Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.

Fans who act fast can take advantage of the best pricing available during the public on-sale period:

• Frontstretch grandstand seats for the Coke Zero 400 Powered By Coca-Cola start at $45, Tower seats begin at $85.
• Reserved grandstand seats for children ages 12 and under are $10 and kids 12 and under are free in the Sprint FANZONE.
• Infield camping packages start at $345, and new for 2012, reserved site infield guests will be able to drive in and out of the infield.

Fans can purchase tickets to the mid-summer classic on one of three convenient ways:

• Online at www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com
•  By calling 1-800-PITSHOP
• Visiting the Daytona International Speedway ticket office

“For more than 50 years, Daytona International Speedway has celebrated Independence Day in its own unique way with the stars of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and one of the largest fireworks shows in the Southeast,” Daytona International Speedway President Joie Chitwood III said. “We look forward to another great Coke Zero 400 Weekend Powered by Coca-Cola featuring thrilling on-track competition and first-class entertainment for our fans.”

Daytona International Speedway will celebrate the Independence Day holiday weekend by transforming into the largest lighted sports facility in America as the stars of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series battle for 160 laps, 400 miles on the historic 31-degree high banks.

Tickets to the Subway Jalapeno 250 Powered By Coca-Cola NASCAR Nationwide Series race on Friday night, July 6, are also available for purchase on Saturday, Oct. 29.

Prior to Oct. 29, only ticket renewals for the 54^th annual Coke Zero 400 Powered By Coca-Cola were taken by the ticket office at Daytona International Speedway.

- Daytona International Speedway, Press Release

2011 NSCS Casey Mears - Photo Credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images for NASCAR

Daytona Beach, FL (July 2, 2011)

Prior to the start of practice, Mears and the GEICO team would first be forced to wait out the aggression of Mother Nature, who blanketed the speedway with rain for the majority of Thursday afternoon. After the cancellation of the opening practice, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series would offer the field a compacted 45-minute session later in the evening. Mears and the #13 GEICO Toyota Camry would end up 32nd on the speed chart, just behind Brian Vickers and Kasey Kahne, when the red flag closed the series’ only practice session.

Qualifying got underway late Friday afternoon, and Mears would be the 14th driver to take to the newly paved tri-oval. He navigated the #13 GEICO Camry around the high-banks of Daytona International Speedway in just 50.107-seconds, at a rate of speed of 179.616-miles per hour, placing him 32nd on the starting grid, ahead of Martin Truex, Jr., and Denny Hamlin.

Before Mears would take the green flag on Saturday night, he would first make an appearance at the GEICO display area in the GEICO campgrounds. After signing hundreds of autographs and taking photos with admiring fans, Mears then set his sights on the 160 laps of racing that would ensue a few hours later.

Clear skies and a packed grandstand overlooked the racetrack when the green flag turned the field loose for 400-miles of racing on Saturday evening. Starting 32nd, Mears and the #13 GEICO Camry immediately hooked up with their drafting partner Bobby Labonte and began to move forward until a Trevor Bayne crash brought out the event’s first caution flag on Lap 4. Labonte received collateral damage and after moving up to the 24th position, Mears and the Gecko were now on the lookout for a new dance partner.

When the race went back to green on Lap 9, Mears restarted 17th and hooked up with Landon Cassill, forming what would end up being one of the most formidable duos of the evening. However, Cassill would not be Mears’ only ally during the race. When the event’s second caution flag was displayed on Lap 23 after Carl Edwards met the wall in Turn 4, the Germain Racing pit crew churned out a fast stop and returned Mears to the racing surface in an expedient fashion. While the #13 GEICO Camry entered pit road in the 16th position, Mears would restart ninth on Lap 27, netting seven spots during his visit.

Mears and Cassill began to effortlessly navigate to the front and cracked the Top 10 on Lap 39, when the #13 GEICO Camry took over the ninth position. Just a few laps later, on Lap 43, Mears captured fifth, and soon after moved into third on his quest to command the field.

As the race began to wear on, Mears settled comfortably into the Top 10 and would make the occasional visit to the Top 5. Lap 75 found the Daytona crowd exposed to their favorite reptile as Mears and the #13 GEICO Camry shot to the lead and would hold the spot for the next two laps. After the Gecko led his first Daytona laps in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Mears settled into the third position as the race approached the halfway point.

With just 80 laps left on the docket, the tension on the racetrack became palpable and a focused Mears would wheel around the racetrack speaking very little on the team’s radio frequency.

A persistent Mears handled the race with a veteran’s calm and Lap 94 saw the hard-charging GEICO driver once again chase down the leader and take over the race’s top spot, marking the second time the #13 GEICO Camry led the field.

As he approached Lap 100, Mears brought the #13 GEICO Camry down pit road for a scheduled green flag stop, taking on only left-side tires and a tank of Sunoco racing fuel. He rejoined the event in the 19th position, but quickly made up lost ground. Mears reached the Top 15 by Lap 104, while one lap later the #13 GEICO Camry would tread in familiar territory when it landed back in the Top 5.

With just two laps left in the event, race fans leaped from their seats when a big group of cars began to make contact, sending Jeff Gordon spinning in front of an oncoming Mears. Mears would miss Gordon’s car by only the narrowest of margins, drawing a collective sigh from the GEICO Racing pit area. The incident would set the race up for a green-white-checker finish.

Riding in 12th under caution on Lap 160, Mears was handed his marching orders by crew chief, Bootie Barker. “Casey, you have enough fuel to do what you need to do here at the end. You and Landon should be nose to tail. Good luck.”

When the race went back under green with two laps remaining, the field began crashing in Turn 2 and Mears was left with nowhere to go, falling victim to the ‘big one’ and causing significant damage to the #13 GEICO Camry. Mears was able to carefully limp the GEICO machine back to pit road where the Germain Racing pit crew skillfully repaired the car during the caution period.

Mears would ultimately restart the race in the 33rd position, and hustle to a 32nd place finish. The late-race crash would not overshadow the team’s best overall performance of the season.

“We had a really good night tonight and it was great being able to take the lead on two different occasions and put GEICO at the front of the field at one of the biggest races of the year,” Mears said. “Getting caught up in a crash with two to go is unfortunate, but wrecks happen in racing and we got wrecked while in position to make a run for the win; that’s something we can live with. What’s important is that we got to show the progress we’re making and how good we can be. I’m proud of this entire Germain Racing team. I had a lot of fun tonight and I’m really looking forward to getting to Kentucky next week.”

Next week, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will make its first-ever visit to Kentucky Speedway when all three of NASCAR’s top series’ compete at the Sparta facility.

Mears and the #13 GEICO Toyota Camry will hit the 1.5-mile D-shaped oval for an open day of testing on Thursday, July 7th, prior to beginning practice on Friday, July 8th, at 11:30 AM (EDT). Qualifying will follow on Friday evening at 5:10 PM (EDT).

The Quaker State 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race is on Saturday, July 9th and it will be televised live on TNT beginning at 7:30 PM (EDT). The Performance Racing Network (PRN) will carry the live radio broadcast.

To learn more about the GEICO Racing program, please visit: www.geicogarage.com

You can also follow GEICO Racing on Twitter: www.twitter.com/geicoracing

Please visit the Casey Mears Facebook fan page: www.facebook.com/caseymearsracing

- Player Management International, Inc., for GEICO Racing, Press Release

Trevor Bayne, driver of the #21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford, wrecks in turn one during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coke ZERO 400 Powered by Coca-Cola at Daytona International Speedway on July 2, 2011 in Daytona Beach, Florida. - Photo Credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Bayne was knocked out in a crash when the race was just four laps old.

He was running in tandem with the No. 2 Dodge of Brad Keselowski when the two made contact with Bayne spinning into the wall and damaging his car too much to continue. He wound up 41st in the final finishing order of a race won by one of his Daytona 500 drafting mates, fellow Ford driver David Ragan.

“At the beginning of the race we didn’t really have a plan of who we were going to work with,” Bayne said. “The other Ford cars had teammates already, and we were going to work on whoever we found.”

At the start, he worked successfully with Clint Bowyer, but Bowyer dropped off to pick up his teammate, leaving Bayne to search for another partner.

He found Keselowski, but it didn’t work out like he’d planned.

“I wanted to be a pusher, because I know that these things can happen,” Bayne said. “He got to us and was pushing us down the frontstretch. I was still kind of lifting a little bit, letting him get to my bumper, and then I got back to the gas wide-open.

“I don’t know if I turned down more getting in or if he kind of came up across our bumper, but, either way, our bumpers caught wrong and it sent us spinning.”

Bayne and the Woods had planned a conservative race strategy, figuring to save their car for the finish.

“I was just planning on riding at the beginning,” Bayne said. “There’s no reason we should have been out of this race with the mindset that we had. We were just going to ride it out and keep the car in one piece until the end.”

And from what he saw in practice, qualifying and the first few laps of the race, the outcome could have been far different.

“It was fast there at the beginning,” Bayne said. “The four Hendrick cars had to team up on us to get by me and Clint Bowyer, so I knew we had a good race car, and it qualified really well. If it was going to be a winner, we’ll never know, but I think it could have been for sure.”

Bayne pointed out that spins in the tandem draft aren’t anything new, but it is particularly disappointing when one of them wrecks a car as good as the one his Wood Brothers team prepared for him.

“I hate tearing up a good race car, and they duplicated what we had here in February, which is hard to do,” he said.

“I’m thankful for the Wood Brothers standing behind me through everything I’ve been through this year, and for Ford and Quick Lane and Motorcraft and Ford Parts.com and everybody that’s been around all year long for everything.

“It’s good to have people like that around.”

Bayne and the Woods return to the Sprint Cup circuit on July 31 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

- Wood Brothers Racing, Press Release

Roush Fenway visits victory lane for the 12^th time in 2011

David Ragan, driver of the #6 UPS Ford, crosses the start/finsish line ahead of teammate Matt Kenseth, driver of the #17 Affliction Clothing: Live Fast Ford, to take the checkered flag and win the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coke ZERO 400 Powered by Coca-Cola at Daytona International Speedway on July 2, 2011 in Daytona Beach, Florida. - Photo Credit:Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images for NASCAR

“This is fun. There’s not a better place to do it than Daytona,” said Ragan in victory lane. “We delivered a win for UPS. I’ve been promising all those ‘UPSers’ for a couple of years and final got it in Daytona. It couldn’t be any better.

“I have to thank Matt Kenseth,” added Ragan. “We really worked well together tonight and he pushed me to the finish line. This is just awesome.”

For Roush Fenway it marks the organization’s fourth points’ win in the Sprint Cup Series this season; the team also hoisted the trophy in the Sprint All-Star Challenge and All-Star Showdown. For the season Ragan is the fifth Roush Fenway NASCAR driver to visit victory lane in 2011. Roush Fenway has now visited winner’s circle a total of 12 times during the 2011 season, including Nationwide wins.

Ragan, who made his 163^rd career Cup start in the race, becomes the second Roush Fenway driver to score his first-career Cup win at the Daytona July race, joining Greg Biffle who won his first race at the famed track in 2003. He is the fifth Roush Fenway driver to win a Cup race at Daytona in the team’s 24-year history.

With the finish, Edwards fell to second place; only five points out of first. With the victory, Ragan moved into serious contention for the “Chase” wild card spot, joining Edwards and Kenseth in the 12-car field if the ‘regular’ season were ended today. Nine races remain before the cut-off mark at Richmond.

The Sprint Cup Series returns to action next weekend for the inaugural Sprint Cup event at Kentucky Speedway.

Contact: Kevin Woods, 704-957-1138 or kwoods@roushfenway.com.

