acegear
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Joined: 22 Oct 2004
Posts: 973
Location: Enumclaw, WA
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 Posted: Tue Feb 22, 2005 7:18 am Post subject: Gordon Captures 3rd Daytona 500 Crown |
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WOW!!!!!
After witnessing the ups, downs, spins, and flips this 47th Daytona 500 had to offer that is about all that can be said. WOW! Four lead changes in the last nine laps. WOW!
The day started inauspiciously enough with the drivers, families, and fans arriving early to witness the spectacle that is Daytona. Bright and sunny, who could anticipate the action, excitement, and disappointment that would encompass this race. The field comprised rookies, veterans, and drivers who were giving it their last effort to win.
Mark Martin and Rusty Wallace are calling it quits after this season and neither has won the Great American Race. Their final effort has been marred by disappointment already with Rusty having to start in the back-up car and Mark's team working around the clock to rebuild their injured steed after unfortunate crashes in their session of the Gatorade 150.
Dale Jarrett is starting from the pole in what will be his last Daytona 500 also. However, Jarrett has had the opportunity to experience winning this race 3 times in the past. Something many drivers dream to experience just once.
Finally the racers are called to their parked cars, and start strapping in for the grueling 500 miles until the finish. The prerequisite national anthem, and military over flight were had before the invocation, and command "Gentlemen Start Your Engines!". The roar of the raw horsepower emanated from pit row, barely drowning out the excitement of the tens of thousands in the crowd.
The pace cars pull forward followed by 43 eager, but anxious drivers anticipating the action to come. After several warm-up laps the green drops and their off! Dale Jarrett wasn't able to hold the pace and fell behind as Jimmie Johnson took the lead.
Tony Stewart continues his dominating performance and pushes to the front with Michael Waltrip in tow. By lap 10 it is Stewart, Waltrip, a surprising Scott Riggs, Jimmie Johnson, and Kurt Busch rounding out the top-5.
Bobby Labonte is the first casualty of the race, blowing an engine and brings out the first caution of the day. Kyle Petty doesn't pit and becomes the third leader of the race. By the time the green drops two laps later Scott Wimmer has moved into the lead. But it doesn't last long as Michael Waltrip blasts into the lead closely followed by Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch.
The second caution of the race comes out after Ricky Rudd loses a rear tire, and collects several others near the middle of the pack in the ensuing melee. Waltrip continues to lead the race with help from unlikely ally Tony Stewart. Matt Kenseth loses the battle with a broken piston, which sends him to the garage.
At 1/4 of the way through, Waltrip is still in the lead with 30 laps led. Five racers have had to call it quits for the day; Bobby Labonte, Mike Wallace, Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth and Kenny Wallace. Jeff Gordon becomes the 6th leader of the race on lap 63 after a round of green flag pit stops. Stewart, Waltrip, Ryan Newman, and Jeff Burton round out the top-5.
Another caution comes out on lap 86 for debris on the track, bringing in the leaders for their pit stops. Once everything is said and done the lineup has shuffled slightly with Stewart leading followed by Waltrip, Gordon, Greg Biffle and Riggs completing the top-5. The situation arises on lap 105 with more debris on the track and yet another caution flag. After another round of pit stops, Scott Wimmer leads the field followed by Stewart, Waltrip, Martin Truex Jr, and Gordon. However, Wimmer doesn't last long and Stewart, Waltrip and Gordon are again 1-2-3.
A round of green flag pit stops begin on lap 136, with 64 laps remaining. The leaders are in, and the front 3 are shuffled yet again with Stewart leading them out of pit row, and Gordon and Jimmie Johnson not far behind. However, after all that effort the caution comes out yet again on lap 143 for debris. You would think this would be all cleaned up by now. But it isn't because the yellow flag comes out for a 3rd time due to debris on the track. Maybe they need to hire the folks from Disney. They know how to keep a place clean.
Anyways, yet another restart, and this time some unfamiliar faces are at the front. Jeff Burton leads with Wimmer, and Carl Edwards hot on his trail. Michael Waltrip has had one of the strongest cars out there today but it wasn't to be as his motor gave out on lap 161. Stewart and Johnson opt for gas-and-go stops, while 4th place driver Kasey Kahne in cut off on pit row by Jason Leffler, pushing Kahne all the way to the rear of the lead lap cars in 32nd place.
