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 "Just great motors; the guys in the engine shops do such a good job,
so got to thank all those guys," Earnhardt said. "My 88 boys, all
the guys back at the shop, they put together such good cars. This
car is the one we won Talladega with. It's going to get retired one
of these days. Hopefully, we get to keep using it. Hopefully, the
boss man doesn't put it in the barn yet."
A multi-car wreck at the end of the race sent Austin Dillon's car
into a flip before it came to rest upside down with its engine and
other parts scattered in the infield grass. Dillon finished seventh
before his car damaged the catch fence in the midst of his roller
coaster ride.
"I am just going to be really sore," Dillon said. "It got my
tailbone pretty good and my arm. Should be fine, just go ice it up
and get ready for Kentucky. But just thank the good Lord for taking
care of me and for what NASCAR has done to make the sport this much
safer. I just hope everybody in the stands is all right. That is the
next biggest concern."
According to the NBC television broadcast, three fans were treated
for injuries that resulted from the crash.
Jimmie Johnson came in second, and Denny Hamlin was third, though he
spun at the end. Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch rounded out the top
five.
"The 4 (Harvick) was pushing me or trying to push me to the line,
and he had us jacked up," Hamlin said. "We crossed the line, I
thought, or we were close. He was trying to help, but it just
wrecked a bunch of stuff. None of us were going to win the race. ...
We all have wins, so at some point, you have to hit the concede
button."
Earnhardt and Johnson restarted on the front row on lap 152 of the
scheduled 160. As Earnhardt drove away with the lead, Johnson was
forced to battle Hamlin and Trevor Bayne for second.
One final caution, the ninth of the race, came on lap 155, sending
the race into overtime with a green-white-checker attempt. Hamlin
and Harvick moved into second and third on the final restart, but
Johnson was able to move back up to second on the final lap.
Kasey Kahne and Hamlin were in the top two spots on a restart just
past the halfway point. Hamlin took the lead on lap 95.
Earnhardt restarted just outside the top 10 after a four-tire pit
stop, but he was back up front just before a yellow flag on lap 105.
Earnhardt and Johnson got off pit road first and second and battled
each other for the lead for several laps. Johnson held the lead
temporarily before Earnhardt took over the top spot on lap 117. A
few laps later, Paul Menard moved into third while Johnson gave up
additional positions.
Bayne was another driver who got by Johnson. By the time Johnson got
back up to third on lap 142, Bayne was second. A lap later, Johnson
moved into second and Jeff Gordon third behind Earnhardt to give
Hendrick Motorsports the top three spots. Bayne and Hamlin were
running with the HMS teammates.
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When a yellow flag waved on lap 157, Hamlin was third behind
Earnhardt and Johnson.
Gordon finished sixth, Dillon seventh, Ryan Newman eighth, Bayne
ninth and Clint Bowyer 10th.
Rain delayed the start of the race by more than three hours. The
green flag was scheduled to wave at 8:20 p.m. EDT Sunday, but
because of the rain and track-drying efforts that followed, drivers
didn't fire their engines until 11:27 p.m.
When the face finally got underway, Earnhardt started on the pole,
with Dillon next to him on the front row. Weather forced the
cancellation of qualifying Saturday. Earnhardt and Dillon were
awarded the top two spots by virtue of having the two fastest times
in the first of two practice sessions Friday.
"I asked Greg (Ives, crew chief) before we went out to practice what
we were trying to accomplish in that first practice, and that was
the first thing he mentioned was to go out that first run and try to
put a lap down because the weather wasn't looking real good for
today," Earnhardt said after the cancellation of qualifying. "That
was his decision. It ended up working out for us."
Dillon took the lead on the first lap, but Earnhardt was back up
front soon after a restart following a lap-three caution. By the
time a competition caution came on lap 25, Hendrick Motorsports held
the first four positions in the running order, with Earnhardt
leading, Johnson in second, Kahne in third and Gordon in fourth.
NOTES: The four Stewart-Haas Racing teams were the top four in final
practice with Danica Patrick fastest, Kurt Busch second, Kevin
Harvick third and Tony Stewart fourth. ... A practice crash Friday
that started with Brad Keselowski making contact with Kyle Busch
wound up involving 11 cars, with most of those teams going to backup
cars for the race, except for Keselowski, whose car sustained
minimal damage. ... Joey Logano won the most recent Sprint Cup race
at Daytona, the Daytona 500 in February. ... Aric Almirola won last
year's Coke Zero 400, scheduled for July 5, 2014, but rain delayed
until July 6. ... Austin Dillon won the NASCAR Xfinity Series race
at Daytona on Saturday night.
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reserved.]
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