Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series- Full Race -Coke Zero Sugar 400

thanks to those who are serving now Lord we are 242 years old we are the United States of America and we can always say In God we trust for us in your name we pray amen here with us tonight to sing our national anthem from Fort Bragg North Carolina for please welcome the American chorus of the 82nd Airborne Division in the last glow of twilight, whose broad stripes and bright stars or the ramparts we saw were so gallantly live and against the tide. the American Chorus of the 82nd Airborne Division and the F Twenty Two of techno, continuing a Daytona tradition dating back to the 1970s.

Join us in honoring three of America's bravest heroes this weekend. Independence Day week. Each of these individuals received a medal. Honored for going above and beyond the call of duty while participating in daring operations against enemy forces, please welcome Staff Sergeant Don Jenkins Commando s Ergent Major Gary Luttrell and Sergeant Major Leroy Petry That is the highest personal military decoration and prestigious that anyone can receive what an honor it was a beautiful the sun knocked down our trap and our singer stewey is going down the drain would you come to me down the drain is Monster Energy Cup Series Coca Cola Zero Sugar 400 Daytona Beach Florida Daytona International Speedway before the stories we're going to follow tonight let's go to pit road we start with marty snider hey rick even though chase elliott starts on pole tonight he told me stage 1 is very critical for this racing team that's why he said i learned to over the years a restrictor plate

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II has to show that your car has speed if it shows that it has speed eq The team to work with you helped me early in the

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and let's help each other later and maybe we'll make it to Victory Lane Kelly Kurt Busch just won the restrictor plate race on his résumé but it was a great win in the 500 Daytona last year he told me this morning his tank is

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of desire to win here again if he does tonight it will be his first win of the season going into the running mate and Erik Jones only has one top ten in the restrictor plate race, he was here last year and in speaking to his crew chief Chris Gayle he told me look where we are in points position right now we are only 1/2 as good in the leaderboard of the playoffs we desperately need stage points and we desperately want a win tonight is that chance dude has a tough task at home starting 29 Dave Parker last night, Kyle Larson, 25, of Elk Grove, C alifornia, he did something he had never done. in his race before he won at Daytona, his crew chief told me that he loves it when he races a day early because he always learned something.

Could he have learned enough to win twice in one weekend at Daytona? Steve Letarte may do it. I will have one of the best views at the top of the peacock box. I'm going to Dave here at the pit booth for free. Mention what Kyle Larson learned last night. What I learned about NASCAR coverage of Daytona for 25 years as it is never short for excitement never disappointing. in action watch just one race last night a big crash where we see austin syndrich's 60 crash in turn one think about the Daytona 500 in February the crash Austin Dillon going to victory lane and Dale jr.

I'll never forget the first race for me folks watch in the cockpit his last win here at Daytona it was awesome not just because of his win but because of this crash. we couldn't celebrate until we knew austin was out of the car and man what a night for us it's a night for you guys it's too big a night for you guys in the booth but you know every time you win here at Daytona it's special It obviously means a lot to me and my family and to be able to add another win to the win column as a great night.

I think the best thing about this race is that you never know what's going to happen until it's over. it can go down being leading the race talking about the Daytona 500 leading the race on a backstretch aric amirola didn't win the race someone else did it Austin Dillon pulled him out of the way that's Daytona we talked about the crashes but also the endgames the race position changes and that opportunity and to get the lead and get that big win you guys used the word aggressive and I think another word crazy because that is exactly what we are about to experience and to get there we have to start our engines , so it's time for the command.

Come on track racing fans, it's time for the most famous words in motorsports here to give the order to start your engines, welcome your grand marshal, Colonel Gregory Gatson, to your home. 400 miles ahead of us from Daytona NASCAR on NBC is ahead you buy

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the official fan soft drink of NASCAR Chevrolet the most awarded car company four years in a row and by Subway restaurants oh my god oh my god that's not well Keselowski wins at Daytona instead hosts tonight's grid presented by Coke Zero

