"Happy Harvick--Bud Shootout Winner"
The 2007 Daytona 500 winner, Kevin Harvick, ended up in victory lane tonight, ending a dearth on on-track activity for the Sprint Cup cars since Homestead last November. Harvick took the lead from then leader Jamie McMurray on the last lap of a green-white-checker restart, which added three laps to the posted 75. McMurray finished second...and Tony Stewart was third. The race was punctuated by 8 caution periods, including a last lap accident which Harvick, McMurray and Stewart avoided. The race saw a record 23 lead changes among 14 drivers. The win was Harvick's first win in five tries. A. J. Allmendinger finished 5th in an RPM Dodge...and the best Toyota (as it was for most of 2008) belonged to Joe Gibbs Racing and Kyle Busch (10th). The much ballyhooed debut of Gibbs teammate Joey Logano didn't live up to the hype this evening--the rookie was involved in an early (lap 4) crash with David Ragan, Robby Gordon, and fellow rookie Scott Speed. Logano survived the ARCA event a few minutes prior...which was drawn out by some spectacular crashing...which sent drivers to Halifax Medical Center down the road from the track. Logano finished second to eventual ARCA winner James Buescher.
Tomorrow is Pole Day for the 500...when the 51 cars will take timed laps...that will take some time because cars with restrictor plates don't get up to speed as quickly. The two fastest drivers will lock in a guaranteed 1 & 2 front row. The rest is decided by a mix of results from the Gatorade Duels, qualifying results, past champion provisionals and top 35 points from 2008--that will make your brain hurt at a late hour. So, we'll get some rest, and explain it to you tomorrow morning.
2 comments:
Man, I was sad that Joey wasn't able to finish the race :(
WOW! What a way to start the season!
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