On lap 166 the green flag drops with Stewart leading Mark Martin, and Kevin Harvick to the line. It doesn’t last long though as John Andretti loses control into Jason Lefler, damaging Travis Kvapil on the way. This would bring out the 7th caution of the day.
At the restart on lap 173, Tony Stewart would continue to lead the field with Gordon, Kurt Busch, Jimmie Johnson and Scott Riggs in tow. Sentimental favorites Mark Martin and Rusty Wallace were in excellent position at 6th and 7th respectively. Jeff Gordon makes a move on lap 180 with Scott Riggs in tow on the outside. It doesn't work as Gordon has to drop back in the field with Stewart still leading, but now Dale Earnhardt Jr, how has been quiet all day is now in the top-5.
We haven't had a major wreck all day, until now. Biffle gets loose, bumping Scott Riggs which sets off a chain reaction that damages several cars including those of Harvick, Jamie McMurray, Jeremy Mayfield and Scott Wimmer who rolled several times in the air and even pulled off an endo pirouette to thankfully land on his tires. And due to the safety measures in place he walked away from the accident.
Scott Wimmer and his wild ride
Lap 188 sees the green flag come out again, and while Stewart still leads, Gordon is hot on his tail and Earnhardt Jr has worked his way to 3rd. Just when we thought we were in the clear, Mike Skinner gets into the back of Ryan Newman, who in turn is pushed into Carl Edwards on the restart. So the caution is out yet again, for the 10th time.
Out come the green and it is a clean restart. Stewart, Gordon, Earnhardt Jr, Kurt Busch, Jimmie Johnson and Scott Riggs are the top-5 with Mark Martin and Rusty Wallace still holding on to 6th and 7th. By this time there are only 23 cars on the lead lap.
Dale Earnhardt Jr challenges Tony Stewart for the lead on lap 197, 3 laps top to the finish. Jeff Gordon has the help of his teammate Jimmie Johnson on the outside but Earnhardt Jr takes the lead. Gordon is still pushing when a race tying 11th yellow flag comes out with two laps to go. Gordon was leading at the last scoring loop when the caution came out so he will take over the lead from Earnhardt Jr. And we will have ourselves a green-white-checkered finish.
The debris is cleared of the track and the green falls on lap 202. Gordon leads the field into turn #1 with Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson, and Kurt Busch hot on his tail. One lap to go with Kurt Busch on Gordon's bumper. Jeff Gordon holds off Busch to take the checkered flag, with Dale Earnhardt Jr in 3rd, Scott Riggs 4th, and Jimmie Johnson in 5th.
Going into the last turn there was a whole lot of bumping going on between Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart. If you will recall, Jimmie Johnson had a run in with Kevin Harvick during the Gatorade 150. However, this time it appears that frustration overtook Stewart who had led for so many laps only to see him relegated to 7th place at the end, while Jimmie Johnson was just blocking for his teammate.
So Jeff Gordon takes his 3rd checkered flag at the Daytona 500. Mark Martin was able to hold onto 6th place, and Rusty Wallace took 10th. Race fans got the opportunity to see the race end under the checkered flag which is what they paid upto $5000 a piece to see, and the rest of us were able to witness a spectacular race which conjured images of the Petty, Allison, Yarborough clashes of yesteryear.
