Car 43 Aric Almirola United States Air Force Ford won his 1st NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at the Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola at Daytona International Speedway. Aric Almirola was in the right place and the right time; missing the 2 big crashes that took so many cars out the running. And he was in front when the rain stopped the race giving him the win.
Starting in 15th place this is his 1st win in 125 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races and 4th Top-10 finish in 2014.
Aric Almirola is the 43rd driver to drive the famed Car 43 car in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Prior to today’s win, the last time the Car 43 car visited Victory Lane at Daytona was 7/4/1984 with NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty behind the wheel. The last time the No. 43 car won in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series was at Martinsville Speedway (4/18/1999) with driver John Andretti. This is the Car 43 car’s 199th win (second-most all-time) in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. This is the No. 43 car’s 11th points-paying win at Daytona among two drivers – Richard Petty (10 wins) and Aric Almirola (1 win).
2nd place Car 55 Brian Vickers Aaron’s/FSU National Championship started in 30th place posted his 4th place Top-10 finish in 16 races at Daytona. It is his 6th Top-10 finish in 2014.
3rd Place Car 41 Kurt Busch Haas Automation Chevrolet started in 40th place posted his 14th Top-10 finish in 28 races at Daytona International Speedway.
4th Place Car 13 Casey Mears GEICO Chevrolet started in 22nd place.
5th Place Car 3 Austin Dillon Bass Pro Shops/NRA Museum Chevrolet started in 23rd place was the highest finishing rookie.
6th place Car 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Ground started in 37th place followed by 7th place Car 95 Michael McDowell JPO Absorbents Ford who started in 27th place.
8th Place Car 10 Danica Patrick Florida Lottery/GoDaddy Chevrolet started in 29th place followed by 9th place 34.
Car 15 Clint Bowyer RK Motors Charlotte Toyota started in 34th place.
Lastly in the in the Top 10 is Car 9 Marcos Ambrose DeWalt/Wounded Warrior Project Ford in 10th place who started in 18th place.
The main factors of this race was the weather and 2 very big crashes that started from the front. The weather caused the race to be re-scheduled from Saturday night to Sunday, the 1st Caution and shortened race to 112 Laps 280 Miles Coke Zero 400. The 1st big one came on lap 21 including a lot of big names who are usually up front. The 2nd big one came on lap 99 taking out half the field.
Kyle Busch had a sense of humor, and said as he was sitting in his car upside down, “Just hanging out,” Busch radioed “It felt like a slow carnival ride. I guess that’s fitting for 4th of July weekend but not here in Daytona. I just got T-boned there at the end and it just kind of toppled me over.”
This race had 6 Caution Flags for 29 laps 21 Lead Changes among 14 drivers.
1st Caution on lap 7-12 for Weather Turn 2 [Red Flag 25 mins. 43 secs.], 2nd Caution on lap 21-28 for Car # 48, 9, 20, 10, 11, 42, 88, 17, 99, 66, 21, 24, 14, 2, 47, 4 Accident Frontstretch, 3rd Caution on lap 42-44 for Debris Turn 1, 4th Caution on lap 95-97 for Debris Backstretch, 5th Caution on lap 99-104 for Car # 5, 15, 23, 18, 16, 26, 38, 51, 31, 27, 98, 7, 83, 33, 20, 40, 1, 9, 22, 34, 11, 10, 2, 32, 36, 95 Accident Backstretch [Red Flag 4 mins. 48 secs.], 6th Caution on lap 110-112 for Weather Frontstretch
21 Lead Changes among 14 drivers
Lap Leaders: D. Gilliland 1-4; M. Kenseth 5-16; T. Stewart 17-19; D. Ragan 20-24; C. Bowyer 25; C. Mears 26; D. Ragan 27-28; R. Sorenson 29-32; L. Cassill(i) 33-34; D. Gilliland 35; L. Cassill(i) 36-38; J. McMurray 39-41; M. Annett # 42-43; J. McMurray 44-51; G. Biffle 52-59; Kurt Busch 60-85; G. Biffle 86; J. Gordon 87-88; Kurt Busch 89-97; A. Almirola 98-104; Kurt Busch 105; A. Almirola 106-112.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Kurt Busch 3 times for 36 laps; A. Almirola 2 times for 14 laps; M. Kenseth 1 time for 12 laps; J. McMurray 2 times for 11 laps; G. Biffle 2 times for 9 laps; D. Ragan 2 times for 7 laps; D. Gilliland 2 times for 5 laps; L. Cassill(i) 2 times for 5 laps; R. Sorenson 1 time for 4 laps; T. Stewart 1 time for 3 laps; J. Gordon 1 time for 2 laps; M. Annett # 1 time for 2 laps; C. Bowyer 1 time for 1 lap; C. Mears 1 time for 1 lap.
Top 16 in Points: J. Gordon – 651; D. Earnhardt Jr. – 624; J. Johnson – 596; B. Keselowski – 586; M. Kenseth – 580; J. Logano – 546; C. Edwards – 543; R. Newman – 534; Kyle Busch – 524; P. Menard – 516; K. Harvick – 514; C. Bowyer – 509; A. Dillon # – 494; D. Hamlin – 493; G. Biffle – 490; B. Vickers – 484.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race Number 18
Unofficial Race Results for the 56Th Annual Coke Zero 400 – Saturday, July 5, 2014
Daytona International Speedway – Daytona Beach, FL – 2.5 Mile Paved
Total Race Length – 112 Laps – 280 Miles
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 09 Mins, 13 Secs. Margin of Victory: Caution.
