Between NASCAR officials pronouncement of “have at boys,” promises of looser rules enforcement and a few crashes in practice on Thursday, Saturday night’s Bud Shootout at Daytona Beach was shaping up to be a blast.
Only, like the scrubbed Endeavour space shuttle launch in nearby Cape Canaveral, there was no blast off. A big wreck on lap 74, of the 75 lap race meant the race ended under caution which takes the edge of a “shootout.”
Kevin Harvick, who hadn’t sat in his car in practice due to flu-like symptoms leading up to the race, became the fourth back-to-back winner of this event.
“I was sick on Thursday and didn’t even get to sit a lap in this thing, but it was a rocket and the best thing was that it handled really well,’’ said Harvick who finished ahead of Kasey Kahne, and Jamie McMurray.
Carl Edwards led the first 25-lap segment of this non-points race as the field came in for a required ten-minute pit stop. He continued to lead until lap 43.
The real action began after a caution brought out by Michael Waltrip’s spin on lap 70. Most of the field pitted for new tires, but Greg Biffle and Kasey Kahne didn’t as they went for track position.
Harvick who had taken the lead earlier explained his restart. "I knew I needed to go, but I thought I could get by at least one of the guys on old tires there and try to get myself in position," Harvick said.
"I was happy Greg chose the outside because he set the pace to start. We were able to get the best restart we had all night and push him out there and were able to just carry that momentum in to turn one.
"Kinda drug the brake a little bit to let the No. 9 (Kahne) get right up behind us to stay side-by-side with the No. 16 (Biffle) so that we didn't get any three wide or anybody else involved in the mix. We were able to get a good push down the back. I don't know what happened after that."
Kahne said, “We were right there. Even on the restart, Harvick got in front of me and I was pushing him and I was right on the white line. I was like, ‘Man, the tires aren’t too bad.’ So I was happy. The Roush Yates Ford engine is definitely an improvement (over the Dodge power he had last year).
McMurray said, “We had a great night. It's a wonderful way to start my relationship back with Chip Ganassi and Earnhardt Ganassi Racing. You never know when you start out if you're going to like the setups that they give you or the cars, if you're going to have to work on all of that.”
As for Harvick, he might have a new pre-race procedure, “I guess we could just skip practice," Harvick radioed to the crew.
photo:Éric Gilbert/Motorsport.com
Only, like the scrubbed Endeavour space shuttle launch in nearby Cape Canaveral, there was no blast off. A big wreck on lap 74, of the 75 lap race meant the race ended under caution which takes the edge of a “shootout.”
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Kevin Harvick, who hadn’t sat in his car in practice due to flu-like symptoms leading up to the race, became the fourth back-to-back winner of this event.
“I was sick on Thursday and didn’t even get to sit a lap in this thing, but it was a rocket and the best thing was that it handled really well,’’ said Harvick who finished ahead of Kasey Kahne, and Jamie McMurray.
Carl Edwards led the first 25-lap segment of this non-points race as the field came in for a required ten-minute pit stop. He continued to lead until lap 43.
The real action began after a caution brought out by Michael Waltrip’s spin on lap 70. Most of the field pitted for new tires, but Greg Biffle and Kasey Kahne didn’t as they went for track position.
Harvick who had taken the lead earlier explained his restart. "I knew I needed to go, but I thought I could get by at least one of the guys on old tires there and try to get myself in position," Harvick said.
"I was happy Greg chose the outside because he set the pace to start. We were able to get the best restart we had all night and push him out there and were able to just carry that momentum in to turn one.
"Kinda drug the brake a little bit to let the No. 9 (Kahne) get right up behind us to stay side-by-side with the No. 16 (Biffle) so that we didn't get any three wide or anybody else involved in the mix. We were able to get a good push down the back. I don't know what happened after that."
Kahne said, “We were right there. Even on the restart, Harvick got in front of me and I was pushing him and I was right on the white line. I was like, ‘Man, the tires aren’t too bad.’ So I was happy. The Roush Yates Ford engine is definitely an improvement (over the Dodge power he had last year).
McMurray said, “We had a great night. It's a wonderful way to start my relationship back with Chip Ganassi and Earnhardt Ganassi Racing. You never know when you start out if you're going to like the setups that they give you or the cars, if you're going to have to work on all of that.”
As for Harvick, he might have a new pre-race procedure, “I guess we could just skip practice," Harvick radioed to the crew.
photo:Éric Gilbert/Motorsport.com
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