RCR Post Race Report — Daytona International Speedway
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
RACE: Budweiser Shootout
TRACK: Daytona International Speedway
Race Highlights:
Richard Childress Racing teammates finished 11th (Jeff Burton), 22nd (Kevin Harvick) and 23rd (Paul Menard) in the Budweiser Shootout. Harvick led a total of four laps. Harvick completed 146 green-flag passes that ranked him seventh amongst the 25 competitors in the field. Burton’s 11th-place result was his sixth top-15 finish in seven career Budweiser Shootout starts. Menard spent eight of his eight completed laps running in the top-15, running as high as second before being eliminated from contention in a lap nine multi-car accident. Menard ranked fourth in the Loop Data category Fastest On Restarts with an average speed of 184.683 mph.
Paul Menard Collected in Early Multi-Car Incident to Finish 23rd in the Budweiser Shootout
Paul Menard and the PEAK/Menards team quickly catapulted from their 24th-place starting position into the top-10, only to be collected in the first “big one” when the bright blue and yellow No. 27 Chevrolet was turned from behind and into the outside retaining wall, ending their night early. After drawing the 24th starting spot the previous night at the annual Budweiser Shootout Draw Party, Menard lined up to start the 34th Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway immediately behind Richard Childress Racing teammate Kevin Harvick who had drawn the 22nd starting spot. As the green flag dropped, the pair quickly drafted to the front within the first five laps, with Menard running as high as second. On lap nine, a multi-car accident occurred in turns one and two, starting when the competitor behind the No. 27 Chevrolet Impala nudged him in the oh-so-sensitive left-rear of the bumper. Menard spun and made hard contact with the outside wall, sandwiched between it and a pile-up of cars. Receiving substantial damage to the PEAK/Menards machine, the night was over early for the Eau Claire, Wis., native, relegating him to a 23rd-place result.
Start – 24 Finish – 23 Laps Led – 0
PAUL MENARD QUOTE:
“This wasn’t the way the PEAK/Menards team had hoped to start off the season, but it was a result of the tandem draft in a pack, and it was a big mess really. I had a run on Kevin (Harvick) and I was getting to his bumper with David (Ragan) pushing me from behind. I got hooked from the left side and just went around. The race was a lot of fun while it lasted, though. Kevin and I started in the back and he led some laps. We came up through the field together quickly. The racing was a lot of fun but you just hate to tear up a really good race car, and this car was really fast.”
Tough Break for Harvick, No. 29 Team in Budweiser Shootout at Daytona
Kevin Harvick and the No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet team were credited with a 22nd-place finish in Saturday night’s Budweiser Shootout after getting caught up in a wreck at lap 54. Harvick took the green flag in the 22nd position and quickly mounted a charge to the front, taking the lead for the first time on lap six with drafting help from Joey Logano’s No. 20 car. Harvick was scored in the third position when the competition caution waved at lap 25 for a 10-minute break. Once the field returned to green-flag racing, he dropped back to the 14th position as he lost the draft. When the caution flag waved again at lap 31, Harvick reported a vibration and told crew chief Shane Wilson that the team needed to pit for fresh tires. Following the four-tire stop, Wilson had Harvick bring the No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet back down pit road to top off the fuel before the field went back to green. Harvick took the lead for the third and final time at lap 46. Nine laps later, the No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet was collected in a six-car wreck that started when the No. 9 car made contact with the No. 20 in turn 2. Flames erupted from the No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet as Harvick attempted to get the car re-fired and head back to the garage. The flames subsided, but the No. 29 machine had no functioning brakes as Harvick hit pit road. He coasted into the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series garage and the No. 29 Budweiser Chevrolet team helped bring the car to a stop, concluding their night.
Start – 22 Finish – 22 Laps Led – 0
KEVIN HARVICK QUOTE:
“It looked to me like the No. 9 got into the left rear of the No. 20. It just takes a little bit of patience and a little bit of thinking on the parts of everybody on the race track. All the wrecks tonight were caused by people hitting (others) in the left rear. I just hate it for everybody on our Budweiser team. The car was fast and in position to do the things we needed to do. Man, you just can’t hit guys in the left rear. I think the biggest problem is the tandem racing has been so easy for these guys to stay attached that some of them haven’t raced in pack racing. You get those big runs and things are going to happen a lot faster than they used to. They are just going to have to be a little more patient.”
Burton Survives Early Incident, Brings Home 11th-Place Finish in the Budweiser Shootout
After being involved in a multi-car accident on lap 10, Jeff Burton and the No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet team’s “never-give-up” attitude paid off and resulted in an 11th-place finish in the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway. After drawing the 12th-place starting position at Friday night’s annual Budweiser Shootout Draw Party, Burton started the race with no issues and immediately entered the top 10 during the first 10 laps of the 75-lap event. On lap 10, however, the South Boston Va., native was collected in a multi-car accident, typical at restrictor-plate tracks like Daytona and Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, suffering moderate damage to the right-front fender and both rear quarter panels of the Chevrolet Impala. Crew chief Drew Blickensderfer directed Burton down pit road four times under caution to repair the damage without going a lap down to the leaders. After returning to green-flag conditions, Burton reported that the left-rear tire was rubbing against the quarter panel and it could falter at any moment. His prediction came true a few laps later as the tire went flat on the front stretch of the 2.5-mile facility, forcing the 44-year-old veteran to pit road while the rest of the field was running under green-flag conditions. As the No. 31 pit crew changed two left-side Goodyear tires and made additional modifications to the damaged machine, Burton fell two laps down to the leaders. After the competition caution flew on lap 25, the Caterpillar pit crew went back to work on the damage and made necessary repairs for Burton to go out on track and run competitive lap times for the remainder of the event. As the race went back to green-flag conditions, the 21-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race winner found himself in the 21st position. Burton was unable to collect a “lucky dog” award to get back on the lead lap, but was able to improve his position by nine spots before the checkered flag flew in a wild event that included five caution-flag periods.
Start – 12 Finish – 11 Laps Led – 0
JEFF BURTON QUOTE:
“I don’t know what to say. Plate racing is a huge challenge and one of the great things about the tandem racing is it separated the pack. One of the bad things about the tandem racing is, I guess, people thought it was boring. I don’t know what to say. It’s a very difficult thing to try to figure out. At the end of the day, it’s the driver’s responsibility not to cause wrecks, but it is just really hard. You saw an intensity level tonight you won’t see for the (Daytona) 500 until…well, what happens in the 500 every year, everybody is pretty calm. Then, it gets about halfway and it starts to get a little more intense. In those last 100 miles, there is just caution after caution and you get a mad dash for the end. That is what happens.”
