2014 Coke Zero 400

2014 Coke Zero 400

Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]
Race 18 of 36 in the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season
Date	July 6, 2014 (2014-07-06)
Official name	Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola at Daytona
Location	Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida
Course	Permanent racing facility 2.5 mi (4.02 km)
Distance	112 laps, 280 mi (450.62 km)
Scheduled Distance	160 laps, 400 mi (643.737 km)
Weather	Partly cloudy with temperatures up to 83 °F (28 °C); wind out of the south at 6 miles per hour (9.7 km/h)
Average speed	130.014 mph (209.237 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	David Gilliland	Front Row Motorsports
Time	45.153
Most laps led
Driver	Kurt Busch	Stewart-Haas Racing
Laps	36
Winner
No. 43	Aric Almirola	Richard Petty Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network	TNT & MRN
Announcers	Adam Alexander, Wally Dallenbach, Jr. and Kyle Petty (Television) Joe Moore and Barney Hall (Booth) Dave Moody (1 & 2), Mike Bagley (Backstretch) and Jeff Striegle (3 & 4) (Turns) (Radio)
Nielsen Ratings	2.4/5 4.0 Million viewers[9]

The 2014 Coke Zero 400 powered by Coca-Cola was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race that was scheduled to be held on July 5, 2014 but was pushed to July 6, 2014, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Contested over 112 laps, it was the 18th race of the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Aric Almirola was leading when the race was called for rain and scored his first career win. Brian Vickers was second, while Kurt Busch, Casey Mears, and top rookie Austin Dillon rounded out the top five. Behind Dillon, the top rookies of the race were Alex Bowman in 13th, and Michael Annett in 21st.

Previous week's race

In what was an absolutely dominating performance from Team Penske, Brad Keselowski led 199 of the 267 laps to win the Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway. He described his car as "awesome" and that his crew did a "great job".^[10]

Report

Background

Daytona International Speedway, where the race was held.

Daytona International Speedway is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long.^[11] The track's turns are banked at 31 degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at 18 degrees.^[11] The backstretch, which has a length of 3,000 ft (910 m), has minimal banking that is used for drainage.^[11] Jimmie Johnson was the defending race winner from the 2013 event.

Following the Daytona 500 in February, 2,400 ft (730 m) of additional SAFER barriers were added to the circuit, in order to improve safety. The additional barriers were added from the exit of turn four, through the tri-oval and to the entrance of turn one; this left only the super stretch outside walls with concrete barriers. "We're always looking at ways to enhance our safety and it is a priority for us," said Lenny Santiago, senior director of public relations for Daytona International Speedway. "Whenever we have an incident on track, we always take a look in consultation with NASCAR, the University of Nebraska and other experts that are a part of the Motorsports Technology Group and take their recommendations. In consultation with them, we made sure we added additional safer barriers to these areas."^[12]

Prior to the start of the race, Barney Hall announced that this race would be his last in the booth for the Motor Racing Network. "The years have gone by so quick, it's just so hard to believe," Hall said with a smile during a break at Daytona International Speedway. "The voice of NASCAR is the voice of MRN and that's Barney Hall," said David Hyatt, president and executive producer of Motor Racing Network. "To have him still be a part of what we do in a way that highlights all the memories that he has, all the history he's brought to the sport, everything that he's done, not just for this MRN brand but for the NASCAR brand is an important part of this transition. MRN isn't MRN without Barney Hall."^[13]

Entry list

The entry list for the Coke Zero 400 was released on Tuesday, July 1, 2014 at 11:40 a.m. Eastern time. Forty-four cars were entered for the race.

Practice

Two practice sessions were scheduled for the Sprint Cup Series at Daytona. The first practice session was delayed an hour by weather and shortened to 45 minutes. Jamie McMurray was the fastest with a lap time of 44.565 and a speed of 201.952 mph (325.010 km/h). The final practice session was cancelled due to weather.^[14]

Qualifying

David Gilliland won the pole with a lap time of 45.531 and a speed of 199.322 mph (320.778 km/h) after only one round of knockout qualifying was completed due to weather. Gilliland stated that his pole position would be a "morale booster" for his Front Row Motorsports team.^[15] Joe Nemechek was the one driver that failed to qualify.

