David Ragan gets his first career Cup Series win getting the push from his teammate Matt Kenseth.

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(July 2, 2011)

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Less than five months later, at the site of his biggest mistake, David Ragan got it right.

On the second attempt at a green-white-checkered-flag finish, Ragan was out front when caution flew on the 10th lap of overtime in Saturday night’s Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway, giving the driver of the No. 6 Ford his first NASCAR Sprint Cup victory.

At Daytona in February, Ragan gave away a chance to win the Daytona 500 when he changed lanes before the start/finish line on a restart. On Saturday, however, he got a strong push from Roush Fenway Racing teammate Matt Kenseth and won the race under caution when a massive wreck on the final lap brought out the final yellow flag.

Kenseth came home second, followed by Joey Logano, Kasey Kahne and Kyle Busch.

The race was a disaster for another of Ragan’s teammates, Carl Edwards, who entered the night with a 25-point lead in the Cup standings over second-place Kevin Harvick. As Edwards and Greg Biffle were moving to the outside to avoid contact with the tandem of Kurt Busch and Regan Smith on Lap 23, however, Edwards’ Ford spun across Biffle’s bumper and slid into the inside wall off Turn 4.

The impact broke the crush panels on the right side of Edwards’ car, and when he returned to the track, he was breathing carbon monoxide from the car’s exhaust. By the time his crew had addressed that problem, Edwards was eight laps down.

Edwards finished 37th, his second poor finish in the past four races. Edwards also finished 37th last month at Pocono.

The race wasn’t five laps old when it became obvious Trevor Bayne wouldn’t repeat as a Daytona winner in 2011. Pushed by Brad Keselowski’s No. 2 Dodge, Bayne’s Ford spun in Turn 1 and nosed into the outside wall.

With his car crippled by the impact, Bayne, the surprise winner of the Daytona 500, dropped out of the race. The cars of Denny Hamlin, Clint Bowyer, Jeff Burton, Jamie McMurray and Bobby Labonte all sustained damage during the incident, but only Labonte’s was severe enough to drop him from the lead lap.

Bayne, who started on the outside of the front row, drafted with Bowyer early on, but Bowyer left him to work with Burton, his Richard Childress Racing teammate.

“He dropped off to find the 31 (Burton), which we knew he was going to do, and as I was kind of falling through the field, we found the 2 car,” Bayne said. “He got to us and was pushing us down the frontstretch. I was still kind of lifting a little bit, letting him get to my bumper, and then I got back to the gas wide-open.

“I don’t know if I turned down more getting in or if he kind of came up across our bumper, but, either way, our bumpers caught wrong and it sent us spinning. You know that can happen here. It happens all the time, but it’s tough that it was our car.”

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(July 1, 2011)

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.—And the winner is … Joey Logano!

As action in Friday night’s Subway Jalapeno 250 unfolded off Turn 4 on the final lap, Joey Logano surged into the lead for the first time all night and won the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Daytona International Speedway.

The victory was Logano’s first of the season and ninth of his career, and it came as the cars who led into the final turn—including those of Danica Patrick, Aric Almirola, Tony Stewart and Elliott Sadler—wrecked behind him.

Jason Leffler ran second followed by series points leader Reed Sorenson, who also claimed a $100,000 prize as the highest finisher among four drivers eligible for Nationwide’s “Dash 4 Cash” program.

The lead-lap cars made their final pit stops under caution for Clint Bowyer’s hard Lap 80 crash into the backstretch wall off the bumper of teammate/owner Kevin Harvick. Patrick and Almirola were dicing with Sadler and Stewart for the lead positions when the caution flew for the sixth time on Lap 90.

On a Lap 94 restart, Sadler led Stewart, Patrick and Almirola to the green flag.

Note: After a hard crash in Turn 1 on Lap 44, Eric McClure, driver of the No. 14 Chevrolet, was taken to the infield care center, then to a local hospital for further evaluation. McClure had walked away from the wreck.

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
3 33 Clint Bowyer Wheaties FUEL Chevrolet 49.553 181.624
4 24 Jeff Gordon PepsiMAX Chevrolet 49.564 181.583
5 6 David Ragan UPS Ford 49.636 181.320
6 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. National Guard Heritage / AMP Energy 49.658 181.240
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
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
11 39 Ryan Newman NRA / Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet 49.753 180.894
12 31 Jeff Burton Caterpillar Chevrolet 49.784 180.781
13 4 Kasey Kahne Red Bull Toyota 49.792 180.752
14 99 Carl Edwards SUBWAY Ford 49.793 180.748
15 9 Marcos Ambrose DeWalt Ford 49.794 180.745
16 17 Matt Kenseth Affliction Clothing Ford 49.817 180.661
17 16 Greg Biffle 3M Ford 49.839 180.581
18 1 Jamie McMurray McDonald’s Chevrolet 49.842 180.571
19 14 Tony Stewart Burger King Chevrolet 49.848 180.549
20 83 Brian Vickers Red Bull Toyota 49.870 180.469
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
23 00 David Reutimann Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota 49.918 180.296
24 47 Bobby Labonte Kingsford Toyota 49.933 180.242
25 22 Kurt Busch Shell / Pennzoil Dodge 49.952 180.173
26 2 Brad Keselowski Miller Lite Dodge 49.989 180.040
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
29 60 Mike Skinner(i) Big Red Toyota 50.060 179.784
30 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Target Chevrolet 50.074 179.734
31 29 Kevin Harvick Budweiser Chevrolet 50.097 179.651
32 13 Casey Mears GEICO Toyota 50.107 179.616
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
35 35 Geoffrey Bodine Luke & Associates Chevrolet 50.206 179.261
36 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Express Toyota 50.215 179.229
37 20 Joey Logano The Home Depot Toyota 50.256 179.083
38 18 Kyle Busch Interstate Batteries Toyota 50.320 178.855
39 34 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 50.379 178.646
40 36 Dave Blaney Golden Corral Chevrolet 50.387 178.618
41 32 Terry Labonte C&J Energy Ford 50.396 178.586
42 7 Mike Bliss(i) Speed Energy Dodge Owner Points
43 87 Joe Nemechek(i) NEMCO Motorsports Toyota 50.255 179.087