Oak Park Newspaper

The Start of the 47th Daytona 500 NASCAR Nextel Cup Race.

Gordon Wins 47th Daytona 500…
Longest 500 in History.
by Dan Peters

Jeff Gordon Needed 203 Laps to win this year's Daytona 500..Making
it actually the Daytona 507.5, The longest 500-mile race in the history
of the Great American Race.

Gordon held off a late race charge from Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who
seemed to come out of nowhere in the late stages of the race. The
defending race champion was not a factor for nearly 500 miles. Some
say he was sandbagging & not showing all of his cards.. a strategy
many drivers use often in restrictor plate races at Talladega &
Daytona… It almost worked.

Jeff Gordon said he was “Shocked” he was able to shoot pass
Earnhardt, who has had one of the strongest cars in past races
here at Daytona.

“Any time Junior's a part of a victory – having his fan base,
knowing his track record here – Its rewarding” Gordon said.

Gordon & his Hendrick Motorsports Teamate Jimmie Johnson
seemed to have found some of DEI’s “Magic” and have become
a dominant force at the last several restrictor plate races.

Gordon's victory today was his third in the “Great American
Race” scoring previous victories in 1997 & 1999.

The race this year started nearly 2 hours later than previous 500’s
and by the time the checkered flag fell.. the speedway was
basking under the massive lights that were installed back in 1998.
Maybe this is a glimpse of what we might expect in future
Daytona 500 mile races….a primetime night race.

Today's race was fairly mild compared to the past few 500’s
here as Tony Stewart and his Home Depot Monte Carlo
seemed to have the car to beat this Sunday, leading more than
half race. The last 40 laps of the race kept most fans on their
feet, turning into the typical white knuckle races fans expect
at Daytona & Tallagdega. Cars were beating and banging
each other in those last few laps.

The feared “Big One” happened with 18 laps to go as
Greg Biffle, last year's Pole Sitter slowed slightly to avoid
ramming into Jimmie Johnson's Car. As he slowed, he made
contact with another car, setting off a 10 car chain reaction
that flipped Scott Wimmer’s Caterpillar Charger into the air
and tumbling end over end… he was not injured in the
spectacular accident.

On the ensuing restart with 13 laps to go, another 8-carwreck
prompted NASCAR to extend the race to what is considered
“Overtime” in NASCAR.. A Green, white checkered flag.
Essentially a 3 lap shoot-out to the checkered flag.

During the final three laps, Stewart slipped back in the field,
beating & banging Jimmie Johnson's Lowes Chevy. This
enabled Kurt Busch, The defending Nextel Cup Champion to
put himself in position to win. But the veteran Gordon would
have none of that.. Winning the “Super Bowl” of Stock car
racing.

Johnson's Crew chief Chad Knaus confronted Stewart in
the garage after the race.. The two had to be separated by
NASCAR officials. Officials ordered both drivers to the
NASCAR trailer after the incident. Stewart remarked the
two drivers were “trading cookie secrets” in the officials
trailer. “Jimmie & I are really, really good friends, and
this isn’t something that will linger tonight” .. Its over with.

11 caution flags, several of them brought out as the swirling
winds caused “debri” to find its way onto the racing surface..
Slowed the race… It seemed more like a way to bunch up
the field & make it more of a competitive race.

“ I know I can’t win them all, which I’d like to do, But I like
to keep my average high. And I think I should get some credit
for that ”Earnhardt said after the race.

Time of race: 3 Hours 45 minutes 16 Seconds
Margin of Victory: 0.158 seconds
Average Speed: 135.173 MPH

Caution Flags: 11 for 45 laps

Lead Changes 22 among 12 drivers

Start of Good Year for NASCAR

The New Speedway Club House at Daytona.