Qualifying results

Race

First half

Start

The race was scheduled to start at 7:45 p.m. Eastern time on Saturday evening, but the start was delayed by rain and finally pushed to the next day at 11:13 a.m.^[16] The start was pushed a pace lap due to light sprinkles in turns one and two and then another lap. After a total of seven pace laps, David Gilliland finally led the field to the green at 11:21 a.m. Matt Kenseth took the lead from Gilliland on lap six, before the first caution flew for rain, which ultimately led to a 25-minute delay under red flag conditions.

The Big One

Kenseth led the field to the restart on lap 13, before Tony Stewart took the lead on lap 18. A competition caution was planned upon the completion of lap 20, but the second caution flew for a multi-car pileup in the tri-oval. A total of 16 cars were involved, including points leader Jeff Gordon, defending race winner Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt, Jr., the Daytona 500 winner. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. – who was also involved in the incident – stated that he had been "heading straight...had it saved and had it straight again and got caught in the left rear."^[17] Only Johnson and A. J. Allmendinger were eliminated from the race due to the pileup. David Ragan led the field to the restart on lap 29, before Reed Sorenson, Landon Cassill and Jamie McMurray took turns at the head of the race, prior to the third caution of the race, on lap 41, due to debris in turn 1. The race restarted on lap 45 with McMurray leading the way. Greg Biffle took the lead on lap 53, while Kurt Busch took the lead on lap 62. Biffle retook the lead on lap 87, before the start of the pit cycle, coming under green flag conditions. Gordon took the lead before it cycled back to Kurt Busch on lap 90. Debris on the backstretch brought out the caution for the fourth time on lap 94.

Second half

The Huge One

The race restarted on lap 98 and the big one happened again on the backstretch, which brought out the fifth caution, in which Kyle Busch's car ended upside down. A four-minute 48 second red flag ensued to facilitate a cleanup of the track, as 26 cars were collected in the wreck. Gilliland described the incident as "all heck broke loose all at once", while Kyle Busch had drove through the grass before his car dug in and sent him back towards traffic; he described his roll as "real slow".^[18]

Mother Nature finally wins

Aric Almirola led the field to the restart on lap 105, before the sixth caution on lap 108, again for rain. The cars were brought down pit road as the race was red flagged for the third time. Eventually, NASCAR called the race and Almirola scored his first career win. Almirola's victory was the first for a car numbered 43, since John Andretti did so in the 1999 Goody's Body Pain 500 at Martinsville Speedway.^[19] For the first time since the 2007 UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400, all top ten starting drivers failed to finish within the top ten positions.

Post-race infractions

On the Tuesday following the race, Kurt Busch was penalized 10 points for a technical infraction following post-race inspection.^[20] The infraction was a P2 level penalty and a violation of section 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing) and 20–12 (l) (for events at Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway, at all times, the Delta (or difference) of the Z-height measurement between the center of the panhard bar mounting bolt located at the left truck trailing arm and the center of the panhard bar mounting bolt, located at the right rear sub-frame mounting bracket, must not exceed three inches) of the 2014 NASCAR rule book.^[21]

Race results

Race summary

• Lead changes: 21 among different drivers
• Cautions/Laps: 6 for 29
• Red flags: 3 for 1 hour, 30 minutes and 31 seconds
• Time of race: 2 hours, 9 minutes and 13 seconds
• Average speed: 130.014 miles per hour (209.237 km/h)

Media

Television

Radio

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Jeff Gordon 651 1 2 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 624 (−27) 1 3 Jimmie Johnson 596 (−55) 4 Brad Keselowski 586 (−65) 5 Matt Kenseth 580 (−71) 1 6 Joey Logano 546 (−105) 1 7 Carl Edwards 543 (−108) 8 Ryan Newman 534 (−117) 1 9 Kyle Busch 524 (−127) 1 10 Paul Menard 516 (−135) 2 11 Kevin Harvick 514 (−137) 2 12 Clint Bowyer 509 (−142) 5 13 Austin Dillon (R) 494 (−157) 3 14 Denny Hamlin 493 (−158) 2 15 Greg Biffle 490 (−161) 3 16 Brian Vickers 484 (−167)

Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Chevrolet 806 2 Ford 786 (−20) 3 Toyota 723 (−83) Note: Only the first sixteen positions are included for the driver standings.

Notes

References