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in front once again is all Hendrick Motorsports chases Elliott Alex Bowman will make up for that road chase Elliott is 22 years old Alex Bowman alone 25 years the youth of the sport up front everyone always talks about Piske Motorsports they are the dominant team at home plate tracks well I think the best guy in that group is Brad Keselowski start here on row 2 and row 3 we have the winner last year at this race Ricky Stenhouse guy big surprise right here Michael McDowell had a career best fourth here at this race last year past in row five we have Austin Dillon this year's Daytona 500 winner starting start Clint Boyer has to play win but never here at Daytona starting behind so we have Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney Ryan Blaney ran great here in february he was involved in a crash late in the race he didn't get the win he started row seven behind them a spartan true that - i can't believe it but he never won a plate race and then look who's next to him, Kyle Larson and then in row eight Kyle Busch these two put on a great show last week and started side by side again I could expect more from these two. okay let's talk to Kyle Larson because he put on an amazing show a week ago and actually got to go back to Victory Lane yesterday on the Xfinity

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but he was stylized on the radio hey Kyle it's guys in the booth NBC you with us yeah I got it hey dude you've been a part of two great results in the last two races can we expect more of that tonight? more comfortable than normal that was good racing is always crazy no they're just going to try to keep being a problem and I'm like that how do you do that how can you be aggressive and do the things you have to do to win this race and stay? out of trouble, well I don't, I don't really think about gun ass.

I've gotten this out of trouble in this race, although I don't know, our car will drive well, it will be useful, they could be aggressive and try and get to the front, maintain track position, but you know if Hansel is in our cars, maybe your journey be a little longer and wait until we get to the end of the race but i don't know i haven't i have another good job in this race the bathroom well everyone on this board knows you have talent so I'm sure you'll do. figure it out good luck tonight but yeah thanks okay we see we're going to be riding together with Kyle Larson but we're going to be riding along with a few different drivers take us through it guys see here we got Bubba Wallace jr. the

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cam has that great head cam helmet cam that's going to be awesome there's going to be some great shots tonight we just spoke to Kyle Larson he has the credit a bench cam on the roof Austin Dillon Winner of the Daytona 500 coke cam here we are riding number 17 ricky stenhouse with third bank happy kim harvick number four jimmy johns came by and this is the view everyone wants tonight jeff yeah sure number nine is chasing Elliott and Chevrolet Camp now friendly fans were invited to submit a design for the push-pull of war trophy that will go to the driver who wins the most awards in polls throughout the season and Tyler Turner of Reynolds Illinois created the winning entry by deciding to include a cup in his design after thinking what's a Busch trophy without a cup to drink from I think he's pretty smart we'll see him and his trophy in November at the NASCAR Awards in Las Vegas when I present it to the winning driver and chase Elliott with the win here from yesterday and now we are seeing the field return to pit road a tradition here in Daytona honoring the military on this 4th of July weekend are the stars and stripes still in our minds the army, navy, air force, marines and coast guard all represented as everyone on pit road and in the grandstand will rise to honor our military, to our men and women who wear the uniform proudly every day, protecting our freedoms and allowing us to do the things we love to do, like what we're doing right now, enjoying ourselves. on this 4th of july weekend, great race atmosphere, much respect in this sport for our military on a weekly basis, we proudly recognize members of all five branches of our nation's military, the United States Army, the United States Marine Corps, United States Navy, United States Air Force. and the United States Coast Guard NASCAR coca-cola Daytona International Speedway and the fans would like to thank the women and men of the United States Armed Forces past and present for their service. ice thank you for committing and sacrificing to protect our freedoms we honor each and every one of you 242 years ago the Declaration of Independence was adopted and this great nation took shape throughout that time a constant has remained the constant force and United States Armed Forces Tonight we celebrate the freedom and sacrifices made to maintain a NASCAR salute to those who serve and continue to serve the United States of America.

The spotlight, of course, shines a little brighter on July 4th weekend, but every NASCAR victory is always appreciated. The center of world racing Daytona International Speedway is about to kick off with the 18th race of the season and be sure to jump into the fantasy league we have our own fantasy league NASCAR chill NBC sports fantasy wants to join us we would gladly accept them ten runs until the playoffs they're doing pretty good yeah we're doing good this race it's hard because really g Don't pay attention because you have your driver in the garage you need to get him out if you want to put him in the starting lineup before the start of this last leg so pay attention to what's going on we lined up yeah this It's the one that's going to be the hardest to call because a lot of guys can come up and make it a good night, so trying to pick those five, pick the right five, huh? can we go down?

