Who needs Chad Knaus? Despite having his crew chief banished from the Daytona 500, Jimmie Johnson won the first race of the NASCAR Nextel Cup season in the #48 Lowe's Chevy. Substitute Darian Grubb won in his very first race as crew chief. There was no big crash in the race but according to NASCAR, there was plenty of rough driving.
Prerace favourites Jeff Gordon-#24 Dupont Chevy & Tony Stewart-#20 Home Depot Chevy both smacked the wall at lap 49. This affected Gordon's car with transmission problems and he finished 27th. It didn't seem to bother Stewart at all and after pitting, he came back to the front. On lap 117. Stewart ran Matt Kenseth-#17 DeWalt Ford off the racetrack into the infield grass. Stewart was penalized for aggressive driving and sent to the back of the field. After pitting, Kenseth was penalized for attempting to send Stewart a receipt. He finished 15th. Then on lap 128, Stewart was penalized for running over the jack on pit road. He was too close to the wall. Again, He was sent to the back of the field. On lap 195, Kyle Busch was penalized for trying to run Stewart off the track. After all this Stewart still salvaged an 5th place finish.
The turning point of the race was after a caution on lap 176 when Travis Kvapii-#32 Tide Ford hit the wall. Everyone pitted but Brian Vickers-#25 GMAC Chevy only took fuel only to get the lead. But he couldn't hold off his teammate Johnson and Johnson took the lead on lap 187. A caution on lap 197 caused by Jamie Mc Murray-#26 Crown Royal Ford & Jeff Burton-#31 Cingular Chevy hitting the wall set up a green/white/checker finish. Johnson is leading with Ryan Newman-#12 Alltell Dodge second, Casey Mears-#42 Texaco Havoline Dodge third and Elliott Sadler-#38 M & M's Ford fourth. Newman & Mears had decided to team up to take the lead from Johnson. That's the only way either of them could win the race. When Newman made his move, Mears had to protect his position from Sadler so he decided not to go with Newman. The race ended just before the finish line when Greg Biffle-#16 National Guard Ford hit the wall. Congratulations to Jimmie Johnson, crew chief Darian Grubb and car owner Rick Hendrick. Here's the top 10 for the Daytona 500. Great runs for Casey Mears, rookie Clint Bowyer and fan favourite Ken Schrader.
#/Driver/Sponsor/Make/Owner
1.#48/Jimmie Johnson/Lowe's/Chevy/Rick Hendrick
2.#42/Casey Mears/Texaco Havoline/Dodge/Chip Ganassi
3.#12/Ryan Newman/Alltel/Dodge/Roger Penske
4.#38/Elliott Sadler/M & M's/Ford/Robert Yates
5.#20/Tony Stewart/Home Depot/Chevy/Joe Gibbs
6.#8/Dale Earnhardt Jr./Budweiser/Chevy/Dale Earnhardt Inc.
7.#25/Brian Vickers/GMAC/Chevy/Rick Hendrick
8.#07/Clint Bowyer/Jack Daniels/Chevy/Richard Childress
9.#21/Ken Schrader/Little Debbie's/Ford/Wood Bros.
10.#88/Dale Jarrett/UPS/Ford/Robert Yates
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