs. Average Speed: 142.461 MPH Margin of Victory: 0.110 Seconds
Caution Flags: 8 for 30 laps: Laps: 14-16 (# 5, 17, 42 accident backstretch [None]); 29-31 (# 07, 12 accident turn 2 [37]); 58-61 (Debris [42]); 78-82 (# 00, 09, 9, 12, 24, 26, 33, 39, 43, 55, 71, 83, 88 accident backstretch [42]); 103-107 (# 00 accident turn 2 [26]); 123-126 (# 2, 6 accident backstretch [83]); 147-149 (Debris [31]); 154-156 (#44, 82 accident tri-oval [39]).
Lead Changes: 23 among 10 drivers: T. Stewart 0; J. Gordon 1; T. Stewart 2; Kurt Busch 3; D. Hamlin 4-14; T. Stewart 15-31; D. Hamlin 32-45; T. Stewart 46; D. Hamlin 47; T. Stewart 48-58; R. Newman 59; M. Kenseth 60-62; D. Hamlin 63-71; T. Stewart 72; D. Hamlin 73-79; J. Andretti 80; T. Stewart 81-82; D. Hamlin 83-103; R. Gordon 104; T. Stewart 105-126; J. Burton 127-128; T. Stewart 129-158; Kyle Busch 159; T. Stewart 160;
Top 12 Driver Points: (1) T. Stewart 2,719;(2) J. Gordon 2,539;(3) J. Johnson 2,525;(4) Kurt Busch 2,414;(5) C. Edwards 2,317;(6) D. Hamlin 2,302;(7) R. Newman 2,235;(8) Kyle Busch 2,234;(9) G. Biffle 2,215;(10) M. Kenseth 2,201;(11) J. Montoya 2,187;(12) K. Kahne 2,166.
Coors Light Pole Award : Not awarded., # DIRECTV Crew Chief of the Race : Tony Stewart, #14
DOW Automotive Strategic Call of the Race : Tony Stewart, #14 EA Sports Move of the Race : Tony Stewart, #14
Goodyear Gatorback Fastest Lap : Tony Stewart, #14 (189.084 mph, Lap 158) Mahle Clevite Engine Builder : Tony Stewart, #14
Mobil 1 Command Performance Driver of the Race : Kurt Busch, #2 Moog Chassis Parts Problem Solver of the Race : Juan Pablo Montoya, #42 (.186 sec )
O’Reilly Auto Parts People, Service and Performance : Tony Stewart, #14 (286.488 sec) Raybestos Rookie of the Race : Joey Logano, #20
Sunoco Diamond Performance : Tony Stewart, #14 Tissot Pit Road Precision : Tony Stewart, #14 (238.890 sec)
USG : Tony Stewart, #14 WIX Lap Leader : Tony Stewart, #14 (86 Laps)
Next Race: Jul. 11, 2009 - Chicagoland Speedway