I'm trying to figure out when I'll have time. to get my driver out of the garage i could have left for a moment i'll let you know i'll let you know and again you're playing against us you're playing well i don't forget that hey yesterday todd lewis on the golf channel came by and did a ride with Denny Hamlin and they talked about seeing the air, listen, you know, here at Daytona International Speedway, Dale Earnhardt used to say that he could see the air that he uses. it's basically saying you can see air pockets starting to form so you can and you see two cars in front of you if they're disturbing the air you can feel it in your car your car will start to pick up rpm because there's less drag on it you know if you can two cars side by side just think of you if you follow a truck with trailer thats a fair amount of air on the road that like your car starts to move if you put two side by side almost no air getting to your car, so nothing happens. to your rear wing and that's the only thing that slows us down is the air that hits the rear wing that's what slows our car down we heard Denny Hamlin talking about seeing air Junior and I know I never could see air and I always wondered when do you know your dad talked about seeing the air, what exactly did he mean, yeah he couldn't see it either but he knew where it was and always insisted on wearing an open helmet and said he could feel the pressure.

In the change of car and quota l and I listen better to the engine to be able to understand when that air is working correctly. You've seen a sidestream Kyle Petty, there's just a sidestream. Oh, Dale Jarrett, right here on the eight rocket. stay away from Dale Jarrett so he doesn't get drafted again i mean dad i don't know if dad invented the secondary draft but he certainly was the best at it well i think you learned pretty well you guys mentioned 34 wins for your dad or17 for you, yeah I watched him run a lot of races here, win a lot of races here and I was wondering if we never talked about racing but I was wondering how that worked so when I got here I started trying everything I could and that's what I like about a plate runner nowadays it's the guy who's out there moving around trying to learn something even if it doesn't work out just trying to make something happen and I think that's what's so important about the beginning of this race, it's 160 a go but get ready come to the green fla g but the things you learn now are the things you can apply later in the race.

I want to see who is going to be aggressive. There are some drivers out there right now they will try to take the lead and never give it up and compete for track position in my opinion nowadays surely playing races is exceptionally important if you make it do everything you You can to keep up with the cars about to make the sharp left turn onto pit road that will leave the field in the hands of chase Elliott Alex Bowman making up the Row 1 fans to their feet as the Coke Zero

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400 its underway interesting restart its not a very tight restart of course the cars are going to bunch up and start drafting a bit as they pick up more speed chase elliott got out in the wet lead pretty easy thats very important to get that lead and leading early you want to lead every lap that's the safest place to be Jim this race progresses we're going to see more aggressive restarts with people trying to hit and push each other it's n trying to get that lead you say it's the safest place to be but right here is where Aric Almirola was in front with just less than half a lap in the Daytona 500 and he came around he's got the last lap anything goes in the last lap looks different but there is safe play speed throughout the race you are going to be in front and you want to work all night to try and stay there and that way you don't have to work to get there later you know if you are leading this race 100 laps to go you're in a great position you want to be leading with around 50 laps to go as the latest cautions start to drop so it's very important that you don't know how to relax and give up track position now you want to keep it all night to make it easy for your pit crew to make it easy for your crew chief to know what strategy to do all of that to excel from here you see Austin Dillon and he wants to go there and he just gives give McDowell just a touch you didn't move you have to be careful because Stenhouse's 17 car is in front of McDowell hooked on our do pushes him to 17 and calls a crash which will be much more aggressive later in the race at this point they're all trying to look out for each other, they're obviously trying to take advantage of each other and if they can get a position they get it, but they don't want to start.

Here and junior, you mentioned that being in the middle of three wide might be the most nervous spot on the entire track. I think the most aggressive game coach on the track is right here, two-car Brad Keselowski. I can promise you that if he can get the lead it will be you and whatever you can do with Boeing, here's your Jimmie Johnson chase teammate. Elliott with the block is now hoping Keselowski won't run because the keys to Laos are far enough or anywhere. the ins ide he has two teammates behind him so he has a good loyalty behind him to be able to get that position back Marty keep his FN Don interesting what the chase Elliott told us countdown to green said I feel like at the beginning of the race I have to establish I have speed I want to show other cars that they can work with me and trust me he said I heard yesterday at the Xfinity Series race they saw we had a fast car and all of a sudden I have a lot of friends so what jr.