Finished Position Starting Position Car # Driver Team Laps Status
1. 15. Car 43 Aric Almirola United States Air Force Ford 112 Running
2. 30. Car 55 Brian Vickers Aaron’s/FSU National Championship Toyota 112 Running
3. 40. Car 41 Kurt Busch Haas Automation Chevrolet 112 Running
4. 22. Car 13 Casey Mears GEICO Chevrolet 112 Running
5. 23. Car 3 Austin Dillon Bass Pro Shops/NRA Museum Chevrolet 112 Running
6. 37. Car 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Ground Toyota 112 Running
7. 27. Car 95 Michael McDowell JPO Absorbents Ford 112 Running
8. 29. Car 10 Danica Patrick Florida Lottery/GoDaddy Chevrolet 112 Running
9. 34. Car 15 Clint Bowyer RK Motors Charlotte Toyota 112 Running
10. 18. Car 9 Marcos Ambrose DeWalt/Wounded Warrior Project Ford 112 Running
11. 38. Car 32 Terry Labonte C&J Energy Services Ford 112 Running
12. 9. Car 24 Jeff Gordon Pepsi Real Sugar Chevrolet 112 Running
13. 43. Car 23 Alex Bowman Dr. Pepper Toyota 112 Running
14. 7. Car 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. National Guard Chevrolet 112 Running
15. 19. Car 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Chevrolet 112 Running
16. 21. Car 27 Paul Menard Splash/Menards Chevrolet 112 Running
17. 28. Car 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 112 Running
18. 26. Car 2 Brad Keselowski Alliance Truck Parts Ford 111 Running
19. 41. Car 66 Michael Waltrip RoyalTeakCollection.com Toyota 111 Running
20. 6. Car 20 Matt Kenseth Home Depot Husky Toyota 111 Running
21. 32. Car 7 Michael Annett Pilot/Flying J Chevrolet 104 Running
22. 8. Car 34 David Ragan Farm Rich Ford 102 Accident
23. 33. Car 98 Josh Wise Curb Records/Lee Brice Ford 101 Running
24. 20. Car 31 Ryan Newman WIX Filters Chevrolet 100 Running
25. 31. Car 51 Justin Allgaier AccuDoc Solutions Chevrolet 98 Accident
26. 4. Car 33 Bobby Labonte Thunder Coal Chevrolet 98 Accident
27. 14. Car 5 Kasey Kahne Farmers Insurance Chevrolet 97 Accident
28. 39. Car 18 Kyle Busch Interstate Batteries Toyota 97 Accident
29. 10. Car 16 Greg Biffle 3M Stars & Stripes Ford 97 Accident
30. 36. Car 1 Jamie McMurray Cessna Chevrolet 97 Accident
31. 3. Car 40 Landon Cassill Newtown Building Supplies Chevrolet 97 Accident
32. 42. Car 83 Ryan Truex VooDoo BBQ/Armed Forces Motorsports Toyota 97 Accident
33. 2. Car 36 Reed Sorenson Golden Corral Chevrolet 97 Accident
34. 17. Car 26 Cole Whitt Al’s Liner/Scorpion Window Film Toyota 97 Accident
35. 1. Car 38 David Gilliland Love’s Travel Stops Ford 97 Accident
36. 35. Car 42 Kyle Larson Target Chevrolet 69 Running
37. 11. Car 99 Carl Edwards Subway Ford 66 Running
38. 25. Car 21 Trevor Bayne Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford 46 Running
39. 13. Car 4 Kevin Harvick Budweiser Folds of Honor Chevrolet 46 Running
40. 12. Car 14 Tony Stewart Bass Pro Shops/Ducks Unlimited Chevrolet 45 Running
41. 16. Car 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Cargill/Winn-Dixie Ford 37 Running
42. 5. Car 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s Patriotic Chevrolet 20 Accident
43. 24. Car 47 AJ Allmendinger Scott Products Chevrolet 19 Accident
Race Comments: Aric Almirola won the Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola at Daytona International Speedway, his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory. Prior to the start of the race, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field for the reasons indicated: #83 (unapproved adjustments). Failed to Qualify: (1) 29 Joe Nemechek(i).
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 09 Mins, 13 Secs. Average Speed: 130.014 MPH Margin of Victory: Caution
3M Lap Leader: Kurt Busch, #41 36 Laps American Ethanol Green Flag Restart Award: Michael McDowell, #95 Coors Light Pole Award: David Gilliland, #38 199.322 mphMahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race: Hendrick Engines, #41 Mobil 1 Driver of the Race: Aric Almirola, #43 Moog Chassis Parts Problem Solver of the Race: Aric Almirola, #43 6.068 secs Sherwin-Williams Fastest Lap: Kyle Busch, #18 Sunoco Rookie of the Race: Austin Dillon, #3
Next Race: Jul. 13, 2014 – New Hampshire Motor Speedway
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