- Roush Fenway Racing, Press Release

Ryan Newman in car - Photo Credit: Jerry Markland/Getty Images for NASCAR

For Ryan Newman and the No. 39 Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) team, Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway delivered the kind of outcome they’ve come to expect in a restrictor-plate event – high hopes dashed by disappointment. In fact, the Coke Zero 400 was almost an exact replica of the team’s February outing at the 2.5-mile oval in the season-opening Daytona 500.

Once again, Newman had a strong racecar, evidenced by him leading four times for a race-high 25 laps in his No. 39 Bass Pro Shops/NRA Chevrolet Impala. But in the end, he was relegated to a 23^rd-place finish thanks to being shuffled out of the lead on the race’s final restart and being collected in a last-lap accident.

“Just another typical Daytona for us,” said Newman, who led nine times for a race-high 37 laps in the Daytona 500. “It’s just disappointing to know how strong the Bass Pro Shops/NRA Chevy was tonight and how close we’ve been both times at Daytona this year to win. It’s just a product of this racing, but that doesn’t make it any easier to swallow. Sooner or later, luck is going to go our way at this place.”

Just as he did in this year’s Daytona 500, Newman paired with Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin for the new style of tandem-racing that has dominated the restrictor-plate races this season. And once again, the pair proved to be a force on the racetrack. And just like the outcome of February’s race, Newman was a mere minutes away from capturing victory at the famed Daytona track.

Newman was leading at lap 158 – just two laps from the end of the race’s regularly scheduled distance – when the caution flag waved for a multi-car accident in turn four. The caution set up the race’s first attempt at a green-white-checkered finish. Newman restarted in the lead on lap 162, but shortly after the green flag waved, David Ragan wrestled the point away from him – just as the caution flag flew once more as several cars crashed in turn one.

Newman restarted in second for the race’s second attempt at a green-white-checkered finish with drafting partner Hamlin lined up directly behind him in fourth. Initially, the pair looked to have a good restart, but as another drafting tandem took to the high side of the track in an attempt to take the lead, Newman’s back bumper and Hamlin’s front bumper became disengaged.

With the pair no longer bumper-to-bumper, they were shuffled deep in the pack of cars by the time they made a complete lap, which put Newman in a precarious position for the final run to the checkered flag. Inevitably, Newman got caught up in the last-lap melee as he exited turn four, but he was able to limp across the start/finish line in his heavily damaged racecar to post a 23^rd-place finish.

Newman’s SHR teammate, Tony Stewart, finished 11^th in his the No. 14 Burger King Chevrolet.

David Ragan won the Coke Zero 400 to score his first career Sprint Cup victory.

His Roush Fenway Racing teammate, Matt Kenseth, finished in the runner-up spot as the race ended under caution. Joey Logano, Kasey Kahne and Kyle Busch rounded out the top-five. Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick, Paul Menard, Juan Pablo Montoya and A.J. Allmendinger comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were six caution periods for 21 laps, with eight drivers failing to finish the 170-lap race, which was extended 10 laps due to a green-white-checkered finish.

With round 17 of 36 complete, Newman leads the SHR duo in the championship point standings. He remains 10^th with 498 points, 88 markers back of new series leader Harvick and three points ahead of 11^th-place Denny Hamlin. Stewart maintained his 12^th-place standing and now has 494 points, which puts him 92 markers back of the top spot with a 21-point cushion over 13^th-place Greg Biffle.

The next event on the 2011 schedule is the inaugural NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta on July 9. The race starts at 7:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by TNT beginning with its pre-race show at 6:30 p.m.

- True Speed Communication for Stewart-Haas Racing/Haas Automation, Press Release

Kyle Busch - Photo Credit: Todd Warshaw / Getty Images

Kyle Busch rallied from a late-race accident to score an impressive fifth-place finish in Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. The driver of the No. 18 Interstate All Battery Center Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) notched his ninth top-five finish of 2011.

Daytona and its sister track, Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, are the only two restrictor-plate tracks on the NASCAR schedule. As was the case in the season-opening Daytona 500 and the April race at Talladega, drivers had to align themselves in two-car drafts to make any headway toward the front of the field. The system creates a dicey game of bumper cars that sometimes leads to drivers involuntarily spinning out their drafting partner.

Busch, who started 38th, and his JGR teammate, Joey Logano, who started 37th, worked together all night long as they did in earlier Sprint Cup and NASCAR Nationwide Series races at Daytona and Talladega, including last night’s Nationwide Series race where Busch pushed Logano to victory on the final lap.

During the Coke Zero 400, Logano and Busch communicated well, pitted at the same time and were never far apart during the first 159 laps of what was scheduled to be a 160-lap race. Sometimes they would run up front – Busch led five times for 11 laps – or sometimes they would just ride in the back of the pack waiting for the race to near its end.

As they were running ninth and 10th, respectively, on the high side of the racetrack entering turn three on lap 159, Kasey Kahne’s car touched the Chevrolet piloted by Jeff Gordon, who was inside of Busch. The right side of Gordon’s car slid slightly into the left side of Busch’s Toyota, forcing Busch’s No. 18 machine into the SAFER Barrier on the outside retaining wall.

While the contact from Gordon and the brush with the SAFER Barrier were both minor, the impact still caused the right-front tire on Busch’s car to go flat. He was forced to pit one lap later for new tires and minor repairs, but his partner, Logano, had no damage and stayed out on the racetrack.

That meant Logano would restart near the front of the pack, while Busch would take the green flag in 28th. Busch and Brad Keselowski decided to work together in an attempt to charge toward the front of the field during the first attempt at a green-white-checkered finish, but a 15-car accident in turn one immediately after the restart brought out another caution before the duo could begin to really work together.

Several cars then had to pit because of the accident and Busch, who stayed out on the track, was able to restart in 15th on lap 169. From there, he and Gordon worked together and during the final, green-white-checkered finish, and they managed to move up to fifth (Busch) and sixth (Gordon) when the checkered flag flew.

“I can’t say enough about this Interstate All Battery Center Camry,” Busch said. “It definitely was a good racecar. I was working with Joey (Logano) all day long and it was really, really good. I can’t say enough about Joey and how well we worked together. Then, we got caught up in that wreck there. We came to pit road and had to fix it. We had a flat right-front. We got back in traffic and I worked with the ‘2’ (Keselowski) and they all wrecked down there (in turn one).

“We stayed out – a couple of guys came to pit road and we gained some track position there. Then, we got separated from the ‘2’ again so I just got with the ‘24’ (Gordon) who was behind me and he never lifted, I don’t think, the last two laps. So, we just dug a hole through the bottom side and made it up there. Again, I can’t say enough about this Interstate All Battery Center Camry. The guys did a great job for me and gave me a really fast racecar. I wish I could’ve worked with Joey and him or I could’ve won this thing, but still it was a good day.”

Busch’s JGR teammates – Logano, driver of the No. 20 Toyota Camry, and Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 Toyota Camry – finished third and 13th respectively.

David Ragan won the Coke Zero 400 to score his first career Sprint Cup victory.

His Roush Fenway Racing teammate, Matt Kenseth, finished in the runner-up spot as the race ended under caution. Logano, Kahne and Busch rounded out the top-five. Gordon, Kevin Harvick, Paul Menard, Juan Pablo Montoya and A.J. Allmendinger comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were six caution periods for 21 laps, with eight drivers failing to finish the 170-lap race, which was extended 10 laps due to a green-white-checkered finish.

With round 17 of 36 complete, Busch continues to lead the JGR trio in the championship standings. He gained two spots and now sits third with 576 points, 10 markers back of new series leader Harvick. During each race, bonus points are awarded – one point for leading a lap, one point for leading the most laps and three points winning the race. Busch has accumulated 22 bonus points this season, more than any other driver. Harvick is next best with 20 bonus points.

Hamlin remained 11th in the standings with 495 points, 91 markers out of the top spot and three back from 10th-place Ryan Newman. Logano gained three spots and now sits 20th with 439 points, 147 markers behind Harvick and 59 back of Newman.

The next event on the 2011 schedule is the inaugural NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta on July 9. The race starts at 7:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by TNT beginning with its pre-race show at 6:30 p.m.

- True Speed Communication for Joe Gibbs Racing, Press Release

Ford Racing

TREVOR BAYNE – No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion – “At the beginning of the race we didn’t really have a plan of who we were gonna work with. The other Ford cars had teammates already and we were gonna work on whoever we found and we worked with the 33 car at first and we were really fast. We only got a couple laps to prove that, but he dropped off to find the 31, which we knew he was gonna do, and as I was kind of falling through the field, we found the 2 car. I wanted to be a pusher because I know that these things can happen. He got to us and was pushing us down the frontstretch. I was still kind of lifting a little bit, letting him get to my bumper, and then I got back to the gas wide-open. I don’t know if I turned down more getting in or if he kind of came up across our bumper, but, either way, our bumpers caught wrong and it sent us spinning. You know that can happen here. It happens all the time, but it’s tough that it was our car. I hate tearing up a good race car and they duplicated what we had here in February, which is hard to do, so I’m thankful for the Wood Brothers standing behind me through everything I’ve been through this year, and for Ford and Quick Lane and Motorcraft and Ford Parts.com and everybody that’s been around all year long for everything. It’s good to have people like that around.”

WHAT DOES IT FEEL LIKE WHEN IT GOES AWAY? “It’s not fun, I can promise you. It takes about a half-second and you say, ‘Oh, here it goes,’ because you get sideways and you know the point of correction. You know at what point you can still correct and then you know when it’s too far. I watched a little bit of it and it looked like I slowed down and I was kind of sliding sideways, and then when it finally slowed down enough it just hooked and went right. That happens when you’re at these high-speed places, so, like I said, I just hate that it was us. It’s gonna happen again tonight, I’m sure, but it’s just really unfortunate for us. I wanted to back-up what we did here in February, obviously, but we aren’t gonna get the chance to do that.”

WHAT’S THE RANGE OF EMOTION LIKE? “I can’t explain what I’ve been through this year. It’s tough at times and it’s good at times, but I just know that I’ve got really good people behind me and that’s why I say that about Ford and everybody at the Wood Brothers and Roush Fenway on the Nationwide side. I’ve got great people behind me, so that gives me confidence. If I didn’t have that and I didn’t have my faith and everything else, right now that would be a pretty bad blow I can promise you that.”

WERE YOU WORRIED ABOUT NOT HAVING A PARTNER COMING IN? “This time was different because last time we didn’t know how extreme this would be, so they didn’t work it out before they got here. They didn’t have their teams all set up. This time, they already had that planned before they got here, so you don’t even have a chance if you have a single-car team. You just have to wait on another guy to crash out and pick him up, but I was just planning on riding at the beginning. There’s no reason we should have already been out of this race with the mindset that we had. We were just gonna ride it out and keep the car in one piece until the end.”

DID YOU HAVE A CAR THAT COULD WIN? “Well, it was fast there at the beginning. The four Hendrick cars had to team up on us to get by me and Clint Bowyer, so I knew we had a good race car and it qualified really well. If it was gonna be a winner, we’ll never know, but I think it could have been for sure.”

• · David Ragan won his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race with today’s win.
• · Today’s win is the fifth of the season for Ford Racing, which is one more than all of last season.
• · Ragan is the eighth different driver to win for owner Jack Roush in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
• · In addition, he becomes the 76^th different driver to win for Ford Racing.
• · The win is the 124th all-time NSCS win for Roush Fenway Racing.

