It was Tony Stewart’s good fortune to lead much of Saturday’s Drive4COPD 300 Nationwide Series race at Daytona International Speedway—because all hell kept breaking loose behind him.
In a race widely trumpeted as Danica Patrick’s NASCAR debut, Stewart took the checkered flag .309 seconds ahead of 2008 series champion Carl Edwards. NASCAR.com
It was Stewart’s 15th win in a stock car at Daytona, moving him into a tie with Cale Yarborough for third all-time at the storied track. He now trails only Dale Earnhardt (34 wins) and Bobby Allison (16) for most at Daytona. Boston Herald
Kevin Harvick, who owns the No. 4 Chevrolet that Stewart was driving in his only scheduled Nationwide appearance of the year, finished third in his own No. 33 Chevy. Justin Allgaier came home fourth and Brian Vickers fifth.
“Tony and I talked right before the race, and I said I didn’t think they could beat both cars, as good as they were in practice,” Harvick said. “Best car I’ve ever had here, and I think we worked a long time, a lot of hours in our speedway program, and it all paid off [Saturday].” NASCAR.com
Stewart’s No. 32 Ritz Crackers Chevrolet was out in front of three major wrecks that involved about half the Nationwide field Saturday. Only 26 of 43 cars finished the race and Patrick, the media starlet from Indy Racing League, crashed into the wall after the halfway point.
Saturday was Patrick’s NASCAR debut. Her goal was to finish the race but all hope of that ended when she got caught up in a 12-car accident on the front stretch. The crash was triggered when Josh Wise lost control of his No. 61 Specialty Racing Ford. Patrick avoided a wreck earlier in the race but could not this time, slamming into Wise and then Colin Braun’s No. 16 Con-way Freight Ford and then the wall.
``I literally couldn’t see a thing,’’ Patrick said. ``If we could make the tires have no smoke, I think there would be a lot less crashed race cars. . . . So, I was just caught up in an accident just like so many people get at these big speedways.’‘
Proving Patrick’s point, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was knocked out of the race in lap 93 when Carl Edwards clipped Earnhardt’s back right bumper. Earnhardt’s No. 88 Hellmen’s Chevrolet flipped onto its roof , then settled in the infield grass.
Patrick’s car was pushed to the garage where her team worked on the damaged stock car frantically before ultimately deciding not to return it to the track. A swarm of more than 100 television cameras, print and Internet journalists and radio reporters waited outside Patrick’s garage to speak with her about the accident and her first NASCAR race.
``It’s important to have realistic expectations,’’ Patrick said. ``There are going to be spikes in performance and I don’t doubt that, but there are also going to be tough days. Today, I would say, was a more tough day.’’ MiamiHerald.com
NASCAR Nationwide Series: Drive4COPD 300 at Daytona - Race Results
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