For a young driver like Chase Elliott, you agree with them on how important it is to show, hey, I've got some speed work on me, that's absolutely true and you want to start doing it. You show those guys that you can do the moves and your car can complete the moves that they know by Sunday when this race starts or Saturday night in this example that you are a guy that will have a fast car and help them move forward to the front so they'll be more willing to work with you chase Elliott he's trying to drag that line out look what he's doing he's going into the corner of the wall and he stays there not going to the bottom what they hope to generate some momentum on the outside line to make the inside line not work and right now everyone is going with them as long as they stay single file it's going to be hard to get that inside line to move again so chase elliott is crushing the gasoline right now with his right foot but on wednesday when he was jumping in a pool having fun for the 4th of july he sprained his right ankle how hard is that for a guy with a sprained right ankle step on the gas, that's great, that's great. question question why is he going to be on the gas all night and pushing it hard man is he going to be trying to get as much out of this car as he can every lap so he's not sore or right now that ankle is going to be bothering him this weekend but he's going to be dealing with it after the race for sure honey there were times the inside of the car would get so hot I'd actually take my left foot and put the throttle on yeah cause my hill is on fire . my right foot to lift it off the ground and put my left foot on the gas and use that you can do that here because you're wide open you can't do that in charlotte but you certainly can do it here let's take a look at the helmet cam here for the

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walk pothole bubba wallace jr. and look at exactly what he's dealing with here an outside line trying to push up saw 204 miles an hour there for a bubba yeah back in the pack it's a lot harder to navigate you have to lift a lot you're getting big run over the guys and Sometimes you have nowhere to go you box yourself in if you go three down the middle it's too early to do that you know you get in an accident and then you're the type that friend you're going to blame for starting they look tough you had Than to get up right there and let the inside line run when you get a big boost so kinda kinda funny oh you couldn't see it but jr. that's what the inside line needs they need something like that to happen to slow that momentum and get the inside spin yeah that's a driver you're there looking far enough to see that happen before it happens you know see those cars four or five. rows ahead and start lifting you have to be ready to lift or you get this information from your spotter you have an excellent spotter who can give you that information to pay until after everyone is stacked here Kelly for Bubba Wallace in the Daytona 500 They showed that they had good speed at the time and felt very optimistic today.

Their crew chief, Drew Blickensderfer, told me that they are very happy with the car. He has really good driving ability. did some long practice runs Bubba knows exactly what to expect since the tires wear on this car they see this is a great opportunity for this 43 he earned a lot of respect in the Daytona 500 when he took a second place finish in the race The most important thing the sport has to start the season in second place in the Daytona 500 as he's sweeping the front once again, here comes Ricky Stenhouse jr. very aggressive and very good plate runner making the move on the outside Jimmie Johnson was in the outside lane playing all his teammates playing nice and then he decided he was going to drive to the bottom and when he did he made the inside line snap I moved and I checked that outside lineup and that caused chase elliott to go to the bottom, so Jimmie Johnson's move changed the whole rhythm of what chase Elliott was trying to do now that he's back at the bottom of the track, use the word loyalty right teammates go different ways right now have a nice cold coke and buckle up you're watching the Coke Zero sugar 400 on NBC and you need to buckle up it's been two and three wide and a good fight for the lead has started John Deere Three Wide Gator brings you this moment where the drivers were three wide, you see Clint Boyer on the inside Logano right in the middle and Jamie McMu rray on the high side TJ Majors is Joey Logano spotter and DJ Majors very familiar with you Dale j R. he was her spotter for many years he absolutely knows he's a spotter so abort this race track is where they make their money man are you guys talking to your drivers all night trying to help them get around this track and help them navigate traffic know where the races are coming from who is pushing whom how strong are the races from behind how to block them big change in the lead here obviously with the gal man worked his way into second it was an amazing qualifying so shocked the race tonight he is now cheer leading the race and before we left we said hendrick chat train went to the bottom of the race track and when he did he created a great line on the outside with all the inside pressure is out look at his shot McGregor girl gives two just pushes him down fr ent Chase Elliott and that's how he got the advantage then once he got the advantage he drugged the lane to the top right now the top lane has been the best lane once they get lined up on a single file go to the top it looks like they are going to get away from the bottom it's going to take something like having previous jr. where two guards got together the underdogs of the best have to get to that end result with momentum and i'll be surprised with the track the cars lined up and worked together they couldn't offend that or they didn't you know the chase maybe it wasn't a bit more aggressive to finish, but were they committed to wit?

