Aric Almirola claimed his first career win in the rain-shortened Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway. The race was called after 109 laps due to heavy rain. Jeff Gordon finished 12th after evading two major wrecks to claim his 17th top-15 finish in 18 races this year. Gordon maintained the NASCAR points lead by 27 over his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Gordon started 9th and ran on the inside line for the first 6 laps before a caution for a rain shower. As heavier rain fell, the field came to pit road for a red flag period. After a 40-minute delay, racing resumed on lap 12. On lap 20, a multi-car incident was triggered when Ricky Stenhouse got loose at the front of the field and Gordon turned down into Tony Stewart’s car.

More than 10 cars sustained heavy damage — including Stewart, Kevin Harvick, Carl Edwards, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Matt Kenseth, Jimmie Johnson, and Kyle Larson. Gordon sustained minor left front damage when he turned into Stewart’s right rear quarterpanel after seeing Stenhouse get loose. He came to pit road several times for fender repairs. Gordon restarted in 31st place on lap 29. A debris caution on lap 40 slowed the field with Gordon in 30th place. He restarted in 32nd on lap 44 and remained in a draft with Ryan Newman approximately 4 seconds behind the lead group. He drafted with Newman up to 24th place on lap 75. He stayed on the track to lead 2 laps during a green flag pit sequence on lap 88. After a 2-tire change, Gordon ran in 16th place on lap 90.

The next caution waved for debris on lap 94. Gordon stayed out and restarted 12th on lap 97. Gordon barely made it through another major wreck on the backstretch that took out more than 20 drivers on lap 98. The wreck was triggered when Greg Biffle bump drafted Kasey Kahne, which turned him sideways into Joey Logano. Gordon sustained some nose damage after getting into the back of David Gilliland during the melee. After repairs on pit road, Gordon restarted in 13th place — with just 16 cars on the lead lap. Gordon dropped to 12th before a caution for rain on lap 108. The red flag waved on lap 112 and the race was called after heavy rain continued in the afternoon.

Turning point
After Stenhouse got loose, Gordon turned down into Stewart. The damage impacted the handling of the Pepsi Chevrolet for the balance of the event.

source: Jeff Gordon Online

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Tony Stewart claimed the Coke Zero 400 victory with a late pass on Matt Kenseth. Stewart started at the rear of the field following a violation following qualifying, but made his way to the lead after the final restart with 2 laps to go. It was Stewart’s 47th career victory.

Jeff Gordon posted a 12th place finish after being involved in four different melees during the event. He started 5th and slipped back to 7th after the first lap on the inside line. He moved to the outside on lap 4 and worked in a draft with Juan Pablo Montoya. On lap 10, Gordon fell to 12th on the outside in a draft with his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kasey Kahne. Gordon dropped back to 21st on lap 16 in an effort to cool his engine. He re-entered the top-20 on lap 30. At the 100-mile mark, Gordon ran in 17th place. Following a round of green flag pit stops, Gordon moved up to 12th place. He continued to advance on the outside line and moved to 10th on lap 50. With Jimmie Johnson providing a drafting push, Gordon moved to 6th place on lap 55. However, he faded back by the 60-lap mark and ran in 17th place. At the halfway point, Gordon ran in 12th place.

A caution for Sam Hornish’s spin on lap 81 slowed the field and brought the lead lap cars to pit road. Gordon opted for two tires and departed in 4th place. On the restart, Gordon moved up to 2nd behind Matt Kenseth. Kurt Busch’s crash on lap 90 brought out the second caution flag. Gordon settled into 3rd place behind Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle over the next 25 laps. However, Gordon wound up in the infield grass coming to pit road for a green flag pit stop on lap 125. Bill Elliott lost control and drilled Gordon in the left side, sending him into the infield grass. The caution waved as Johnson was caught up in the melee and slammed the inside wall. Gordon came to pit road four times during the caution flag for repairs on the left side of the car. He restarted in 30th place with 29 laps to go.

With 20 laps to go, Gordon moved up to run in 22nd place. A caution for Brad Keselowski’s spin slowed the field with 16 laps to go. Gordon stayed on the track and restarted in 19th place. With 8 laps to go, Denny Hamlin lost control and collected 15 cars in a turn one wreck. Gordon made his way through the carnage with damage on the left side of the car and a flat tire. He came to pit road and restarted in 15th place with 2 laps to go. Coming to the checkered flag, Gordon was caught up in a wreck ahead of him. He bounced off Travis Kvapil’s car and came across the line in 12th place.