DAVID RAGAN – No. 6 UPS Ford Fusion – VICTORY LANE INTERVIEW – “This is fun. There’s not a better place to do it than Daytona. First of all, I’ve got to thank the Lord for looking after me. Sprint. We delivered a win for UPS. I’ve been promising all those UPSers for a couple of years and finally got it in Daytona. It couldn’t be any better. It’s a great points night. Coke Zero 400. It couldn’t be a better night. I have to thank Matt Kenseth, my Ford teammate worked well together.”

HOW DOES IT FEEL AFTER WHAT HAPPENED IN THE 500. “Everybody kept talking about it and I just tried to take the positive from it and move on. I can’t thank my spotter and my crew chief and my team enough. They really humbled me and kept me focused. Matt pushed me to the finish line. The Roush Yates horsepower was great. Doug and Robert Yates back at the house, thanks for all the help. I thank the fans and Sprint. There’s not a better night to win. This is awesome.”

SO MANY GENERATIONS OF RAGAN’S HELPED YOU TO GET HERE. “I’m just proud. Everybody back home in Unadilla, Georgia – maybe the streets are rocking and rolling tonight. I’ve got my mom and dad here, my older brother, Adam. It’s a lot of fun times here to celebrate this July Fourth Weekend. Thanks to all the veterans back home and it’ll be a fun night.”

WHAT HAVE YOU PROVED TONIGHT? SOME THOUGHT YOU WEREN’T READY FOR CUP? “I wasn’t ready a few years ago, but Jack Roush gave me a chance and this is all we needed. We’ve been so close so many times and finally we’re here. I can’t thank UPS enough for standing behind us. We’re here and we’ll enjoy it. We’ll enjoy it Monday and Tuesday and then we’ll go back to work for Kentucky next week.”

MATT KENSETH – No. 17 Affliction Clothing Ford Fusion – “It was a great win for the company, a great win for Roush Fenway Racing. I want to thank Affliction for being on the car these last few races and Crown Royal for all their support as well. Our Ford Fusions were really fast today. David did a great job. We switched back and forth a lot. We had a plan made out yesterday and stuck to it and it worked out today. We had real fast cars.”

HOW WAS THE RACING? “Since I wrecked in the first two I kind of expected to wreck, so I was glad I didn’t do that and glad we had a shot at the end. If it would have gone green, we made some moves and I was on the other end of David and he was pushing me. We got up to the lead and lost it right before that last green-white-checker, but I’m glad everything lined up. I’m really happy for David and that group. It was a cool race.”

GREG BIFFLE – No. 16 3M Ford Fusion – “I’m really excited for David. We had great cars tonight. The guys at the shop and at the engine shop – everybody has worked really, really hard and how well we ran tonight just shows that. Carl and I just got caught up racing too hard too early. He was loose off of four and he darted to the top. He moved so fast and I tried to follow him and his car was loose and spun out. It’s unfortunate, and then we had some other trouble, but it was a good night for our company.”

CARL EDWARDS – No. 99 Aflac Ford Fusion – “We don’t ever give up and that’s the thing. I told my guys to keep their heads up. We’ll take this bad day and keep our pride. This is part of it. We knew coming here we could come out losing a bunch of points and we lost about as many as we could, but that’s OK. We’re still right there. Hopefully, we’ll be leading it after next week.”

IN THE BIG PICTURE DOES IT MEAN MUCH AND WHAT IS THE FOCUS FOR KENTUCKY? “In the big picture it doesn’t mean much, but there is a lot of pride in leading those points, so we’ll try to get that points lead back. But, in the end, this is one of those things that could actually be good, it could be something that pays off for us. That’s a pretty big lesson right there. I kind of strayed from my normal m.o. at these places and was being pretty aggressive at the beginning and it bit me, so we’ll go to Talladega in the fall and we’ll have a better plan.”

WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR CAR? “It was just the timing of everything. I was being aggressive and kind of having a little bit of fun, but that’s what we decided we were gonna try to do. We were gonna go out there and race a little harder this time. We had the points lead and not a lot to lose, so it’s no big deal. It is what it is. If you take the last five restrictor plate races and average them out, we’ve done really well. We just have to make sure we do well in the chase.”

THOUGHTS ON DAVID WINNING. “That’s cool. That’s huge for David. I’m very happy for him.”

AJ ALLMENDINGER – No. 43 U.S. Air Force Ford Fusion – YOU WERE 31^ST ON THE FIRST GWC RESTART AND FINISHED 10^TH. HOW? “A lot of guys wrecked (laughing). I don’t know. I felt like Marcos and I were worked good and we were trying to be smart and bide our time, but then it all fell apart. We lost the draft a little bit and then we got caught behind the 7 and 35 and by the time we got hooked back up everybody was gone. We’re not sure if we have a fuel pump issue, but we ran out of fuel when we weren’t supposed to, so the pit stop took even longer. After that it was just survival. I felt kind of bad because Marcos and I were racing for the lucky dog, but I was happy that the yellow came out twice so we both got our laps back. After that, it was just trying to miss the wreck. We didn’t quite miss it but I stayed wide open when it happened and kind of bulled my way through there and finished 10^th.”

MATT KENSETH PRESS CONFERENCE – “We had really fast cars together. It’s almost like you’re a team. It’s almost like those two cars are one car, so, in a way, I feel like we won. That was good, but our cars were really fast together. We got up front early and led. We kind of made a plan last week, Jimmy and Drew worked together to make a plan and David and I talked a lot yesterday and today. We both got up there and got our bonus point, we both led and then we kind of got shuffled out one time and went to the back and waited a little bit and then when we wanted to we were able to make a charge and get up to the lead. Of course, the way the last couple cautions went with the green-white-checkers it mixed the order up a little bit. One time I was leading, I think with three or four to go, and then the way that restart worked it got him back in the lead and lined us up for that green-white-checkered, so it was a good night for us. I’m glad it worked out. The two speedway races have been disasters so far, so I’m happy to not get wrecked tonight and finish second.”

WHAT’S THE FRUSTRATION FACTOR RIGHT NOW? “Well, for me I’m not frustrated at all. The first two speedway races, like I said, we were wrecked and I don’t know where we finished – high 30s or something – those have been our big problems. We just couldn’t get anything to work, got destroyed in both of them, so I’m not frustrated at all. I feel like one of the luckiest guys here, I guess the second-luckiest guy here. We made it through the race unscathed, actually made a plan with David and we both did what it took to work, not necessarily for ourselves, but realizing that the two cars are like one car and we had to treat it like that, and we both took care of each other’s cars in the position we were in. We raced in front or in back of each other all night every single lap of the whole race and waited for each other after pit stops and did what it took to get the finish, so that feels good that the plan came together and worked out for us tonight.”

WHAT WOULD HAD TO HAPPEN FOR YOU TO HAVE A CHANCE TO WIN SHORT OF YOUR TEAMMATE FALTERING? “Yeah, the biggest thing is the 20 was too close. Coming through three and four, I believe the 29 was right on me pushing me hard while I was pushing David and if I wouldn’t have had a car outside of me, which I still did, if I wouldn’t have had a car outside of me that would have been my chance to move to the outside and the 29 might have pushed me and I maybe could have made a run to the finish, but I think that was coming to the white and I just think Joey was too close. I couldn’t have made a move on David, one car on one car without Joey splitting us and winning the race, so I just stayed behind David. I figured he wouldn’t since he spun me out last week. I figure he would have cut me a break tonight.”

CAN YOU DESCRIBE WHAT DAVID HAS GONE THROUGH? “He’ll have to tell you what the win means to him, but I’ve seen David mature a lot and learn a lot. I mean, when he came in here and started driving the 6 car, I don’t know David’s whole racing history, but he didn’t have a lot of experience, especially driving big, heavy cars. He’s had a couple different crew chiefs and car chiefs and crew and groups, and until they found a good mix that worked really well with him, I don’t know why it is like that, but you’ve got to get the right mix of people together. You’ve got to get all those people working right together and it seems like he’s got that right now. He’s had really fast cars all year. He sat on at least one pole and he’s been the fastest in practice a lot. I mean, they’ve had really fast cars. You could kind of see it coming, so I think just getting the right group of guys together for him and I think just getting more experience and learning.”

WAS IT IN YOUR MIND TO STAY BEHIND DAVID THE LAST TWO LAPS? “It depends on the circumstances. I thought that was gonna be our chance for one of us to win. If we would have had a 20-car length lead coming off of four, I would have tried to figure out how to make a single-car move and beat him to the line, but, like I said, Joey was too close. If I would have made a move on David, it would have slowed us both down and Joey would have passed us both or we all would have wrecked or something crazy would have happened. At that point when I came off of four and I looked to see where Joey was and I could see he had good speed, I could see he was being pushed, me and David were on the same radio and I told him I was going to stay on the yellow line and keep pushing him. I told him, ‘I’m not gonna leave you and try to pass you,’ because I knew that one of us weren’t gonna win. So that was a plan to work as a team all night and it just so happened he was in the front at the end. Both of us were kind of unselfish all night and worked together really well. I was leading with three or four to go and it was just circumstances on the restart that got him back in front and I was fine with that too. You’d like to be the one coming back to the checkered, but we made a plan and we stuck to it and it worked well. If the circumstances would have been different, like I say, and we would have had a big lead and knew we weren’t gonna get passed and were still gonna finish first and second regardless, of course you would have tried to make a move to win the race.”

WHAT DO YOU THINK THIS MEANS TO DAVID? “I think it’s got to be pretty big for him to win that race, stepping in the 6 car after Mark leaving and all that stuff isn’t exactly probably the easiest job in the world. It took a little while to find a group of guys that he seems to work the best with. Ever since they kind of mixed that up and Drew got over there and they switched some guys around, their performance has really picked up. You could see it coming at a speedway, but you could see it coming at other tracks, too. He’s been running better. They’ve been faster in practice and they’ve been racing better, qualifying better, so they’ve been improving and it’s really hard to win at this level. But you can see they’ve been improving with the organization, so I’m happy for him to get that win because he deserves it, especially after the 500 as well.”

HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO HAVE EQUIPMENT FOR COOL BOXES? “I don’t know, but I bet you Cale Yarborough never had a cool box or a scrubber (laughing). I don’t think it’s that big of a deal on lap 20, not when you’re in the shape that Carl is in. He’s probably in the best shape of any driver in the garage, so he never runs a cool box, he just runs a CO2 filter and a little air to his helmet. If that was part of the wreck, I would be surprised.”

HOW IMPORTANT IS A COOL BOX? “It’s like having air-conditioning in your home now, if you can have it, why wouldn’t you? I like running it. I’m not nearly that tough, so I like to run it. I figure the more fresh you are and the better you feel at the end of the race, at least in my case, I feel like I do a better job, so you try to stay in shape and stay cool and hydrated and all that stuff to be the best you can be at the end as well.”

DAVID GILLILAND – No. 34 Taco Bell Ford Fusion – “Our guys did a great job this weekend. We worked with Tony (Stewart) all night, just like we planned, and we were fast. After running up front for a bit, we dropped back out of the lead pack because we knew we were fast and thought it’d be safer toward the back for a while. But then Tony got clipped in one of those wrecks toward the end, and we restarted that last green-white-checkered by ourselves. We were hoping for better than 15th, but I guess we could’ve been in the middle of the last big wreck. I really don’t know how I made it through.”

TRAVIS KVAPIL – No. 38 Long John Silver’s Ford Fusion – “We had a pretty good race car. Just probably not as fast as I thought we were going to be. I hooked up with Nemechek all night and got to the front pretty good. Pit stops held us up a little and we got back on track position. But, just got caught up in a wreck. One of those green-white-checkered deals where you’re just in the wrong spot. The guys right behind me made it through, and the guys in front of me made it through, but I just got clipped. I had a pretty good car. Just wish we could bring one of these home.”

