NASCAR Report: Ragan absolves himself at Daytona

On the final green white checkered restart Saturday night at Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway, Ragan was exactly where he was in the Daytona 500 leading the field with just a few laps to go.

In that race, he was penalized for switching lines too soon. In this one, he had Roush Fen way Racing teammate Matt Kenseth, his drafting partner throughout the race, behind him and giving advice.

In this one, he would be the victory.

As they neared the white flag, Joey Logano and Kasey Kahne linked up and pushed past briefly, but Ragan moved back to the front.

The front 4 were pulling away from the field and further back in the field, cars started wrecking. It did not matter to Ragan. He was pulling away to win at Daytona finally.

Ragan led eleven laps to earn his 1st career NASCAR Sprint Cup win.

On the 1st green white checkered attempt, Newman led the field to the green. Denny Hamlin, who had been his drafting partner throughout the race, lined up beside him. Newman quickly pulled away and jumped down in front of Hamlin as crashing started behind them.

Joey Logano got caught in the middle and tagged Mark Martin to spark the multicar crash as Martin's car then slid down into Brian Vickers and cars started spinning. That ended the stellar runs of several top contenders who had raced near the front throughout the race. A total of fifteen cars were involved at some level, with Martin Truex Jr., Regan Smith, Tony Stewart, David Reutimann and Landon Cassill among those caught up in the action. Most recent race winner Kurt Busch had damage to the left side.

With 5 laps to go, things had really started tightening up at the front of the field. Some drivers, who had been sitting near the rear of the field, trying to avoid trouble, were suddenly in contention for the win.

Martin and Jeff Gordon had worked together diligently through the race, making their way to the front. Then, with 2 to go, the tandems knotted into a pack and Gordon was the victim.

He was tagged by Kasey Kahne, who being pushed by teammate Vickers, Gordon tried to save his car, and then slowly slipped across traffic. After minimal contact with Juan Pablo Montoya, he somehow righted his car. Several cars pitted, including that of teammate Jimmie Johnson.

The race was inside the final ten laps before the real battle began at the front of the field. With seven to go, the Roush Fenway Racing tandem of Kenseth and Ragan slipped past Newman and Hamlin to take the lead. And they were far from clear of the field and lost position in the ensuing scramble as the caution came out.

While many drivers took a turn at the front of the field, few stayed there for long. With fifteen laps to go, Red Bull Racing's Kahne had led the most laps with ninteen at the front. On Lap 143, Newman took the lead, working with Hamlin. As the rest of the field tried to sort things out and decide when to make its move, the pair stayed in form at the front. And then things started shifting.

Late in the race drivers were still debating when would be the perfect time to work their way to the front. What did not change were the 2 car tandems. Unlike in the opening race at Daytona when this style of racing debuted, there was little switching of partners throughout the race.

Point’s leader Carl Edwards took a hit early when teammate Greg Biffle pushed him into the wall, causing the race’s 2nd caution on Lap twenty three. After the pit sequence, he radioed his team that he had a tire rub. He pitted on Lap forty nine for more work on his car as the team had to replace crush panels on the car as fumes were being directed into the cockpit.

Throughout the middle portion of the race, drivers slowly drifted to the back as the cars toward the front were racing rightly in the pack. A slate of drivers took turns at the front of the pack as the 2 car tandems pushed back and forth for position in this section of the race. A trio of cautions in the 1st half of the race hampered the efforts of several who had enjoyed stellar runs at Daytona in February.

Daytona five hundred winners Trevor Bayne was sidelined early, crashing when Brad Keselowski was trying to work with him as a tandem and ended up pushing him out of position. Jamie McMurray and Bobby Labonte, who finished second to Bayne in the season opener, were also damaged in the incident, causing early pit work for all 3 teams. Dave Blaney, who led laps late in the Daytona five hundred, crashed for the race’s 3rd caution.