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Hendrick Endures Disappointing Day

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 18, 2008

DAYTONA BEACH - As well as Speedweeks began for Hendrick Motorsports, the New York Yankees of NASCAR fell flat Sunday in the 50th running of the Daytona 500.
Polesitter and two-time defending Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson wrecked on Lap 178 of 200, but hadn't done much prior to that to demonstrate an ability to compete for the checkered flag.

"I wanted to win this race," said Johnson, who did win it in 2006. "I felt like I had the car, especially in the beginning of this race, that was capable of doing it. But we just lost track position and it was impossible to work through traffic and get the track position."

Three-time Daytona 500 winner Jeff Gordon looked strong early, but a failed suspension knocked him out of the race with 14 laps to go.

"It wasn't safe for us to be out there," Gordon said.

Casey Mears, who drove with the leaders late in the race, wrecked out after pulling too closely in front of Tony Stewart in Turn 1 with four laps to go.

"I just heard the spotter say clear, looked in my mirror and didn't see anybody, so I went ahead and turned up because I knew they had a run on the outside lane," Mears said. "It was too late, I guess."

That left Hendrick newcomer Dale Earnhardt Jr., who opened the week with a victory in the Bud Shootout and won his Gatorade Duel 150 qualifier, to carry the team banner. He was among the leaders on the final lap, but faded to ninth.

REUTIMANN IMPROVES: Zephyrhills native David Reutimann, driver of the No. 00 Toyota for Michael Waltrip Racing, finished 18th after qualifying 42nd.

Reutimann was credited with a 40th-place finish in his Daytona 500 debut last year after he wrecked with 27 laps to go. This was the first of five races for Reutimann in No. 00. After that, he will move to the No. 44 in place of retiring teammate Dale Jarrett.

"David Reutimann is a good race car driver and his team will continue just to get better," Jarrett said. "Time is the only thing that we are lacking right now."

THE FINAL LAP: Jarrett, 51, finished 16th in his final Daytona 500. He'll step into the ESPN broadcast booth after four more races.

Sunday's Fox broadcast featured a commercial for Jarrett's sponsor, UPS, bidding the 1999 Cup champion farewell. Jarrett, a three-time Daytona 500 winner, allowed himself a moment to reflect during his final competitive lap at Daytona International Speedway.

"After I got past the start-finish line under the white flag and nobody wrecked, I thought about that," he said. "I was thinking that that was my last time I would make a lap here. I had time to cool down there and think about it. This has been a very special place for me."

REAL POWER: Each of the F-16s fighter jets that were part of the Air Force Thunderbirds performance before the race generate 29,000 pounds of thrust at full afterburner.

"While there is no translation from pounds of thrust to horsepower, our information calculations are about 55,000-60,000 horsepower," Thunderbirds operations officer Robert Skelton said.

NASCAR engines with the restrictor plates used at Daytona and Talladega generate about 500 horsepower.

LIVING LEGENDS: Bobby Allison and Cale Yarborough sat next to each other Sunday, maybe the perfect pairing for the Daytona 500.

The two former series champions were at the center of an on-track brawl in 1979, the one in which Yarborough and Bobby and Donnie Allison were kicking, swinging and scuffling at the end of NASCAR's first live, flag-to-flag televised race.

The fight sparked more interest than ever before in the sport.

The 24 living former Daytona 500 winners gave the command to start engines, NASCAR legend Junior Johnson led the first pace laps in the Corvette pace car and Richard Petty waved the opening green flag.

HOT LAPS: There were 42 lead changes Sunday, the seventh time a Daytona 500 has had 40 or more and the most since 2001 (49). ... Bucs receiver Joey Galloway was among the celebrities attending the race and introduced to drivers during the prerace drivers meeting. ... 2006 Indianapolis 500 winner Sam Hornish Jr. was the top finisher among the three rookies, coming in 15th after driving among the leaders for most of the race. The 2007 Indianapolis 500 winner and IndyCar Series champion, Dario Franchitti, finished 33rd. ... Former Notre Dame and South Carolina coach and current ESPN analyst Lou Holtz was one of the guests mingling in the Daytona 500 Club. ... Country star Trisha Yearwood sang "The Star Spangled Banner." ... Also spotted on pit road before the race was former Orlando Magic player Nick Anderson. ... Lakeland's Joe Nemechek was one of three drivers forced to begin the race at the back of the field. He missed driver introductions because of a late-running prerace chapel session. The other two, Jamie McMurray and Franchitti, were in backup cars.

Carter Gaddis, Tony Fabrizio,

The Associated Press

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