They are committed to each other only to get better and if they stay there they can make that line work again. work their way back to the front they are going 200 miles an hour and they are out of Austin Dillon in 3 a great move Austin runs 3rd right now but when they are running at 200 miles an hour someone comes and hits you in the back bumpers like that and it gives you that little extra boost of speed. It feels? You just want them to do it on the straight. You don't want them to do it in the corner or obviously in the tri-oval.

The cars are very loose. and a handful already alone in the trioval so you don't want nobody pushes you there and that's where they push you Jeff you want the guys to push you in the right rear quarter panel which is where it's going to be more comfortable if they get into the left rear quarter panel and you get hit it's easily a It's a way to flip a scary guy get on the right rear quarter panel and push the rear bumper because if you ever get this line now you ain't in the correct path of the court or you turn the hippo's head against the wall so that's the most effective place but it's a little scary to do it and when we look back at Michael but now what a great story right now I mean that this little team is taking the fight to all the big guys in the Cup Series and they have a Roush engine they got Shella to build this car and he's following Dave hard that's right Jeff and a small group of people that have the woe uda from a big organization like Roush, but Roush has been fighting everywhere.

Roush does well here, same goes for Michael McDowell and David Ragan, from blue-chip motorsports, right now McDowell shows that they have the same strength that our father has. He sees that these small teams have an opportunity. That's what Daytona offers. draft if you see the front right away through the course he gets into it that's a decent push I mean it's nothing to bother McDowell you know getting out of trouble he's trying to hit him as soon as he can as soon as he straightens up he wants to give him that push so Dillon did a great job through the hassle of setting him up pushing him as soon as his car settled right away mate remember his brother won the Daytona 500 a early this year.

I asked him, do you know when? you come to these Super Speedway races you enjoy it you look forward to it because you know a couple of years ago I made a conscious decision to like this kind of racing because you can go either way you can hate it and knock yourself out or you can like it and enjoy it and do great racing and this race last year set the race back and that skyrocketed when he said it gave me so much confidence to come here tonight confidence is key if you have confidence behind the wheel of your car you have to feel good about doing what you want to do some pretty cool stuff happened right here Jeff yeah Denny Hamlin trying to make some moves on Joey Logano is going in and out of the line trying to he sees this whole line start to form in thetall, but still looking over there, still trying to pass and trying to make it, so I'm with his sneaky cousin. to get around that guy's side draft he stood in front of it before the hole closed and he's trying to see these cars coming back he knew they were going to be on the outside and I think that's what he was trying to to do was trying to form a line on the inside the risk you know the risk is that he loses all these patients and he's willing to take that risk that we saw in him to do this over and over again when the whole field lines up on the side top, he'll be one of those guys who will do everything he can to form a line at the bottom doesn't like to stand in line I'm riding around the top of the race track all day he's trying to find everything where he's going found a hole so he tried something almost paid a price for it Daytona 500 winner in 2016 denny hamlin has backed off a bit trying to be aggressive trying to take some spots off him a thing you have to have while watching

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races m obile is the official app of NASCAR and puts race coverage and live in-car cameras at your fingertips search the app store or you can visit NASCAR com noble you're watching Monster Energy Cup Daytona Series races International Speedway and Steve this race is a little different the length of the stages makes it a little different for strategy tonight makes Ricky come back here in February or the first race at Talladega all these cars would have been forced to come to the street of pits during the first leg for fuel, they couldn't run the whole leg on one tank of fuel, but here at Daytona the 400 mile race is a 40 lat first leg, I think that's really boosting some of the racing.

You see, because these riders know that they are safe to race until the end of the first stage if we don't have a yellow. I think that's what's driving some of the rhythm on the track. crew members us re crew following ray black jr. on the track right now and it will have Brianna Daniels who will be the first African American tire changer to hit a cup car tonight in this car and also Brianna O'Leary she will also be on this team changing tires had a shock tan to talk to daniels, who you saw a moment ago, he was actually a starting point guard for norfolk state on their basketball team and he said hey i could have played pro basketball in europe but i heard about