RACE RESULTS
1 15 #24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet DuPont 185/5 203 Running $1,497,150
2 13 #97 Kurt Busch Ford Sharpie/IRWIN Industrial Tools 170/0 203 Running $1,106,130
3 5 #8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet Budweiser 170/5 203 Running $828,796
4 12 #10 Scott Riggs Chevrolet Valvoline 160/0 203 Running $643,896
5 2 #48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe's 160/5 203 Running $533,579
6 32 #6 Mark Martin Ford Viagra 150/0 203 Running $395,313
7 4 #20 Tony Stewart Chevrolet The Home Depot 156/10 203 Running $442,610
8 18 #40 Sterling Marlin Dodge Coors Light 142/0 203 Running $341,341
9 8 #37 Kevin Lepage Dodge Patron Tequila 138/0 203 Running $307,138
10 36 #2 Rusty Wallace Dodge Miller Lite 134/0 203 Running $317,646
11 39 #38 Elliott Sadler Ford M&M's 130/0 203 Running $318,604
12 27 #99 Carl Edwards Ford Office Depot 127/0 203 Running $278,963
13 34 #01 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet U.S. Army 129/5 203 Running $290,671
14 38 #07 Dave Blaney Chevrolet Jack Daniel's 121/0 203 Running $270,363
15 1 #88 Dale Jarrett Ford UPS 118/0 203 Running $307,596
16 26 #43 Jeff Green Dodge Cheerios 115/0 203 Running $289,499
17 33 #45 Kyle Petty Dodge Georgia-Pacific/Brawny 117/5 203 Running $273,321
18 35 #0 Mike Bliss Chevrolet NetZero Best Buy 109/0 203 Running $258,538
19 25 #77 Travis Kvapil * Dodge Kodak/Jasper Engines 106/0 203 Running $267,788
20 9 #12 Ryan Newman Dodge ALLTEL 108/5 203 Running $306,479
21 28 #25 Brian Vickers Chevrolet GMAC/ditech.com 100/0 203 Running $266,738
22 37 #9 Kasey Kahne Dodge Dodge Dealers/UAW 97/0 203 Running $288,388
23 24 #19 Jeremy Mayfield Dodge Dodge Dealers/UAW 99/5 203 Running $283,158
24 11 #21 Ricky Rudd Ford Motorcraft Quality Parts 91/0 202 Running $287,002
25 23 #16 Greg Biffle Ford National Guard 88/0 201 Running $269,613
26 29 #41 Casey Mears Dodge Target 85/0 199 Running $273,321
27 41 #136 Boris Said Chevrolet CENTRIX Financial 82/0 198 Running $249,838
28 30 #29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet GM Goodwrench 84/5 198 Running $288,799
29 6 #31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet Cingular Wireless 81/5 194 Running $294,608
30 7 #23 Mike Skinner Dodge Argent Mortgage 73/0 187 Accident $260,113
31 42 #14 John Andretti Ford VB/APlus at Sunoco 70/0 187 Accident $247,538
32 17 #42 Jamie McMurray Dodge Texaco/Havoline 67/0 184 Accident $257,613
33 16 #22 Scott Wimmer Dodge Caterpillar 69/5 182 Accident $265,110
34 10 #1 Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops 61/0 178 Engine $252,593
35 22 #32 Bobby Hamilton Jr. Chevrolet Tide Coldwater 58/0 173 Running $245,468
36 40 #11 Jason Leffler Chevrolet FedEx Express 55/0 168 Accident $244,988
37 3 #15 Michael Waltrip Chevrolet NAPA Auto Parts 57/5 161 Engine $304,563
38 19 #5 Kyle Busch * Chevrolet Kellogg's 49/0 148 Running $252,063
39 31 #49 Ken Schrader Dodge Schwan's Home Service 46/0 120 Engine $243,288
40 21 #100 Kenny Wallace Chevrolet Aaron's 43/0 39 Engine $243,038
41 43 #4 Mike Wallace Chevrolet Lucas Oil Products 40/0 35 Overheating $242,388
42 14 #17 Matt Kenseth Ford DeWalt Power Tools 37/0 34 Engine $292,124
43 20 #18 Bobby Labonte Chevrolet Interstate Batteries 34/0 14 Engine $276,444
* Denotes Rookie
CONTINGENCY AWARDS
Bud Pole:
Dale Jarrett,#88, UPS, Ford
Checkers/Rally's Double Drive-Thru Challenge:
Tony Stewart,#20, The Home Depot, Chevrolet
Commit Lozenges "Commit to Win":
Jimmie Johnson,#48, Lowe's, Chevrolet
EA Sports Move of the Race:
Jeff Gordon,#24, DuPont, Chevrolet
Goodyear Gatorback Fastest Lap:
Tony Stewart,#20, The Home Depot, Chevrolet
MBNA Mid-race Leader:
Tony Stewart,#20, The Home Depot, Chevrolet
Mobil 1 Command Performance Driver of the Race:
Dale Earnhardt Jr.,#8, Budweiser, Chevrolet
Raybestos Rookie of the Race:
Travis Kvapil,#77, Kodak/Jasper Engines, Dodge
Sunoco Diamond Performance:
Jeff Gordon,#24, DuPont, Chevrolet
USG Driver of the Race:
Elliott Sadler,#38, M&M's, Ford
USG Improving the Finish Award:
Elliott Sadler,#38, M&M's, Ford
WIX Filters Lap Leader:
Tony Stewart,#20, The Home Depot, Chevrolet
Jeff Gordon leads them to the line
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A win is a win, and second place is never good enough |
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