Tony Stewart picked up his 47th win in 482 starts following a wild night at the Coca Zero 400 at the Daytona International Speedway July 8, 2012. It was his fourth Sprint Cup victory at the track yet the “big prize” – the Daytona 500 has continued to elude him.
 |
| Crew chief Steve Addington gets ready to soak Tony Stewart with champagne in Victory Lane Photo courtesy of NASCAR.com |
"I don't know, but I'll trade 'em
all in for just one Daytona 500," Stewart said of his four summertime wins.
"This is 18 wins at Daytona -- we just haven't got the right one yet. But
all of 'em are special, and it's cool to do this."
As per usual in Daytona, just as Tony
was crossing the finish line, total mayhem was occurring in his rear view
mirror. A previous wreck caused by Denny Hamlin had already taken out quite a
few in the field. Two out of three of Michael Waltrip’s cars were out, as was
all of Joe Gibbs’ Racing Team. On the restart, Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle
were side by side by and somehow Tony Stewart side-drafted the two of them and
pulled ahead for the victory.
 |
| Carnage outside of Turn 4 Photo courtesy of NASCAR.com |
Jeff Burton came second followed by
Matt Kenseth, Joey Logano, Stewart’s team mate Ryan Newman, Carl Edwards, Kasey
Kahne, Brad Kesolowski, Michael Waltrip and one of my favourite drivers, Bobby
Labonte rounded out the top ten.
On a side note, Joey Logano’s
Nationwide car failed inspection following the Subway Jalapeno 250 Friday
night. Penalties are expected to be levied on Tuesday.
I am not really a fan of watching
restrictor plate racing on TV. Having not yet experienced it in person at a
track, I can’t speak to what it’s like to watch live. If you are not normally a
NASCAR viewer and/or are one of those people with the skewed ideal that “all
they do is drive around in a circle”, you should probably not watch restrictor
plate tracks. Yes it is exciting to see the cars quite literally stuck to each
other’s bumpers at ridiculously high speeds, but unless there is a wreck, that’s
all you are going to see.
 |
| Can you just scootch over a bit please? Photo courtesy of NASCAR.com |
The sideshow of the Allmendinger drama
made for some interesting moments off and on track. A.J. Allmendinger, the
driver of the #22 car for Penske, had been informed only two and a half hours
prior to the green flag start that he failed his random drug test performed
last week in Kentucky.
NASCAR
announced that he was temporarily suspended for failing to pass his “A” sample
which included a banned substance. Allmendinger as the option to ask for his “B”
sample to be tested within 24 hours.
If his “B” sample comes back positive, he will be indefinitely
suspended and will not be allowed to drive until he completes a recovery
program prescribed by NASCAR. He would be evaluated by a substance abuse
professional and subsequently be required to enter a rehabilitation program
would be tailored specifically for him. He is only the second Sprint Cup driver
to be suspended since NASCAR began random testing in 2009. Jeremy Mayfield shared the honour in 2009.
Sam Hornish Jr., literally turned into
a superhero and bolted into action to take over driving duties for Penske.
Kenny Wallace was on standby (poor guy was on standby for Kevin Harvick too in
case his wife Delana went into labour...sigh..I love Kenny!), just in case
Hornish could not get to the track in time. He was literally doing a live,
in-studio race interview for Speed in Charlotte, NC when his phone went off in
his pocket. He ignored the call but checked soon after the taping and sprung
into action.
Penske arranged for him to hop a flight
to Daytona and once he landed there was a caravan of police cars waiting to
escort him to the track. "It's kind of a weird thing when you land in an airplane and you see
cop lights that are out there for you," he said.
 |
| Sam Hornish Jr. gets a quick pre-race talking to with fellow Penske driver Brad Kesolowski Photo courtesy of NASCAR.com |
He arrived at 7:30 pm just as the invocation had begun. I
swear Robin Meade (yes THAT Robin Meade from the CNN Morning Express show! Who
knew she could sing??), really milked that national anthem to give them time to
get Hornish into the car! He managed a 33rd place finish for Penske.
It should be noted that NASCAR senior vice
president of racing operations Steve O’Donnell, who announced the suspension
but did not field any questions and did not elaborate on what drug was found in
Allmendinger’s system. It could be something as simple as an over the counter
medication or something as severe as a narcotic. We will have to wait and see
what unfolds.
Next week we head over to Louden
in New Hampshire for the LENOX Industrial Tools 301.
Agree? Disagree?
Drop me line at In Play! Magazine on Facebook