DAVID RAGAN PRESS CONFERENCE – “It was a tough one in February and coming back here we knew that we’d have a shot to win. I think there are 30 guys that can win this race. We felt good all weekend walking around. We went through practice and felt good about our race car, qualified great, the team did a nice job with our car. When we qualified, that’s probably the first time I really felt like we’ve got a car that’s fast enough that we can win this thing if we make the right decisions throughout the race, so we made a pact with our teammate Matt Kenseth that we were gonna work together through thick or thin. I was a little worried about that, too. Sometimes falling to the back and to the front you get jammed up through the race, so I didn’t know if that was the right decision or not, but the bottom line is our car was fast and that’s what wins these races. You’ve got to have a little bit of luck. You’ve got to have good pit stops. All of that stuff goes into effect, but you’ve got to have a fast car and our UPS Ford was fast. The engine ran flawless and that’s what won the race for us, having Matt right behind us I knew that we’d have a good pusher and so that’s what was going through my mind. I knew we had the car to do it. I just tried to not make any mistakes, try to put ourselves in good position and we wound up obviously being in the lead on the last restart and that was the winning moment for us to be able to start on the front row.”

YOU ARE 17^TH IN POINTS NOW AND A CHASE CONTENDER. “Yeah, we feel like we’ve been a player for the chase all year. It kind of disappoints me to be 17^th. We should be about 13^th in points, so we’ve got a lot of work to make up, but we’ve got some good tracks coming up. I’m happy about the win. We should be higher in points than that.”

DREW BLICKENSDERFER, Crew Chief – “When you do this two-by-two thing you’ve got a partner you’re coming to pit road with, especially under green flag stops, so you get together with those guys and figure out what they want to do. Luckily, we’ve got a great teammate in Matt Kenseth and Jimmy Fennig and Jimmy and I were on the radio together deciding what we wanted to do – two, four, gas only, things like that – so it was really easy when you’ve got someone with the experience of Jimmy talking you through it. I’d tell him what I wanted to do and he said, ‘That’s good. Let’s do it.’ So we stayed together all night and that was a great opportunity for us to work with two veteran guys and have their leadership with us.”

JACK ROUSH, Car Owner – “I’m really happy to be here with Drew and David. They’ve worked really hard and they’re a great team. Drew is a great coach and David is a great recipient of the coaching and they’ve been working hard all year and they’ve had several occasions when they could have won a race – certainly the Daytona 500 was a big disappointment the way it worked out for David, but the FR9 engine has done a great job, the Ford support behind the program has never been better than we’ve had this year, and the engineers have all done a great job. We brought cars down here that we expected to have a chance to win with and David was confident of that and they used it well tonight. They didn’t waste the opportunity.”

DAVID RAGAN CONTINUED – DID IT TAKE YOU UNTIL TODAY TO FORGET THE 500? “Yeah because all of you guys wanted to talk about it on a regular basis (laughing). I was hoping to win one a little earlier than the July Fourth race here, but it’s a good feeling to come back here. We got one back at Daytona. It would have been tough to lose another one. I thought about that under that last caution. I said, ‘Man, if we don’t win this thing, I’m not gonna want to talk to anyone afterwards.’ We were able to win. That does ease the pain from February. It’s still nice to think about that Daytona 500 ring, but it’s awesome. This is a great race. Coca-Cola being a partner of ours, a lot of the Ford guys are down here. This is a race that is a total team effort because the engine department has to do their job, the race car has to be good, and teammates helped us win, so it does ease the pain to answer your question. We’ll think about this one a lot more than we’ll think about the Daytona 500.”

WHAT MAKES YOU SO GOOD AT THIS TRACK AND AT TANDEM RACING? “When we first came down here my first year we finished fifth in the 500 and I thought, ‘Man, this is pretty easy. We can do this every time.’ We came back and we haven’t been able to do that since. We’ve had some top 10s and top 5s, but I think the biggest part is we’ve had good race cars. I’m very fortunate to drive the Ford engines. Doug Yates, Robert, and Jack have all done a nice job with our engine package where we’ve been able to run it to the limit and be aggressive, a little more so aggressive. I just don’t know. Sometimes it fits someone’s driving style. I hated this place the first time I came down here because I didn’t like that you could just hold it to the floor and ride around, but once I learned there was a strategy behind the racing, it’s actually some of the most fun racing that you’ll take part in, so I had a blast tonight. The race cars are good that I drive. I’ve been fortunate to have some good spotters that have coached me well. Jimmy Fennig was a great crew chief at the speedways and he helped us out a lot, and then Drew had done a good job fine-tuning and kind of fluffing and buffing on the cars to get that little extra little bit and that’s why we qualified so well – the details – and Drew takes care of that so I’ve been lucky to drive some good race cars here.”

ON THE FINAL RESTART DID YOU HAVE ANYONE TELLYOU TO STAY IN YOUR LANE? “Actually, I was on Matt Kenseth’s radio that last restart and his spotter mentioned it and I said, ‘You don’t have to tell me, so don’t even say it.’ So, yeah, that kind of lightened the mood. Everyone was so tense there at the end. You don’t know what to do, you don’t know what’s gonna happen, if we’re gonna have another green-white-checkered. I thought we might be a little close on fuel, so, yeah, that’s one thing I did not have to be reminded of, but when you’re on the bottom, you don’t have to worry about that. I wasn’t gonna run in the grass.”

IS THAT WHY YOU PICKED THE BOTTOM? “I picked the bottom because Matt was third and he was gonna start behind me, so I wanted the 17 behind me. He was a great pusher. That Ford engine was fast and I knew that he would push me to the end and I wasn’t gonna take my left side tires off the yellow line.”

HOW WILL YOU CELEBRATE? “If Jack will rent me a little space over at the shop, I’ve run out of room. I don’t have anything. No, I guess I’ll go back home and hang out tomorrow. I was planning on cutting some grass and cleaning up around the house tomorrow. I’ve got an appearance in Atlanta on Monday, so we’ve got to work Monday. I guess I’ll hang out. I don’t know, go over and see Drew or go have dinner somewhere and hang out. We’ll see what happens. I might not leave Daytona. I might just stay down here for a few days.”

JACK ROUSH CONTINUED – WHAT IS THE STATUS CONTRACT-WISE WITH UPS AND WHAT DOES THIS DO FOR THE TEAM OFF OF CROWN ROYAL’S ANNOUNCEMENT? “Certainly we were hopeful that UPS will carry on in a meaningful regard with the sponsorship of the 6 car, but right now we are in negotiation. We don’t have an assurance that’s gonna be the case, but David has arrived at the upper echelon. He’s a winner now and he’s given a win to UPS and hopefully they’ll consider that as they think about the value of the program and what it means to all of their employees and what it means to their customers to have this association. It certainly means a lot to us, but to finally have David in the win column is a really big thing for us. He’s had several poles this year and he’s been close a number of times. We’ve been snakebit with these last five laps where the caution comes out and you take two tires, no tires, gas only, stay on the race track and all of our programs have not done as well as the others at making that judgment, so we’ve let several of them get away. Happily, we’ve got this one landed and it’ll be something that UPS can think about as they make their determination on what they’ll do next year.”

DREW BLICKENSDERFER CONTINUED – WHAT WAS GOING THROUGH YOUR MIND LATE WHEN SOME GUYS THOUGHT MATT MIGHT LEAVE YOU BECAUSE OF HOW THE CARS LINED UP? “I heard that on our radio, so I immediately went to Matt’s to hear if he was talking about that and he wasn’t, so I think that was maybe idle chit-chat on the spotter’s stand or something. I don’t think Matt had any indication of not going and helping us. We made a commitment a week ago or two weeks ago when Jimmy Fennig came in my office that we were gonna stick together through thick and thin if we could, and we showed that at the very beginning of the race. We were willing to drop back and pick up Matt from our qualifying spot and ride in the back if we had to or whatever it took. Matt’s a great teammate and no way after listening to him that it was going through his mind. I think that was just a what-if scenario.”

DAVID RAGAN CONTINUED – CAN YOU TALK ABOUT YOUR FAMILY TIES IN RACING? “My grandfather, I never met him, but he owned a car. He never drove any, but he owned a car in the forties and fifties and drove here on the beach course. Jack Smith drove some races for him, so that ultimately is how my father and his brothers got around the race track at a young age, so they started racing some. He owned a bumper to bumper automotive repair shop, so they did a lot of the work for the local racers and was able to run some Nationwide races and Cup races and made some good friends along the way and that’s what ultimately what sparked my interested. Daytona is a special place for any racer. This is better than Indy. This is better than Sebring or any of those other big races that they have, so Daytona means a lot. Coming down here as a kid, going to the beach, going to the race track just kind of went hand-in-hand. The Daytona 500 is our biggest race of the year. Coming back here in July is the middle point of the year. The July Firecracker 400 is a big race, so to come back down here and win the Coke Zero edition and finally get into victory lane here in Daytona is a special place. That’s kind of the birthplace of NASCAR, so it’s neat to win here. Even though this race pays the same amount of points as winning Kentucky or New Hampshire or Pocono or any others, but it is a special race and I’m very fortunate to get our first win here.”

JACK ROUSH CONTINUED – WHAT HAPPENED TO CARL’S CAR AND SHOULD ALL GUYS HAVE A COOL BOX? “We certainly will think about that. We’ll look at what happened to the car and think about what we could do to make him more comfortable. They knocked the crush panels out of the tub, sheetmetal that separates the exhaust and the things that are happening on the right side of the car from the passenger compartment or from the driver’s cockpit. That seal was broken by the contact he had with the right quarterpanel and until we got that fixed there was serious contamination inside the cockpit. When it got to the point of real serious discomfort for Carl, the crew chief, Bob Osborne, was monitoring it and they agreed together he would come down pit road and they would take however long it took to fix it. But whether there is something that can be used to clean the air better for him, I’m not sure. We’ll look into that and we’ll take that situation apart just as we do everything bad that happens at a race track for a race car. We’ll take it apart next week and we’ll come up with a determination if there’s something we can do that would make it safer for the driver. If there is, we’ll do it.”

IS THERE ANYTHING FROM AN ENGINEERING STANDPOINT THAT CAN BE DONE TO THE CARS SO THEY AREN’T TWO-CAR DRAFTS? “If you fix the front and the back of the car so when they have contact there’s an inclined angle that would drive the rear wheels off the ground, that would stop it. It’s easy to stop it if NASCAR really wants to stop it. They organized the front and the rear vertical planes of the cars so that they would be conducive to push one another and they wouldn’t have that problem they had before. I thought in Daytona in February that we would be happier having these cars paired up two at a time and the drivers would be more in control of their circumstance and less likely to be involved in a wreck that wasn’t of their own problem, and I think that it’s about the same. I think when you come to these restricted tracks there’s such a premium for keeping your foot in the gas and to maintain your momentum that you’re inclined to not use reason sometimes and get out of the gas and separate yourself from the risk that would be there for you. But it’s exciting racing and Daytona and Talladega have both been known for the fast speeds and all the excitement that’s unique to those race tracks. We’ve got something now that I think is no less exciting than it’s been and no more hazardous nor less hazardous than what we had when we had a 30-car draft. I think that’s what we’ll have to deal with when we come to Daytona and Talladega.”