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driver diversity mix which was in 2016 Two and a half years later both ladies have worked very hard to get to this moment tonight to pick this car and they will at this first stop of the night rick what about that accomplishment for those ladies get here and compete in this hole? road tonight still athletes I asked them both if they were nervous he said no we athletes were ready ok a lot of pressure on the pit crews here because a little mistake is hard to gain track position but you can n grab a lot when you're on pit road so there's a lot of pressure there well it's great to go to game positions on the track we've seen Jamie McMurray is leading this inside line there was about four other cars on this line and do that several of them had rescued Cliff Boyer was there rescued there have been several and then it went back down they have been going back and forth they go down there then they are afraid to go back then there is a hole and they are going to go back down their butts, so everyone is afraid right now junior to do this butt because it just doesn't seem like it's been able to work well it's working well enough to stay there and I think two more guys to know where would you believe I'm sure maybe there are some guys on that outside line that want to be there they just can't get into that line obviously there's not a knot gap so they can get down in front of someone but there they're working this butt and that rear is g It will eventually be something they have to deal with, it will find its way to the front and what happens right now, the spotters are better talking to the drivers in the outside lane and saying the inside. the lane building up it's getting a little bit better somebody's going to turn left and try to lead that inside line who's that guy we're going to tackle car nine it takes a lot of guys there to make you work I mean you got it , you got it. work together as well and there's a lot to talk about what to do with drafting sides when you're on the inside line and trying to continue to fight to beat that outside line. the gate pinned him against the fence and what that will do is hold him in position maybe this man is coming after him rarely they will be able to push him and what that does is give his help a chance to come up and help you inside so that the it should really be the 21 Menard car as hard as it can on the straightaway to hold that position until Chase can get there and amazingly the top five that started this race aren't even in the top ten right now that's how much the positions changed quickly Kelly Rick you guys talk about drivers trying that low lane well Jamie McMurray in car 1 had been running for the hilum but he said he was just having a really good race so he took it up with his spotter and said : hello, right?

I think it's worth making a run to the bottom and he basically said he knows what we have nothing to lose at this stage they feel they can always make a move back to that high line if they need to remember Jamie McMurray trying to break a 165 no wins and this might be the perfect place to do it Marty, they're trying to mix it up, but Chase Le and his team is a numbers game where they're trying to get a feel for how that bottom line will play out. being too hot told him he can go up if you want your toes to stay on the bottom line so they're trying to make those Parker numbers work on the bottom if they can Marty I think I know the problem talking to Clint bar who has been between the top line and the bottom line trying to get it to work earlier today he joked with me and said you know the problem is getting those lines to work on his Dale jr. he's not there anymore no one knows who to follow, but no one is leading the pack at the bottom, we need you out there, Give him what he said, good comfort.

I tell you what I think a lot of drivers will start to follow the 17. He's had some amazing runs on these restrictor plate tracks and once again out front here at Daytona Stenhouse jr. already led 19 laps in victory last year led just 17 laps of that race six laps left in stage one of Monster Energy Cup Series Coke Zero sugar 400 Daytona International Speedway NBC Sports championship season continues World's best golfers vying for the coveted Claret Jug you don't want to miss the open July 19-22 a golf channel and NBC Jordan talks trying to defend his championship he gets back on track Stevens was nearing the end of stage one is anyone going to try any strategy and come to pit road? before the end of the stage yeah that's a great question rick we've seen it at talladega the motocross will peel off right here turn left come to pit road with three laps to go ideas coming , get tires and fuel, get to know the rest of the field. he will pit at the end of the stage, the concern is the lap times here at Daytona, three or four seconds faster than at Talladega, therefore his risk of losing a lap is higher.

Matt says he can't pit but he can't have problems Jeff a slow pit stop driver error and you're losing a lap that's a big risk for anyone in this lead pack yes it's a big risk but the guy we've seen was willing to risk trying to pick Top position so far is one car Jamie McMurray sees Joey Logano he just jumped out front five to go time to start making something happen car 21 him accompanied in the Gunder Dios, there are 12 cars and look whose camera it is. he came all the way to block Ricky Stenhouse jr. and Michael McDowell both saw that happen and got to the end of the track we were one file and on the handle add that look where we are we've got a race on our hands guys come here these points are so critical special easy playoff points because no one will get any this year except the big three now big block you'll see gold ricky stenhouse jr. it's just block block block it's been easy for him it won't be easy anymore I think Michael McDowell is blocking too so Ricky Stenhouse jr. he's staying in front of Michael McDowell, but McDowell is doing most of the blocking right now, those guys I saved some handling issues for on a turn to the 22 car, they're going to have to pull back real hard on a turn too late in the race here for this bottle job or where these guys have handling issues off the corner exit Elleni is on the left try to get to that bottom The Dillon brothers are now running second and third Austin Dillon in second now Michael McDowell has done that top line move a little quicker he moves up to 3rd ty Dillon the back line slows down a little bit and you know Ricky Stenhouse jr. wants to win this stage they don't have a single stage win this year

