Daytona Coke Zero 400 Race Recap

Jul 6, 2013; Daytona Beach, FL, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin (11) and Matt Kenseth (20) get turned sideways entering the trioval during the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

The bottom line again becomes the one to be on as the leading cars go single file while Kenseth leads the high line back in 12th. Some of the cars that had earlier sat back now start making their way through the field, Stewart is up to 7th and Kevin Harvick is up to 6th. But before they can make any more progress the fourth caution is thrown. Ambrose appears to slightly nudge David Stremme and it’s enough to turn him into the path of the 9 and the two come together. Behind them AJ Almendinger spins and hits the 43 of Almirola. The leaders pit for fuel only and it’s Johnson who wins the race off ahead of Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Harvick and Kurt Busch. While Johnson holds the lead on the restart Kahne, Harvick and Stewart are able to dart to the bottom and get by Keselowski for Kahne to take second. After a few laps of running well on the bottom line Johnson leaves his team mate and moves up in front of Harvick as the high line is now the place to be and Kahne falls back to 4th behind Stewart. The top nine start to threaten to pull away from the rest of the field but before they do ‘the big one’ happens.

Hamlin gets loose without any help and shoots straight up the track into the outside wall and right in front of Allmendinger who ploughs into the side of the 11 car sending it airborne and spinning it 180 degrees. Dave Blaney has no where to go but into the side of them as Kesenth takes avoiding action that puts him right into the side of Gordon. The race is briefly red flagged so that the clean up can take place, after ten minutes and with seven laps to go the race restarts. Johnson has Kahne right behind him and second place Harvick has Stewart behind him. But the 48 doesn’t need any help as he gets a great restart to pull clear while Kahne is able to hold second from Harvick. Meanwhile on the high line Ambrose appears and gets up to fourth. Once again Johnson abandons his team mate and moves up in front of Ambrose but can’t get clear of Kahne who is side by side with the 48. The fight doesn’t last long though as Ambrose tries to go underneath the 48 and Johnson appears to move down on him forcing him down the track and into the side of Kahne who gets hit and sent speeding into the inside wall as caution number 6 comes out.

Jul 6, 2013; Daytona Beach, FL, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers Casey Mears (13), Kyle Busch (18) and Danica Patrick (10) crash on the last lap of the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Liles-USA TODAY Sports

By the time the clean up has taken place it’s going to be a green white chequered finish and all hell could now break loose as everyone tries to win. Johnson will restart on the outside from Harvick. The restart sees Johnson door to door with Harvick and with a bit of a push from Stewart the 48 and 14 move into first and second and move in front of Harvick. As they pass the white flag Johnson is still out front as a big wreck takes place in turn two as Carl Edwards gets turned by Casey Mears and takes out other cars in the process. But NASCAR doesn’t through a caution and as they come into turn 4 there’s another big wreck as Patrick gets turned by David Gilliland into the path of Ryan Newman, Kyle Busch and Ricky Stenhouse Jr who in turn collect other drivers. But while that happens Johnson speeds across the line to take the win and becomes the first person since Bobby Allison 31 years ago to win both Daytona races in a season.

Jul 6, 2013; Daytona Beach, FL, USA; NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Jimmie Johnson (48) celebrates winning the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Liles-USA TODAY Sports

This race was hands down much better than the February race there were virtually always at least two lines that were working. Whether this was down to Johnson making which ever line he was in the fastest or if there was two genuine lines is another question, but we certainly saw that the teams had learnt lessons from earlier. Cars were able to pass all over the track as well as move up with relative ease from the back of the pack. What we saw was almost the pack racing of old, there was very little scope for drivers to pull away and at any time there could have been wrecks from the top to the bottom of the field. This was what NASCAR racing should be at Superspeedways close, tense, fast racing and if it wasn’t for some lousy TV coverage that made it hard to follow what was going on, this is the type of race that should bring in new fans to the sport.