DAVID RAGAN CONTINUED – YOUR THROAT IS HOARSE. WERE YOU SCREAMING, CRYING. WHAT WAS YOUR REACTION? “I don’t know if I’ve got some water in my ear or champagne or something, but I feel like I’ve got something in my ear and I need to knock my head over a little bit. It’s like I hear myself echo – maybe it’s talking on the radio so much. I usually don’t talk this much during a race, so I haven’t heard myself talk this much. It’ll get better soon. Don’t worry about it.”

HOW DEEP IS THE SENSE OF REDEMPTION FOR YOU? “To get that win would have felt great. If we would have won at Martinsville this year, I would have said, ‘Man, we’ve moved on past that Daytona race.’ But coming back here and to get that win here at Daytona is that extra little bit that I wanted, kind of to show the Daytona race track – ‘Here’s what we’ve got.’ So that makes it a little bit more special. I think a win anywhere on the circuit would have been great and we would have moved on and talked about it probably, but coming back here to Daytona, being able to run the same type of race we ran in February and learning from our mistake, not making a mistake. We had a couple of opportunities to do it on those last few restarts and I didn’t do it, so that’s gratifying that we were able to come back to Daytona and kind of prove to the race track that we’re better than that – that we can take you and we beat ‘em and it feels good.”

JACK ROUSH CONTINUED – YOU MUST FEEL GOOD ABOUT YOUR YOUNG DRIVERS. “We’re really excited about the way Ricky Stenhouse has run and, of course Trevor has run this year and David finally now winning a race. But David has been in a position to win a number of these races this year and it hasn’t been for lack of performance or lack of sound judgment on the way the car has been prepared, so it’s just a matter of time for that. But as far as the group of new drivers that are coming along, I think Ford is in very good shape with having a good cadre of young talent coming and if we can find sponsorship for them and keep the programs going, we’ll be able to really have a harvest in years to come.”

DREW BLICKENSDERFER CONTINUED – DO YOU FEEL ANY REDEMPTION? “Of course. You want to be a winner and I was real fortunate right off the get-go to win a couple races, and then I probably had 34 or 35 races in a row where I felt like I failed quite a bit. I counted every one of them, and to come back and get a second opportunity – it’s something Jack told me from day one that I’d be up here when the time was right again, it’s been really nice coming over here with 10 races to go in the season last year. I felt like we gained some momentum and then working this year with David and the guys I think our mindset has gotten better throughout the year. We felt like we were a top 20 team to start the team and then a top 15 and 10 and now we sit here as winners, so I think that momentum keeps building and I definitely feel a little redemption.”

DAVID RAGAN CONTINUED – DID YOU HAVE ANY QUESTION MATT WOULDN’T PULL OUT ON YOU AT THE END? “I had a little question. Matt’s kind of sneaky sometimes (laughing). I was just kind of watching a replay on ESPN as Drew was talking and it just worked out to where those guys jumped up on the outside and then another group jumped on the outside and we were three-wide and we talked about it earlier. You start moving around trying to block a run that’s coming and that leaves the bottom open and it kills your momentum. We only had two laps and I think we were just satisfied with staying on the bottom and whatever was gonna happen was gonna happen. When we came off of turn four, I really didn’t know where the other cars were at or how close they were. Matt keyed the radio and said, ‘I’m gonna stay with you,’ so I assumed he had someone on his outside. It’s not like Matt to just push and push and push and run second, but I think this is the first speedway race Matt’s finished this year, so he did tell me before the race that he wanted to first finish, so I’m glad he was able to come across the line in second. That’s cool for Ford to sweep the front finishing order here at Daytona here in July and February, and really says a lot for our team – that teamwork does win these races and we proved it tonight.’

YOU DON’T SEEM TOO EXCITED. YOU’RE SO CALM. “I guess that’s just my character. A lot of people when we won a Nationwide race a year or two ago they said, ‘Man, you don’t seem that happy.’ But I probably won’t go to sleep tonight. I’m gonna go back and watch some of the race and try to just stare at that trophy for a little while. I don’t get up and jump up and down and act crazy and foolish and I’m kind of already thinking about Kentucky a little bit. That’s an important race for us and now that we’ve got this win it lets a lot of pressure off in some sense that we finally got our first win at a points race here at Daytona, we’ve got a chance to make the chase, but now there’s even more pressure to go out and stay in that top 20 in points, to perform well at these upcoming races, so I’ll enjoy it. Maybe catch up with me tomorrow afternoon and we’ll be hanging out having a good time. But it’s still kind of sinking in that we’ve done it. When we get that trophy back and go see all my guys, I’m sure they’re tearing the car down in tech now that it’ll be pretty special.”

JACK ROUSH CONTINUED – WILL FUEL INJECTION HAVE ANY IMPACT ON HOW RACING WILL BE HERE IN FEBRUARY? “We’re gonna take the fuel injected engine as a group to Kentucky to test it next week and I’ll have a greater impression of what we’ve got to work with after that test and we see how it works. But I’m real excited about the McLaren decision that NASCAR made for the ECO, for the computer program, and I think Bosch is coming along to be the injector supplier – I hope that’s true. The wiring harnesses are pretty well figured out, so most of the hardware is determined. The calibrations are gonna be somewhat left to the teams to figure out what the air-fuel ratios are. You’re still gonna have an opportunity to burn the engines up if you want to, which makes me happy because I need to have that amount of risk in my life or decision-making that I can screw up and know how bad that’s gonna feel when that happens. But when we come back here, the throttle plate is pretty much like a carburetor. It is bolted in the same pattern as a carburetor and I haven’t heard specifically, but my expectation is we’ll have a throttle plate this is large like the one we’d use unrestricted for a carburetor and they’ll put a restrictor plate under it like we used for Daytona and Talladega. The indication is that the engines make about the same power with the same amount of air restriction through the throttle plates, and they make a bit less torque thinking they maybe don’t cool the air quite as much through the fuel being injected halfway down the airstream, rather than the carburetor and follow the air all the way down, so we don’t expect a performance difference and I’m sure that NASCAR will achieve the same kind of parity they’ve got with the carburetor, so I think it’ll be a non-issue. All the owners are gonna be a little lighter on their step because of what all this stuff is gonna cost, but, except for that, it’ll be pretty much the same as we’ve seen.”

DREW BLICKENSDERFER CONTINUED – WHAT IS THE STRATEGY FOR THESE RACES? DAVID INTERJECTS: “I don’t think we understand it either.” DREW BEGINS: “Certain people want to go to the back. I think you see that. The Hendrick cars, they wanted to run up front for awhile and then when that first pit stop came they went to the back and the 42 and the 1 does that. There are certain drivers that like that. David and our partner tonight, Matt, they both like to be towards the front. They feel like if they’re in the front, then if the wrecks happen, they’re in front of them. I think there’s just as big a risk of being in the back and not being able to get to the front. Also, if you haven’t raced around the lead pack and raced for the lead and understand that, I think sometimes you can learn at lap 20 going for the lead something that might help you towards the end. So our plan all along was if we can see the front, we’re gonna try to stay there. As long as we don’t get too far back. There was one time tonight when we got shuffled, where there were seven or eight groups in front of us, all two-wide, we thought that was a little hairy so we fell back a little bit, but it didn’t take long for the two Fords. When they were wanting to go, they went right towards the front, so I think it’s a strategy amongst the drivers, whether they want to stay in the back or stay away from the wreck, or go to the front and race it out.”

- PCGCampbell for Ford Racing, Press Release

Regan Smith - Photo Credit: Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images for NASCAR

And one of the victims in the late-race wreckfest was Furniture Row Racing driver Regan Smith, who limped home with a battered race car to a 24th-place finish in the Coke Zero 400.

The wild Sprint Cup finish resulted in the race being extended from 160 to 170 laps with two green-white-checkered overtime restarts.

As Smith was looking to make a move in the first green-white checkered restart, he got collected in a Turn 1, 15-car melee on Lap 164. His No. 78 Chevrolet suffered major right-side damage in the incident.

“No doubt, we had an injured race car, but were still hoping to salvage a decent finish,” explained Smith. “But on the final lap, the left rear tire went flat and I was fortunate to just finish the race.”

The flat tire on the final lap was not the only problem that Smith faced. He was involved in another major wreck, an 18-car accident not far from the finish line.

Before being wrecked twice, Smith drove a patient race as he mainly teamed with Kurt Busch in the tandem draft on the 2.5-mile superspeedway. The Furniture Row Chevrolet ran up front for a good portion of the race and led twice for four laps.

“We ran well with Kurt as we did here during Speedweeks back in February,” said Smith, who finished seventh in the season-opening Daytona 500. “Even though we got shuffled to the middle of the pack before the first big wreck happened tonight, I still felt we could have made a move and picked up a number of spots in track position. But those wrecks and flat tire ended any hopes of that happening.”

The race winner was David Ragan, his first career victory. Rounding out the top-five in order were: Matt Kenseth, Joey Logano, Kasey Kahne and Kyle Busch.

The next race for the Furniture Row Racing team is Saturday night (July 9) — the inaugural Sprint Cup event at Kentucky Speedway.

- DMF Communications for Furniture Row Racing, Press Release

Toyota Motorsports Logo

Other Toyota drivers in the field included Brian Vickers (12th), Denny Hamlin (13th), David Reutimann (25th), Joe Nemechek (30th), Bobby Labonte (31st), Casey Mears (32nd), Martin Truex Jr. (35th), Mike Skinner (40th), Michael McDowell (42nd) and Kevin Conway (43rd).

Camry racers led 25 times for 54 laps (of 170) in the 400-mile event, which featured a track record of 25 drivers with 57 lead changes.

Busch moved up two spots to third-place in the unofficial NSCS point standings and is 10 points behind leader Kevin Harvick following Daytona, and Hamlin currently sits 11th in the standings.

Other Toyota drivers in the top-25 in the unofficial point standings after 17 of 36 NSCS races include Kahne (19th), Logano (20th), Truex (23rd) and Vickers (25th).

JOEY LOGANO, No. 20 Home Depot Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Finishing Position: 3rd

How did you decide with Kasey Kahne who was going to lead and who was going to push on the final restart? “I looked at his back bumper and his back bumper was all kind of bent in at the sides. Didn’t really have an option. It was like okay, ‘I feel like I’m going to dump you if I’m pushing him because of his bumper wasn’t square on the back.’ So, went on the start and tried to find each other and found each other. Went three-wide outside for the lead and I went, ‘All right, we got’em.’ And, we got back down to the bottom. The inside line just had more cars down there that shoved them ahead. It pulled the 88 (Dale Earnhardt Jr.) from his partner. Then we just stuck there on the outside and got down in there and I was hoping we would build a run on the back straightaway — we couldn’t. Our speeds were just the same all the way to the line. Our only hope was if those guys tried to pass each other at the line. I knew they weren’t — they’re teammates. That’s awesome for David (Ragan). He’s a good friend of mine. We grew up together running Legends cars and everything. So, it’s really cool to see him winning. Me yesterday and now him today here at Daytona — it’s really cool for everyone back from Atlanta running Legends cars. It was really cool. Awesome run for our Home Depot Toyota. Two good weeks in a row for us. We’re building some momentum. Good yesterday. So, everything’s on a roll. We’re pretty pumped up.”

How much confidence do your results at Daytona give you heading to Kentucky next weekend? “I need something to turn around here. Recently, it seems like everything’s been going the wrong way. Ever since we got that pole last week and won the West race and had a good run there in Sonoma, coming here and getting a first and a third. Going into Kentucky, was a really good race track for us, at least we think it is. We’ll see when we get there. But, there is definitely a lot of momentum on my team side. Me, personally I needed a lot for self-confidence, but it definitely helps out a lot with the team too. You know, not feeling as desperate out there in what we have to do. We definitely can relax out there and do what we need to do like we did last year.”

