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Car 24: Jeff Gordon |
Car 15: Michael Walltrip |
Car 88: Dale Jarrett |
Car 6: Mark Martin |
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DAYTONA BEACH, Florida.
Jeff Gordon grabbed the lead from Dale Earnhardt Jr., then held off Kurt Busch and Earnhardt in extra laps to win his third Daytona 500 on Sunday. |
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Tickets - Races - Concerts |
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Ten races, 10 drivers and 10 moments that defined the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup |
| 1. Kurt Busch's tire. The right front tire pops off his car in the final race at Homestead-Miami, but he somehow misses hitting the pit road barrier by inches and avoids a wreck that would have doused his championship chances.
2. Jimmie Johnson's offense. His cozy "regular-season" lead evaporates, but more aggressive decisions lead to three consecutive wins and four out of five during the Chase.
3. Atlanta angst. Kurt Busch has a 96-point cushion before Atlanta, with four races left, but blows an engine and finishes 42nd. He gets a break when only three fellow Chasers finish in the top 16.
4. Junior's downfall. Dale Earnhardt Jr. wrecks while chasing the leaders at Atlanta with 14 laps to go. It is a 100-point mistake. Even with a fourth-place finish, he would have been the leader going into Phoenix, where he would win the next weekend.
5. Oh, &°/o@#: Earnhardt's victory lane expletive at Talladega on live network TV costs him 25 points-and provides lots of fodder for national columnists.
6. The Hendrick crash. On October 24, a Hendrick Motorsports plane crashes en
route to the race at Martinsville, killing all 10 aboard, including Ricky Hendrick, son of team owner Rick Hendrick. It casts a pall over the rest of the season and leads to an emotional victory lane when Jimmie Johnson, a Hendrick driver, wins at Martinsville and at Atlanta the next weekend.
7. Road rage. Robby Gordon wrecks Greg Biffle, with whom he is feuding, at New Hampshire in the first of the 10 Chase races. Two Chasers, Tony Stewart and Jeremy Mayfield, are caught up in the wreck and never really recover from the deficit.
8. The interloper. Joe Nemechek has an astounding sweep at Kansas in October-the Bud Pole, the NASCAR Busch Series race and the Banquet 400 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup race, edging Ricky Rudd by .081 seconds for the victory. It is only one of four wins in 2004 by a non-Chase driver.
9. Martin's misfortunes. No active driver has more victories without capturing ': a NASCAR NEXTEL Cup title than Mark
Martin. The sentimental favorite can't avoid running into Jimmy Spencer at Charlotte and takes a tumble in points. With a pair of runner-up finishes in the last four races, Martin remains mathematically alive until the finale but never truly threatens.
10. The bubble-burster. Eight drivers contend for the final three Chase spots going into Richmond, the last event before the 10-race shootout. Jeremy Mayfield wins-he had to finish first to make the field-Ryan Newman sneaks in just before running out of fuel, and Mark Martin finishes fifth to ease in comfortably. Outside looking in are Jamie McMurray, who winds up ninth and misses joining the field by 16 points, Kasey Kahne, Bobby Labonte, Dale Jarrett and Kevin Harvick.
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Daytona 500 Facts |
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Daytona 500 Facts Most Victories: (7) Richard Petty (1964, 66, 71, 73, 74, 79, 81)
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Most Consecutive Victories: (2) Richard Petty (1973-74); Cale Yarborough (1983-84); Sterling Marlin (1994-95)
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Most Career Starts: (33) Dave Marcis
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Most Consecutive Starts: (32) Dave Marcis (1968-99)
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Most Pole Positions: (4) Cale Yarborough (1968, 70, 78, 84); Buddy Baker (1967, 73, 79-80)
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Most Wins from the Pole Position: (2) Cale Yarborough (1968, 84); Bill Elliott (1985, 87)
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Most Consecutive Pole Positions: (3) Fireball Roberts (1961-63); Bill Elliott (1985-87); Ken Schrader (1988-90)
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Longest Span Between First and Last Victory: (17) Richard Petty (1964-81)
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Most Starts Before Winning: (20) Dale Earnhardt
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Most Races Led: (20) Richard Petty
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Most Times Completing All 500 Miles: (14) Dale Earnhardt
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Most Miles Completed: (12,150 miles, 4,860 laps ) Richard Petty
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Most Laps Led, Career: (780) Richard Petty
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Most Times Led, Race: (21) Bobby Allison (1981)
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Most Laps Led, Race: (184) Richard Petty (1964)
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Driver Leading the Most Laps and Winning: (184) Richard Petty (1964)
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Driver Leading the Most Laps and Not Winning: (170) Fireball Roberts (1961)
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Driver Leading the Fewest Laps and Winning: (4) Benny Parsons (1975)
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Most Different Leaders, Single Race: (15) (1974, 89, 96)
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Fewest Different Leaders, Single Race: (3) (1972)
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Most Lead Changes, Single Race: (60) (1974)
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Most Wins by a Manufacturer: (14) Chevrolet
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Most Starters in he Field: (68) (1960)
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Lowest Starting Position by a Winner: (33rd) Bobby Allison (1978)
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Widest Winning Margin: 2 laps, Richard Petty (1973)
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Closest Winning Margin: 2 feet, Lee Petty (1959)
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Fastest Winning Speed: 177.602 mph, Buddy Baker (1980)
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Slowest Winning Speed: 124.740 mph, Junior Johnson (1960)
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Youngest Winner: 25 years, 6 months, 12 days, Jeff Gordon (1997)
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Oldest Winner: 50 years, 2 months, 11 days, Bobby Allison (1988)
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Car 97: Kurt Busch |
Car 48 : Jimmie Johnson |
Car 42: Casey Mears |
Car 42: Jamie McMurray |
Car 8: Dale Earnhardt Jr. |
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