Turning point
Gordon was running in 3rd place when he was wrecked coming onto pit road with 30 laps to go.

JG’s comments

ON THE PIT ROAD MELEE:

“We were just coming to pit road. I don’t know what happened behind me, but they just started wrecking and we got caught up in that. That definitely changed our day. We were in great position, fast race car, and pit stops were flawless. At that point it was about fixing the damage and getting track position. The damage – they did a great job. The car had plenty of speed, but there was just no passing when you were in the back for those final laps. Three lanes wide, you just had to wait until somebody wrecked or got out of shape and the momentum changed. We actually had a great run coming through turns 3 and 4, and we were going to be better than even 12th. We kind of got caught in that wreck too. We had some momentum coming so I think we could have finished 10th-12th. But we ended up 12th. Not a bad day considering all the things that happened.”

source: gordonline.com

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July 4 – – After dodging several close calls during the 400-mile event at Daytona International Speedway, Jeff Gordon found himself at the front of the field with 3 laps to go. However, a Richard Childress Racing freight train led by Kevin Harvick passed Gordon in the closing stages. Gordon rallied to finish 3rd and post his fourth consecutive top-5 finish

Gordon started 5th and worked his way up to 3rd on lap 9. A bump draft by Greg Biffle pushed Gordon alongside Kevin Harvick for the race lead on lap 11. Within three laps he fell to 13th after getting shuffled out of the draft. Gordon ran 14th when the competition caution slowed the field on lap 15. Gordon opted for four tires and restarted in 17th place. He was unable to make headway and dropped to 19th in the draft on lap 30. Gordon worked his way back into the top-10 on lap 46 as the handling seemed best on longer runs. He came to pit road for a green flag pit stop on lap 58. Gordon was on pit road when the caution waved for debris from J.J. Yeley’s cut tire. Based on his spot on the track, Gordon was 2nd at the time of the caution. On the restart, Gordon got a push from Brad Keselowski on the outside line to take the lead. Two laps later A.J. Allmendinger spun off turn four and made contact with the inside wall.

On the restart, Keselowski jumped in front of Gordon to take the race lead. Two laps later, Gordon received a drafting push from Denny Hamlin to re-take the lead. Shortly thereafter, Juan Pablo Montoya pulled to the inside to take the lead. Gordon was shuffled back to 4th in the high line behind Hamlin. Gordon slipped to 14th on lap 80 after taking the inside line. By lap 86, he dropped to 19th battling a loose handling condition. At lap 100, Gordon moved back up to 13th but was distantly behind the lead drafting pack. He came in for a green flag pit stop at lap 101 and changed four tires. On lap 103, the caution for Kyle Busch’s wall contact trapped Gordon a lap down. However, Gordon stayed on the track during the round of pit stops and received the wave around to get back on the lead lap. Gordon restarted in 5th with 50 laps to go. With 47 to go, Gordon moved to the high line and took the lead with drafting help from Jeff Burton. Two laps later Burton took the lead from Gordon who fell to 5th.

With 43 to go, David Ragan, Jamie McMurray, and Martin Truex made heavy contact in turn four to bring out the caution. Gordon came to pit road for tires and restarted in 8th place. He was running 7th when the caution waved with 25 laps to go for David Stremme’s wreck. Gordon came to the pits for tires and restarted in 5th place. With 11 laps to go, Gordon masterfully made his way through an 18-car melee in turn 3 which began when Kurt Busch and Jeff Burton made contact. A 20-minte red flag delay for track clean-up followed. Gordon came to pit road for four tires and restarted in 6th place. Gordon moved to 3rd behind Clint Bowyer and Kevin Harvick in a drafting line. With 4 to go, Gordon passed Harvick to take 2nd place behind Bowyer. He then dove low on the track to the take the lead with 3 to go. However, with 2 to go, Harvick gave Bowyer a drafting push down the backstretch to pass Gordon. He slipped back to 4th before a wreck involving Sam Hornish slowed the field just before the leaders took the white flag. On the green/white/checker restart, Gordon lined up behind Bowyer. Gordon gave Bowyer a push and then looked to the outside. Bowyer made contact with Gordon on the backstretch which broke his momentum. Gordon then lined up behind Kahne and tried to pass his future Hendrick Motorsports teammate ahead of Harvick. At the finish, Harvick held off Kahne and Gordon to take the victory.

With the 3rd place finish, Gordon moved up to 2nd in the points standings — though he trails by 50 Chase points to Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson. It was Gordon’s best finish at Daytona since winning in February 2005.

source: gordonline.com

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Post Race Press Conference
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