For a few fleeting moments at Daytona International Speedway, Dale Earnhardt Jr. seemed poised to write a miraculous ending to the story almost everyone tuned in to Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola wanted to read. In what was to be Earnhardt’s final ride at Daytona as a full-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver, Earnhardt started from the pole but lost the lead to Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott on the first lap. But NASCAR’s most popular driver brought the crowd to life on Lap 36 when he passed Brad Keselowski for the lead with a push from Ryan Blaney. Earnhardt’s stint at the front of the field was short-lived, as Keselowski got the top spot back one circuit later and went on to win the first 40-lap stage. On Lap 52, heading into Turn 1 at 190 miles per hour, Earnhardt felt his right front tire losing air, but he was trapped in the outside lane and couldn’t break out of line. Unavoidable contact from Paul Menard’s Chevrolet sent Earnhardt’s Chevy into the outside wall, causing him to lose two laps as he brought the car to pit road for repairs. But Earnhardt persevered, and with two ‘lucky dogs (as the highest-scored lapped car), he returned to the lead lap under caution on Lap 90 of a scheduled 160. After restarting 31st on Lap 95, he had driven up to 17th place two laps later. Thenceforth, Earnhardt ran as high as sixth and was holding seventh when Kevin Harvick blew a tire and turned in front of him. The result wreck knocked both Earnhardt and Harvick out of the race, as well as Keselowski.
Both of David Ragan’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victories have come at restrictor-plate tracks, and in Saturday’s Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola at Daytona International Speedway, he was two laps away from a third win. Driving the #38 Front Row Motorsports Ford, Ragan led the field to an overtime restart on lap 162, but as the cars approached Turn 3, Ragan realized too late that eventual race winner Ricky Stenhouse Jr. had a strong run to the inside. Stenhouse made the pass and held on for the victory, as Ragan fell back to sixth at the finish.
When Paul Menard clipped the outside wall early in Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola at Daytona International Speedway, his prospects for victory seemed remote. But Menard worked his way steadily toward the front after the end of the second stage, got a strong push from race runner-up Clint Bowyer in the two-lap overtime and came home third.(NASCAR Wire Service)[Read More Here]
