Races at marquee tracks are about telling great stories.
Open Race Thread: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coke Zero 400 | Daytona International Speedway
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At Daytona, 20-year old Trevor Bayne won the Daytona 500 with the legendary Wood Bros. Ford just one day after his birthday, upsetting Carl Edwards, Kurt Busch and David Ragan. His shouts of “Are you kidding me...” will go down as one of the legendary moments in stock car racing as will his confusion in finding victory lane and his tear-filled speech once there.
The Daytona 500 gave us a surprise winner and set the tone for an unpredictable season filled with upsets and parity - 11 different winners in 16 Cup Series races.
At Talladega, Dale Earnhardt Jr. pushed Jimmie Johnson to the closest-ever margin of victory in NASCAR - .006 of a second. Thus far, it is Johnson’s only victory in 2011.
A few weeks later at Darlington, Regan Smith and Furniture Row Racing finally traded one of its excellent qualifying runs for its first Sprint Cup victory, beating Carl Edwards to the line on two late restarts in one of the season’s most heartwarming moments.
So coming back to the beginning, at Daytona, who will steal the headlines as Saturday turns to Sunday?
David Gilliland is set to work with Tony Stewart presenting a great opportunity for both drivers to pick up their first win of 2011.
After Talladega, Junior Nation is expecting Johnson to return the favor in pushing Earnhardt to victory at Daytona. And why not - Earnhardt has dominated Daytona at times to the tune of two wins, eight top 5s and 13 top 10s.
Conveniently enough, Johnson will start eighth, directly behind Earnhardt (sixth). Let the strategy begin.
Don’t forget “Wide Open” coverage tonight on TNT with RaceBuddy. The television broadcast starts at 6:30 p.m. with the Countdown to Green.
The complete starting lineup can be found after the jump.
See you in the comments section!
Starting Line Up by Row
Daytona International Speedway
53rd Annual COKE ZERO 400 Powered By Coca-Cola
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Fri, July 01, 2011 @ 06:36 PM Eastern
Track Race Record: Cale Yarborough 02/19/70 12:40:48 183.295
Daytona International Speedway
53rd Annual COKE ZERO 400 Powered By Coca-Cola
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Fri, July 01, 2011 @ 06:36 PM Eastern
Track Race Record: Cale Yarborough 02/19/70 12:40:48 183.295
| Row | Pos | Car | Driver | Team | Time | Speed |
| 1 | 1 | 5 | Mark Martin | CARQUEST / GoDaddy.com Chevrolet | 49.433 | 182.065 |
| 2 | 21 | Trevor Bayne(i) | Motorcraft / Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center | 49.450 | 182.002 | |
| 2 | 3 | 33 | Clint Bowyer | Wheaties FUEL Chevrolet | 49.553 | 181.624 |
| 4 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | PepsiMAX Chevrolet | 49.564 | 181.583 | |
| 3 | 5 | 6 | David Ragan | UPS Ford | 49.636 | 181.320 |
| 6 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | National Guard Heritage / AMP Energy | 49.658 | 181.240 | |
| 4 | 7 | 71 | Andy Lally # | Interstate Moving Services Ford | 49.713 | 181.039 |
| 8 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Lowe's Summer Salute Chevrolet | 49.725 | 180.995 | |
| 5 | 9 | 43 | A J Allmendinger | U.S. Air Force Ford | 49.738 | 180.948 |
| 10 | 27 | Paul Menard | Quaker State / Menards Chevrolet | 49.742 | 180.934 | |
| 6 | 11 | 39 | Ryan Newman | NRA / Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet | 49.753 | 180.894 |
| 12 | 31 | Jeff Burton | Caterpillar Chevrolet | 49.784 | 180.781 | |
| 7 | 13 | 4 | Kasey Kahne | Red Bull Toyota | 49.792 | 180.752 |
| 14 | 99 | Carl Edwards | SUBWAY Ford | 49.793 | 180.748 | |
| 8 | 15 | 9 | Marcos Ambrose | DeWalt Ford | 49.794 | 180.745 |
| 16 | 17 | Matt Kenseth | Affliction Clothing Ford | 49.817 | 180.661 | |
| 9 | 17 | 16 | Greg Biffle | 3M Ford | 49.839 | 180.581 |
| 18 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | McDonald's Chevrolet | 49.842 | 180.571 | |
| 10 | 19 | 14 | Tony Stewart | Burger King Chevrolet | 49.848 | 180.549 |
| 20 | 83 | Brian Vickers | Red Bull Toyota | 49.870 | 180.469 | |
| 11 | 21 | 51 | Landon Cassill(i) | Security Benefit / Thank A Teacher Chevrolet | 49.905 | 180.343 |
| 22 | 97 | Kevin Conway(i) | ExtenZe Toyota | 49.914 | 180.310 | |
| 12 | 23 | 00 | David Reutimann | Aaron's Dream Machine Toyota | 49.918 | 180.296 |
| 24 | 47 | Bobby Labonte | Kingsford Toyota | 49.933 | 180.242 | |
| 13 | 25 | 22 | Kurt Busch | Shell / Pennzoil Dodge | 49.952 | 180.173 |
| 26 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Miller Lite Dodge | 49.989 | 180.040 | |
| 14 | 27 | 38 | Travis Kvapil(i) | Long John Silver's Ford | 50.040 | 179.856 |
| 28 | 78 | Regan Smith | Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet | 50.041 | 179.853 | |
| 15 | 29 | 60 | Mike Skinner(i) | Big Red Toyota | 50.060 | 179.784 |
| 30 | 42 | Juan Pablo Montoya | Target Chevrolet | 50.074 | 179.734 | |
| 16 | 31 | 29 | Kevin Harvick | Budweiser Chevrolet | 50.097 | 179.651 |
| 32 | 13 | Casey Mears | GEICO Toyota | 50.107 | 179.616 | |
| 17 | 33 | 66 | Michael McDowell | HP Racing LLC Toyota | 50.110 | 179.605 |
| 34 | 56 | Martin Truex Jr. | NAPA Auto Parts Toyota | 50.158 | 179.433 | |
| 18 | 35 | 35 | Geoffrey Bodine | Luke & Associates Chevrolet | 50.206 | 179.261 |
| 36 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | FedEx Express Toyota | 50.215 | 179.229 | |
| 19 | 37 | 20 | Joey Logano | The Home Depot Toyota | 50.256 | 179.083 |
| 38 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Interstate Batteries Toyota | 50.320 | 178.855 | |
| 20 | 39 | 34 | David Gilliland | Front Row Motorsports Ford | 50.379 | 178.646 |
| 40 | 36 | Dave Blaney | Golden Corral Chevrolet | 50.387 | 178.618 | |
| 21 | 41 | 32 | Terry Labonte | C&J Energy Ford | 50.396 | 178.586 |
| 42 | 7 | Mike Bliss(i) | Speed Energy Dodge | Owner Points | ||
| 22 | 43 | 87 | Joe Nemechek(i) | NEMCO Motorsports Toyota | 50.255 | 179.087 |
Did Not Qualify: # 37 Tony Raines; # 46 J J Yeley.
Manufacturer Starting Lineup DNQs Manufacturer Starting Lineup DNQs
Chevrolet 16 1 Ford 11 1
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