In a race now known as one without an Earnhardt and without a North Carolina born driver, here is what else was surprising and not surprising from the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
After passing Brad Keselowski on lap 191, Johnson was poised to capture his series-best fourth win of the year. But a blown engine just four laps later ended Johnson’s day, and his 27th-place finished dropped him to fourth in the point standings.
Johnson finished third at Watkins Glen, posting his Sprint Cup series-best 11th top-5 result. Johnson jumped three spots to the top of the points standings, and leads Greg Biffle by one.
Johnson led heading to a lap 91 restart, but got loose upon accelerating and slid into the path of Matt Kenseth. Denny Hamlin slammed into Kenseth while Jeff Gordon took the lead. Ran ended the race two laps later, and Johnson was left with a disappointing 14th-place finish.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. is a guy who started the season with two major feats to tackle, one being his four-year winless streak, the other, a Sprint Cup Championship. With the first of the two monkeys in Jr's closet being taken care of in June, there's just one left to conquer
Stewart zoomed past the Roush Fenway duo of Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle to win the Coke Zero 400, Stewart’s fourth Coke Zero win and 18th overall at Daytona.
Penske Racing driver AJ Allmendinger requested to have his "B'' sample be tested after he was suspended by NASCAR just 90 minutes before the Coke Zero 400 for failing a random drug test.
NASCAR announced 90 minutes before the start of the Coke Zero 400 on Saturday that driver AJ Allmendinger would be temporarily suspended from competition after failing a drug test taken at Kentucky Speedway last weekend.
From drivers on ‘baby watch’ to the suspension of A.J. Allmendinger for failing his random substance abuse test, here is what else was surprising and not surprising from the Coke Zero 400 powered by Coca-Cola at Daytona.