Were you trying to partner up with Mark Martin when you made contact late in the race? “Yeah, he started like that. I didn’t have no friends and he didn’t either. But, I was going to try to shoot through that gap and see if someone could push me. I had my nose in there. It’s one of those deals towards the end of the race there. I probably could have backed off and let him get in there, but I was all about that group in front of him was coming down across, too. So, I was just going to shoot through there and see if we could find something. That’s just the racing deal. That could have gone either way. I probably could have done something to stay out of it and he could have stayed up. So it’s just one of those deals. It’s no one’s fault, really. Just either one of us could have done something to avoid it.”

KASEY KAHNE, No. 4 Red Bull Toyota Camry, Red Bull Racing Team Finishing Position: 4th

How was your race? “It was a really good night for our whole Red Bull team. All of the guys did a nice job, and mine and Brian’s (Vickers) cars worked really well together. We were hooked up the whole night together and worked well — led some laps. I lost him, then we crashed over in (turn) three or when that big wreck was. Just really was never able to get hooked up again with him, which was disappointing because I thought we had a couple really good Red Bull Toyotas working together.”

What happened when you were involved in the accident late in the race in turn three? “I was kind of pushing up the track. I was tight that run. We put on rights two times in a row. I was pushing and Brian (Vickers) was getting hit from behind and he was like pushing me more up there. So, then when that wreck happened, I lost Brian from there on out. I still got to push Joey (Logano) — another Toyota — and it worked out pretty good for us.”

How would you describe those closing laps? “Just try to get hooked up as fast as you can and go. To me, it’s tough because it takes a lap or two to get hooked up and get momentum and get going. And that’s what kind of happened there at the end is from fifth on back got slowed up and we were just all in line coming to the line. Usually there would be a pack and a big burst and everybody would be going for it, but it didn’t happen that way.”

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Finishing Position: 5th

How was your race? “I can’t say enough about this Interstate Batteries Camry. It definitely was a good race car. We worked with Joey (Logano) all race long and then that wreck that happened in (turns) three and four there I got mixed up and got in the wall a little bit. But, we came down pit road and worked on the thing and tried to get it straightened back out where we could finish the rest of the race and got dislodged from my running partner Joey there and got dislodged from (Brad) Keselowski, (who) I was going to try to work with. Jeff (Gordon) and I teamed up there at the end and drove up through there and they wrecked again once we got through so I was like ‘Whew. At least we didn’t wreck on that one.’ I saw melee everywhere, man. I’m just thankful that we weren’t in all of it. We got a piece of a little bit of it, but great finish tonight for Interstate Batteries.”

What is it like driving through that many cars in such a short period of time? “I think the best way to sum it up is go where they ain’t.”

How did you finish fifth tonight? “I have no idea. I just kept my foot in it there at the end. When we got in the wall there, we come down pit road and we put four tires on it and fixed the fender damage and everything and got back out there. The big wreck happened and we missed it. We didn’t have any flats so we just decided to stay out. A couple guys pitted. We gained a little bit of track position back and then we got mixed up from (Brad) Keselowski, who were going to work with, and then (Jeff) Gordon was behind me so he just pushed me. We kept our foot in it and drove right up through the bottom, man. There were some holes that parted ways and just kept digging and luckily he made it through and I made it through and we ended up with a fifth out of the deal. Can’t say enough about the Interstate Batteries Camry. The guys did a great job for me. Really loved working with Joey (Logano) all day long. That was really good. Probably could have won the race. We were coming right there at the end around the top and we got in the wall and the caution come out. So, it’s just a product of what we got.”

BRIAN VICKERS, No. 83 Red Bull Toyota Camry, Red Bull Racing Team Finishing Position: 12th

DENNY HAMLIN, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing Finishing Position: 13th

How was your race? “It seems like something always happens to us on the last lap at Daytona. Ryan (Newman) and I were protecting the middle on that last restart down the back straightaway, and when those guys got a run on the outside, we disconnected and fell back. Then, they were wrecking in front of us coming to the checkered flag and I went spinning in the grass to avoid them. Our car was running hot all night, but when the 39 (Ryan Newman) and us were hooked up; we could go to the front when we wanted to. For me, it’s disappointing that we didn’t win or help the 39 win, but we salvaged a decent finish.”

DAVID REUTIMANN, No. 00 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry, Michael Waltrip Racing Finishing Position: 25th

How was your race tonight? “We were doing great all day. Martin (Truex Jr.) and I worked real well together all race long. It seemed like I was better pushing, so we stuck with that most of the night. We were in a great position to make a run there at the end and compete for the win, but got caught in those late race wrecks. Tough luck for sure. We were hoping to see our Aaron’s Dream Machine right there with the 56 (Martin Truex Jr.) at the end — unfortunately it just didn’t work out for us tonight.”

JOE NEMECHEK, No. 87 NEMCO Motorsports Toyota Camry, NEMCO Motorsports Finishing Position: 30th

BOBBY LABONTE, No. 47 Kingsford Toyota Camry, JTG-Daugherty Racing Finishing Position: 31st

MICHAEL MCDOWELL, No. 66 HP Racing LLC Toyota Camry, PRISM Motorsports Finishing Position: 42nd

KEVIN CONWAY, No. 97 Extenze Toyota Camry, NEMCO Motorsports Finishing Position: 43rd

- Toyota Motorsports, Press Release

Team Chevy Logo

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla (July 2, 2011)

The race was scheduled for 160-laps but two late-race cautions as the result of multi-car accidents, extended the final distance to 170 total laps with two attempts at a green-white-checkered finish.

Harvick started the No. 29 Budweiser Folds of Honor Chevrolet from the 31st position in the 43-car field and worked with his Richard Childress Racing teammate, Paul Menard, No. 27 Quaker State/Menards Chevrolet throughout the entire race.

Harvick and Menard were mounting a charge in the outside lane on the final restart when the caution flew again just after the white flag, freezing the field as they finished the final lap to take the caution/checkered flag. Menard finished eighth and sits 16th in the standings.

Jeff Gordon, No. 24 PepsiMAX Chevrolet, finished sixth after recovering from a late-race spin that resulted in just minor damage. The four-time NSCS champion moved up one spot in the standings to eighth place.

Juan Pablo Montoya, No. 42 Target Chevrolet, finished ninth to give Team Chevy four of the top-10 finishers. He sits 14th in the standings.

Five-time defending NSCS champion Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe’s Summer Salute Chevrolet, leaves Daytona sixth in the standings after being caught up in the last-lap wreck that relegated him to a 20th-place finish.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr., No. 88 National Guard Heritage/AMP Energy Chevrolet, was caught up in the same wreck as Johnson, whom he had worked with in the two-car tandem drafting throughout the race. Earnhardt, Jr. remains seventh in the standings.

Clint Bowyer, No. 33 Wheaties FUEL Chevrolet, was also the victim of a multi-car wreck and finished 36th in the final order. He is now ninth in the points order.

Ryan Newman, No. 39 Bass Pro Shops/NRA Chevrolet, too was a victim in the last lap multi-car wreck and was scored 23rd at the finish. He remains 10th in points.

Two-time NSCS champion Tony Stewart, No. 14 Burger King Chevrolet, made some incredible moves to miss the final wreck and bring home the 11th finishing position. He is 12th in the point standings.

David Ragan (Ford) scored his career-first NSCS victory. Matt Kenseth (Ford), Joey Logano (Toyota), Kasey Kahne (Toyota) and Kyle Busch (Toyota) were the top-five finishers.

Chevrolet continues to lead the NSCS Manufacturers’ Cup standings by 10 points at the conclusion of tonight’s race.

The Series moves to Kentucky Speedway for the inaugural NSCS race on Saturday night, July 9, 2011.

KEVIN HARVICK, NO. 29 BUDWEISER FOLDS OF HONOR CHEVROLET – FINISHED 9^TH

ON THE RACE:

ENDED UP SEVENTH TONIGHT BUT BOY YOU HAD A STRONG CAR TONIGHT, WHAT HAPPENED ON THAT LAST RUN? “The initial green-white-checker we timed the restart well with our Budweiser/Menards Chevrolet there to get a good run off of (turn) two and the caution came out. The second one it took me a little bit longer to get up in front of Paul (Menard) and I didn’t do a very good job of backing up to him to get us attached good and we didn’t get as good of a run and a couple got underneath us. All in all the car doesn’t have a scratch on it, Paul’s has a couple of dents in the back of it so on a race night like this you just want you car – if you’re still rolling and you can get a decent finish that’s all you want but there’s such a crap shoot at the end you just hope for the best.”

“We had a plan to stick with the No. 27 (Paul Menard) all night and I think we ran every lap with him. The first green-white-checkered we had a great run and the timing was perfect. The second one, we just didn’t have quite the timing and got a couple of guys underneath us and then we just got a little bit too far behind. But still, everything worked pretty good.

“The initial green-white-checkered we really timed the restart well with our Budweiser and Menards Chevrolets there to get a good run off of (Turn) 2 and the caution came out. And the second one, it took me a little bit longer to get up in front of Paul (Menard) and then I didn’t do a very good job of backing up to him to get us attached real good. We didn’t get as good a run and a couple got up underneath us. But all in all, the car doesn’t have a scratch on it and I think Paul has a couple of dents in the back of his. On a race night like this you just want your car; if you’re still rolling and you can get a decent finish that’s fine; you always want to win but there’s such a crap shoot at the end that you just hope for the best.

“It’s just one of those deals where if you can survive a night like this and you can get a decent finish; you always want to win, but they’re a crap shoot at the end and you’ve just got to be rolling to see what happens.”

DID YOU SEE MUCH WRECKING OUT THERE?

“Well, we were in the front all night and I didn’t see any wrecks. They were all behind us so the front was definitely the place to be tonight.”

TONY STEWART, NO. 14 BURGER KING CHEVROLET, FINISHED 12TH: TALK ABOUT HOW CRAZY IT WAS OUT THERE LATE IN THE RACE: “That last wreck we were caught about eight back behind where it all started trying to dodge all the guys that got wrecked.”

YOU WERE BACK IN THE BACK WITH ABOUT 15 TO GO AND SEEMED TO BE WAITING TO MAKE YOUR MOVE: “Well, I guess the guys ahead of us took two tires and we all took four tires. We were slow on the stop compared to everybody. So we just lost a lot of track position and we didn’t have a pack of cars to pull back up to. We were kind of stuck where we were at.”

DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO 88 NATIONAL GUARD HERITAGE/AMP ENERGY CHEVROLET, FINISHED 18TH: TALK ABOUT THAT RACE: “Oh man, I don’t know. I am really ticked off. The No. 1, Jamie McMurray, just drove down into the side of me and drove me to the apron, I don’t know where he was going, if he was getting run down the race track, I haven’t seen the race track. Damnit. I was just trying to get to the finish line. We weren’t racing for the win. I were lucky to get out of that one big wreck over there in (turns) one and two). Congratulations to David (Ragan) race winner. I don’t know. It is weird racing.”

IS THERE ANYTHING YOU COULD HAVE DONE DIFFERENTLY? “I was running round (turns) three and four underneath the No. 1 (Jamie McMurray) and the No. 29 (Kevin Harvick) was on the outside of him. The No. 1 just drove into the side of me and turned me into the apron. I had it saved and then he came on and got himself another shot. He brought the KO punch the second time and spun us around.”

IT LOOKED LIKE EVERYONE WAS MAKING A MOVE THAT DIDN’T HAPPEN, ESPECIALLY WITH 10 LAPS TO GO: “What kind of move can you make? I mean, man. What kind of move can you make in racing like this? There ain’t no move you can make. You just hold it on the mat and try not to wreck into each other. You see how good we are at that.”

IS THIS ANY DIFFERENT THAN THE OTHER STYLE RACING? “I’ve already told you that. Go back and look at your stuff that you wrote down a couple of weeks ago. I don’t like this kind of racing and you know it.”

WHAT HAPPENED WHEN JIMMIE CAME DOWN PIT ROAD AND YOU DIDN’T? “I don’t know. I’m driving my car, doing what I am told and they decided to do something different. I can’t run the whole damn thing from the seat of the damn race car. I’m just doing what I’m told out there. I don’t know how that affected us, if it did at all. It probably didn’t. It was just a foolish race. I don’t know. I don’t know what to say. I don’t know. You guys need to get your own opinions and write what you all think about it. I think it is probably pretty damn close to mine. Stop putting my damn mouth with y’all and getting my [butt] in trouble. Y’all write what y’all think, man. Come on, y’all are good. Y’all have an opinion about it. I read y’all’s stuff. You put us in the damn crow’s nest.”

IS THERE ANYTHING MOVING FORWARD THAT PEOPLE CAN LEARN FROM THIS? “I don’t really know. I am trying to think about what is around the corner. This is what we can do to do better. Be better. We had a caution at the end and we are plate racing. We are all going to run into each other. That is how it is going to go. That is just how it is going to go. The guy in front, man, is trying to get on out there and the rest of us are going to crash into each other.”

ANY FEELING FOR A GUY LIKE DAVID RAGAN? “I’m really happy for him of course. Proud and happy to have him as part of the sport. His Daddy put a lot of years in this sport. They are a racing family. It is a great deal for him. He worked his butt off to win this race. It’s not easy out there. This kind of racing, man. Real proud and happy for him. He’s a good guy you know. He’s a really nice guy.

Plays by the rules. He runs hard and trying to do the best he can and keep himself a job, man, so this ought to help him out.”

WALK US THROUGH THOSE LAST LAPS:

“Well Jeff (Burton) was helping me and we were trying to get up through there but I kept losing him and I knew if I backed up to him…so I just stayed in the throttle and we got another run. We went under the No. 1 and the No. 29 was on the outside of him. The No. 1 just came down on the side of the car and drove me into the apron and I saved it and he came down and hit me again and I spun out. I couldn’t save it the second time. You can only run over a guy so many times. It was a tough race man.”

HOW WAS YOUR CAR ALL NIGHT LONG BUT NEVER GOT THAT LATE CAUTION YOU WERE LOOKING FOR: “We got that late caution. They were there, man. We had two. We were fine. We weren’t too worried about it. I knew there was going to be a wreck at the end, there always is. We have restrictor plates on these cars and we run over the top of each other. We are going to wreck each other trying to win these races. That was what happened there at the end. I knew we still at a shot at it, it isn’t over until the last lap.”

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S SUMMER SALUTE CHEVROLET – FINISHED 20^TH
“I really couldn’t see who it was but someone got inside the No. 88 (Dale Earnhardt Jr.) and forced their way in there and turned him down across the apron coming off of (Turn) 4. And that was the big wreck that we had coming to the start/finish. I think there was a spin behind us that took place. And then someone got into the No. 88 and got him turned sideways and then it just kind of took off from there.”

IS IT FRUSTRATING JUST TO HAVE THAT TIME AND TIME AGAIN AT THE END OF THE RACE?

“Well, it’s just normal plate stuff. We do have the two-car tandem so it’s a little bit different, but at the end we’re in a big pack and it’s still restrictor plate racing and it’s so hard to see how many hours these guys put into these cars to have it torn up in the blink of an eye like that. But it is what it is and we’ll just go on to the next one.”

MARK MARTIN, NO. 5 CARQUEST/GODADDY.COM CHEVROLET – FINISHED 33RD

HOW DO YOU EVEN SORT THIS OUT MARK, THE FINAL LAP? “I have no idea, didn’t really see it. The accident that I was in, you know, I lost my partner there with Jeff (Gordon) and knew it was going to get crazy. Then on the restart I thought (Joey) Logano and I were going to hook up. He didn’t have a partner and I didn’t either. I must have been four inches not ahead of him and I was trying to get in front of him so we could go. It was still okay. I felt him touch me and I was trying to save it but then – I don’t know how, I haven’t seen it. You know cars were hitting everybody. From there I probably could have saved it, I thought I could save it but cars were just going everywhere.”

JEFF GORDON, DRIVE TO END HUNGER CHEVROLET – FINISHED 8^TH:

YOU GUYS HAD A WILD NIGHT GOING THERE, WHAT HAPPENED IN THE BIG PACK THAT GOT YOU TURNED AROUND? “Everybody was just really getting anxious and it was time to go and somebody got outside of me and Mark (Martin) coming off of (turn) two which made it three wide and had the No. 83 and No. 4 on the inside, just went into (turn) three and I don’t know somebody got in the back of the No. 4 and pushed him up into me and I had nowhere to go. Then the car came around and luckily I straightened it out somehow and came back and fixed it and got four tires on our Pepsi Max Chevrolet. Miraculously there on those last two restarts avoided two more wrecks and was pushing Kyle Busch and he made some great holes on that last run. I don’t know. It was awesome and how we finished sixth is unbelievable.”

HOW WILD WAS IT OUT THERE? “You know in the closing laps here with the two-car draft it is going to get wild and crazy. We got really far back, too far back, me and Mark (Martin) did. We had fast race cars. Alan (Gustafson) and Lance (McGrew) made a great call and did a two-tire stop there at the end. I don’t know if that is what everybody did but maybe we did. But, I felt like from that point we started gaining on the field. We got ourselves really in a great position and started making some good passes. We got caught three-wide there in the middle going into three and I knew if anything happened, we were in trouble. And sure enough, the No. 4 (Kasey Kahne) got a shove and slid up into us and there was nowhere for me to go. Miraculously we saved it and came in and got four tires, fixed the damage. There at the end it was just about getting to be on Kyle Busch’s bumper and go. He made some great holes. So we were able to come back to finish well, pretty amazing.”

CLINT BOWYER, NO. 33 WHEATIES FUEL CHEVROLET – FINISHED 36^th

“Tough night for the No. 33 Wheaties FUEL Chevy. We got some damage in the beginning of the race and laid back in the field with our RCR teammate, Jeff Burton until about 30 to go. That last caution came out at the wrong time as we were making a run at the leaders. Nothing we could have done there at the end. That’s just restrictor-plate racing for you I guess.”

PAUL MENARD, NO. 27 QUAKER STATE/MENARDS CHEVROLET – FINISHED 8^TH:

“It was a solid night for the No. 27 Quaker State/Menards team. I had a lot of fun running the two-car tandem with Harvick (Kevin, RCR teammate and driver of the No. 29 Budweiser Folds of Honor Chevrolet). We had great runs going after those last two restarts and the cautions just didn’t go our way. I really think that if the race had stayed green for either of the final cautions, one of us would have had the win. These RCR Chevys are just built great and the ECR engines are unreal. Unfortunately, as you know, it’s always a crapshoot here at Daytona (International Speedway). Our car was a lot better than eighth but, then again, there are a lot of cars that got destroyed on those final laps. We were lucky to stay out of the mess and head home with a top 10. It should have helped us a little in the points, too.”

About Chevrolet: Founded in Detroit in 1911, Chevrolet celebrates its centennial as a global automotive brand with annual sales of about 4.25 million vehicles in more than 140 countries. Chevrolet provides consumers with fuel-efficient, safe and reliable vehicles that deliver high quality, expressive design, spirited performance and value. The Chevrolet portfolio includes iconic performance cars such as Corvette and Camaro; dependable, long-lasting pickups and SUVs such as Silverado and Suburban; and award-winning passenger cars and crossovers such as Spark, Cruze, Malibu, Equinox and Traverse. Chevrolet also offers “gas-friendly to gas-free” solutions including Cruze Eco and Volt. Cruze Eco offers 42 mpg highway while Volt offers 35 miles of electric, gasoline-free driving and an additional 344 miles of extended range. Most new Chevrolet models offer OnStar safety, security and convenience technologies including OnStar Hands-Free Calling, Automatic Crash Response and Stolen Vehicle Slowdown. More information regarding Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

- Team Chevy, Press Release

David Ragan, driver of the #6 UPS Ford, celebrates after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coke ZERO 400 Powered by Coca-Cola at Daytona International Speedway on July 2, 2011 in Daytona Beach, Florida. - Photo Credit: by Chris Graythen/Getty Images

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.

Ragan’s No. 6 UPS Ford was in a familiar position on the final restart. He was in the same spot earlier this year in the Daytona 500, but changed lanes before crossing the start/finish line and was black-flagged – losing his chance at winning the richest and most prestigious race in NASCAR. This time, Roush Fenway Racing teammate and drafting partner Matt Kenseth was lined up behind Ragan, keeping him out front for the last eight laps and helping him become the seventh driver whose first-ever win has come in the mid-summer classic.

“There’s not a better place to do it than Daytona. It couldn’t be any better,” said Ragan from Gatorade Victory Lane. “We’ve been so close so many times and finally we’re here. Daytona means a lot. It is a special race and we’re very fortunate to get our first win here.”

Despite racing well on the 2.5-mile tri-oval, circumstances have kept Ragan from finishing well and his previous best finish of fourth came back in 2007 in the ARCA series.

Kenseth held on to second and Joey Logano, winner of last night’s SUBWAY Jalapeno 250 NASCAR Nationwide Series race, finished third.

After capturing his 50th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series pole this week, veteran Mark Martin had a strong run, but was involved in an incident during the first green-white-checkered attempt and finished 33rd.

Carl Edwards entered the race as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points leader, but spun exiting Turn 4 on lap 23 and sustained damage to the No. 99 Subway Ford, enabling defending race winner Kevin Harvick to take over the points lead.

Similar to the Daytona 500, the new racing surface created a passing-friendly environment setting new race and track records. A track-record 25 drivers exchanged the lead a race-record 57 times; the previous record of 49 lead changes was set back in 1974. Ryan Newman paired with Denny Hamlin and was able to lead a race-high 25 of the race-extended 170 laps.

The Independence Day holiday classic opened with a pre-race concert by country music star Martina McBride and a tribute to four Congressional Medal of Honor recipients. DIS also recognized NASA’s Space Shuttle program and the final flight – which is scheduled for July 8 – with United States Navy Commander and Astronaut Dominic “Tony” Antonelli serving as Honorary Starter.

Fans can stay connected with Daytona International Speedway on Twitter (www.twitter.com/disupdates) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/DaytonaInternationalSpeedway).

- Daytona International Speedway, Press Release

Daytona International Speedway – Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola

Saturday, July 2, 2011

NASCAR on TNT

Countdown to Green delivered by Pizza Hut

Lindsay Czarniak (host), Larry McReynolds (analyst) and Kyle Petty (analyst)

McReynolds on how unpredictable the Coke Zero 400 is: “Every race, fans ask me, ‘who do you like?’ I promise you, there is no way to predict the winner of this race. Honestly, all 43 drivers that take the green flag can pull into victory lane.”

Petty on the difficulty of two-car drafting: “I was absolutely blown away by how hard these guys have to work in the car [while drafting]. The lead car has to work with the car behind you and work the brakes. You can’t see anything and that can’t be stressed enough. It’s blind faith when you pair off.”

No. 29 Kevin Harvick joined the crew on the rig prior to the race

Harvick on his team’s plans as they head towards the Chase: “We’ve already done that [experimenting] and now we’re starting to zero in on the different packages that we have and the different styles of race tracks and starting to fine-tune the things that we need. We are starting to get our cars in line for the Chase, whether we want new ones or current ones or what you want with the stuff that comes out of the wind tunnel. It’s all about preparation and our guys do a good job at that.”

Harvick on his team’s strategy with the two-car draft: “It does take two to tango and we think that we know what we’re going to do today with the guys. Hopefully that will work…it should be a fun night.”

Petty on NASCAR legend Cale Yarborough who was featured in TNT’s Pride of NASCAR series: “He may not physically be here at the race track but that should not be a mark against him. He loves this sport and he loves the people in this sport and the sport should love and embrace him. He’s in the Hall of Fame and he is a phenomenal individual.”

McReynolds on the importance of the spotter when drivers are in a two-car draft: “The biggest communication has to come from the spotter. Every driver has a spotter and when two drivers hook together [in a draft], one spotter takes care of both drivers…it doesn’t matter if they are leading or pushing.”

TNT’s Adam Alexander interviewed No. 21 Trevor Bayne who won the 2011 Daytona 500

Bayne on how his life has changed since winning the Daytona 500 earlier this season: “I had no idea [how much it would change]. It was like a light switch, it wasn’t like a gradual build-up. I went from not winning anything to winning the Daytona 500. The support from the fans and everything has changed overnight.”

Bayne on dealing with his health shortly after winning the Daytona 500: “It was tough but it gave me some perspective. I’ve had the highest of highs and the lowest of lows and I’ve gotten to see it from both perspectives. You realize how fortunate you are to be a race car driver.”

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TNT NASCAR Sprint Cup Racing: Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola from Daytona International Speedway

Adam Alexander (host), Kyle Petty (analyst), Wally Dallenbach (analyst)

Pit Repeorters: Chris Neville, Ralph Sheheen, Marty Snider, Matt Yocum

TNT’s Marty Snider interviewed No. 21 Trevor Bayne following his early-race crash that knocked him out of the race

Bayne on his early-race crash: “We didn’t really have a plan at the beginning of who we were going to work with. I was kind of dropping back, looking for a partner and I don’t know what happened going into turn-one but sometimes these things get loose when you’re the lead car. We wanted to be out there.”

Dallenbach on how miscommunication might have lead to No. 99 Carl Edwards’ crash: “When you’re the lead car and you’re telling your [draft partner] what you’re going to do, you don’t give them enough time when you react. Carl said, ‘Alright, let’s do this’ and did it and [No. 16 Greg] Biffle got the message too late.”

McReynolds on how total communication between teams is crucial to the success of two-car tandems: [Communication] is the key to this partnership that you develop. It has to happen on pit row as well…if you’re on different agendas, this partnership won’t work.”

Petty on drivers adjusting to the style of racing at Daytona: “[The] Daytona [500 on February 20] was different than Talladega [on April 17] and Talledega is different than this race as far as how the drivers approach the race and how they drive it.”

Petty on the Red Bull team: “A lot has been made over the Red Bull situation over the last few weeks. Those guys are looking for investors and Toyota stepped up and said, ‘these are good tires.’ They just need some financial backing to keep this thing going.”

Dallenbach on drivers boxing each other in: “I think when guys get to the front, they don’t have anywhere to go. When you start boxing things up in front of you, that’s when you get into a problem of running someone into a box. You get into a situation where you can’t check up fast enough behind you and that’s when things happen.”

Dallenbach on the importance of pitting at the same time as your draft partner: “If a guy gets hung up in the pits and your partner leaves ahead of you, he’s going to be waiting for you near the end of pit row. You can’t leave your guy.”

Dallenbach on drivers starting to get anxious late in the race: “The anxious level starts to go up at this point [late] in the race. This is when everyone’s voice starts to show a sense of urgency. You have to start putting yourself in position. The patience starts to wear off…’we’re not going to be working together as much as we have all race long.’”

Dallenbach on how it feels to be in a crash: “When you’re in a wreck in feels like it never ends. When you stop, you’re waiting for someone to hit you.”

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TNT NASCAR Summer Series – Post-race remarks

TNT’s Marty Snider interviewed the winner of the Coke Zero 400 No. 6 David Ragan following the race:

Ragan on moving past the restart penalty he received at the Daytona 500 earlier this season that may have cost him a win: “Everyone was talking about it. I just tried to zero-out, take some positives from it and move on.”

No. 17 Matt Kenseth on his teammate No. 6 David Ragan winning the race: “We didn’t give [the win] to [Ragan], we worked the whole night. David was in the right place for the restart, if I would’ve been in that spot, he would’ve pushed me to the win too. That was the plan and we stuck to that plan.”

No. 5 Mark Martin on the late-race, multi-car wreck he was involved in: “The accident that I was in, I lost my partner [No. 24] Jeff [Gordon] and I knew it was going to get crazy. Then on the restart, I thought [No. 20 Joey] Logano and I were going to hook up, he didn’t have a partner and I didn’t either. I must’ve been four inches not ahead of him and I was trying to get in front of him so we could go. I felt him touch me but then…I don’t know what happened…cars were flying everywhere.”

- Turner Sports, Press Release

Dodge Motorsports

KURT BUSCH (No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger R/T) Finished 14th

“It’s a tough deal getting collected in that wreck. Regan (Smith) and I were making our move and then I just saw smoke and cars spinning in front of us. I was just about to miss it on the high groove, but got clipped and that nearly ripped the entire driver-side door off. We had to come in under caution and make some repairs; that cost us all of our track position. To restart 20-something and come home with a 14th-place finish is amazing. Not to mention that I did it flying through the grass sideways! A decent point’s night for us. You just never know how these things are going to end.”

STEVE ADDINGTON (crew chief, No 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge Charger)
“This is some strange racing. After we got collected late in that big wreck, I was going to stay out despite having half a door. But then NASCAR called us in under caution and made us fix the driver side door. We dropped back to restart 26th or so on the restart and it’s amazing that we ended up 14th. Kurt drove a great race. We got hooked-up with the 78 (Regan Smith) and just rode around all night. So much of this kind of racing is out of your control. You just try and put yourself in position to have a shot at winning at the end. We just got caught up in the wrecks. Our Shell/Pennzoil Dodge was fast. We had a great car. We’ll take a 14th and head to Kentucky.”

BRAD KESELOWSKI (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger R/T) Finished 15th
“Eventful is a great word for what went on out there those last few laps. I’m happy to bring home a decent finish with the Miller Lite Dodge in one piece. We got a little off there about two-thirds of the way through the race and fell behind. We just didn’t get the opportunity to get that track position back. It was a decent finish for us. We wanted a little more. We’ll just work a little harder to get it.

“I had a pretty good push from (Greg) Biffle and we came to the front, but he dropped a cylinder and that hurt us. It’s just one of those days, but to get out of here with a top 15, we’re proud of that.”

ROBBY GORDON (No. 7 SPEED Energy Dodge Charger R/T) Finished 34th
“We got busted on a pit stop and that hurt us. And, we didn’t get the drafting help we expected. We should have finished at least 27th, but ended up 34th. We’re still in the top 35, so that’s a plus for our team. With a little drafting help, I think we could have finished a little better.”

- Darnell Communications for Dodge Motorsports, Press Release

David Ragan

Pushing Ragan to his first victory and finishing second was fellow Roush Fenway Racing teammate, Matt Kenseth, followed by Joey Logano finishing third, Kasey Kahne fourth and Kyle Busch finishing in fifth.

Rounding out the top-ten finishers were Jeff Gordon finishing in sixth, Kevin Harvick (who takes over the points lead with a 5 point lead over Carl Edwards) seventh, Paul Menard eighth, Juan Pablo Montoya ninth and A.J. Allmendinger finishing in the tenth position.

There was a track record of 25 different leaders (the previous record was 22 set in the 2011 Daytona 500) as well as, there was a race record 57 lead changes (the previous record was 49 set in 1974).

RACE NOTES:

Average Speed: 159.491 MPH
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 39 Mins, 53 Secs.
Margin of Victory: Caution
Lead Changes: 57 among 25 drivers
Cautions: 6 for 21 laps
Attendance: 115,000

Unofficial Top-Ten in the Point Standings: 1. Kevin Harvick – 586 (Leader) 2. Carl Edwards – 581 (-5 Points Behind the Leader) 3. Kyle Busch – 576 (-10) 4. Kurt Busch – 570 (-16) 5. Matt Kenseth – 564 (-22) 6. Jimmie Johnson – 564 (-22) 7. Dale Earnhardt Jr. – 534 (-52) 8. Jeff Gordon – 519 (-67) 9. Clint Bowyer – 505 (-81) 10. Ryan Newman – 498 (-88).

Next Up: The inaugural Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway on Saturday, July 9th, with TNT beginning their (pre-race) coverage at 6:30 PM (EDT).

2011 NSCS Coke Zero 400 Race Results

(i) Ineligible for Points in this Series
# Denotes Rookie

Joey Logano in 2011 SUBWAY Jalapeno 250 Victory Lane - Photo Credit: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

Logano, whose No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota rolled off 40th due to an unapproved adjustment after qualifying, survived a spin in lap 27 and paired up with Jason Leffler with 30 laps to go. He found himself in sixth position at the white flag and as drivers scrambled behind them, Logano nipped Leffler by .040 seconds for the victory.

“I always said if you win a bicycle race here at Daytona it’s the coolest thing in the world,” Logano gushed. “So you can imagine how I feel right now. It would be really cool if it was one level up tomorrow, but right now I’m on such a high. This has to be up there as one of my coolest wins, if not the coolest.”

NASCAR Nationwide Series points leader Reed Sorenson finished third and Kyle Busch fourth.

“I was trying to help make sure Joey was going to win this thing,” Busch said of his JGR teammate. “We got the lead through Turn 1 and 2 and I’m like, ‘Alright man, this is his race so it’s going to be good.’ I knew (Logano and Leffler) were going to have a run coming down off of Turn 4 and I told Joey to keep it straight and just win this thing. I didn’t care if I was going to wreck just as long as he was going to win.”

Teammates played a big part throughout the race. Kevin Harvick Inc. had a strong showing with Harvick, Tony Stewart, Elliott Sadler and Clint Bowyer taking the top-four positions in qualifying. Sadler, who led seven times for a race-high 31 of the 100 laps, finished eighth and leaves the “World Center of Racing” second in the point standings.

JR Motorsports teammates Danica Patrick and Aric Almirola also proved to be a powerful pair as Patrick led five times for 13 laps in her first summer race at DIS and third overall NASCAR Nationwide Series appearance at the 2.5-mile tri-oval. Both of them looked like a contender for the win before being shuffled back in the closing laps and getting involved in an incident in the tri-oval coming to the checkered flag.

Point leader Sorenson won the first leg of the four-race “Dash 4 Cash” bonus program which kicked off tonight. The “Dash 4 Cash” bonus program rewards the highest-finishing eligible driver a $100,000 bonus. The four drivers in contention for the bonus were Sorenson, Sadler, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Justin Allgaier. Sorenson is eligible for the award again at Iowa Speedway along with Leffler, Allgaier and Michael Annett.

The 43-car field included 12 drivers who are pulling double duty and also racing in tomorrow night’s Coke Zero 400 Powered By Coca-Cola. Twelve drivers exchanged the lead a record-tying 35 times. There were six cautions for 23 laps.

For tickets to the Coke Zero 400 Powered By Coca-Cola, call 1-800-PITSHOP or visit www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com

Fans can stay connected with Daytona International Speedway on Twitter (www.twitter.com/disupdates) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/DaytonaInternationalSpeedway).

- Daytona International Speedway Press Release