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playoff points so even the one I would get for saying it early on here is critical to making the playoffs and I'm looking at these guys on the turn lower test. they're not handling very well down there, late handling is going to be a problem on long runs tonight, there's a lot to be learned as we get closer to the end of this stage and Michael McDowell is down, it looks like he could lose that. in the table clash that was just a mental mistake right there not paying attention and blocking every run a guy makes on you he was pretty committed he was pretty comfortable with that stack these guys would take care of him on that top lane and opened the door of opportunity someone took it that's three one Ryan Blaney said I'm not going to follow you I can go to the inside and once again they're looking for aggressive positions less than two laps to go and how long would it take take him to get that position ion towards back you know you make that move you open the door someone's going to take it you have to defend this whole race Kozlowski trying to make something happen in the background but he ain't got no help Clint boyars back in 14 here comes Joey Logano in 22 I think they sent you I think he's going to have to go to the bottom if he doesn't then they can hang to the left get next to him enough of them make that effort which would probably work if he ran e the top here wanted that's absolutely right one more time on stage one Ricky said home on the front let's see what he does he'll stay on top and go to the bottom for sure push down he has to run see where he goes a big gap between him in the next car probably going to fizzle out in the back right away let's see how they handle critics run and maybe turn left like you said jeff and try to take the lead it's kyle busch he gets a little quarter panel. on a 42 sided draft and going to get help p William fire on the inside has a great bred for Austin Dillon going high here comes Kyle Busch's 18 trying to make the High Line work Austin Dillon trying to block isn't going to work this time although Ricky Stenhouse jr. in 17th lead three wide as they battle for second place at the end of the first stage Stenhouse jr. winning that stage kyle busch what move did he make to move into second place to finish stage one kyle larson william fyren chasing elliott all top five guys manor points do matter and also that got to chase elliott who had fallen way back that trapped him back to fifth place william barn did a good job of getting fourth place out of that fundraiser so many times these drivers have said their blood pressure goes up to around 180 well it's going down now NASCAR on NBC is presented by Pizza Hut not one out pizzas the hot Monster Energy unleash the beast and by credit a bank the official credit card of NASCAR tomorrow the Verizon IndyCar Series on NBCSN will power won the pole and of course will power won the Indianapolis 500 at early this year how good it is doing to be having the Indy 500 on NBC next year oh come on that will be my first Indy 500 I will never see it in person ona, so why don't we rent a motorhome?

I love Stevie, I can go, he is that. direct tour for me I have a Steve we're going to go there and have a lot of fun yeah that's going to be an amazing race and we've got a great race in front of us here right Marty actually Rick is going to get up a bit. longer stop for kevin harvick and his race crew if you see inside the car where a right side window runs here on cup cars the hose is attached to that window for kevin harvick's crew has come loose and his feet they have become very hot inside the racing car hassuccess how critical is it that mount childers and the team get those hoses back on here at this pit stop where you see they are missing right there on the right hand side of the car two problems one you mentioned it his feet will get hot the second problem is that there is rules on how air can be cheated when inserted into the car.

If you have that conduit open, it should go to a hose and it should end up in a certain position, so if those hoses are off at the end. of the event I think NASCAR will have a problem that they don't have a problem if they fall off of you trying to fix it but they're going to have to right now at their first opportunity to do it so the field is getting ready to go down to the fairway of pits for his first stops of the day and us Go to Dave Burns Last night's winner Today's stage Third place Kyle Larson in the 42 His car was a little tight but he said he'd rather be like that than lose.

They will make some adjustments as they come down here. The big question will be two or four tires, it seems that they are going to have four Ricky Stenhouse jr. in the 17th stage the winner said that I would like to weigh my driving, but I have not returned to the peloton. They're going to leave it as it is, a four wheel stop. Kelli Kyle Busch's biggest concern was it was just a little loose coming out of the turn so they're going to do a little chassis adjustment they just asked her for backup to get you out of this tight box it was four tires for 18 Marty and Kelly, you see Kevin Harvick seen coming to a pit stop Rodney Childers has told Kevin it's going to be a little longer pit stop and Robert talks Smith has jumped over the wall to do this 14 boss driver and now you'll see him come in right side window reattach those hoses to make sure everything's okay now key here Steve obviously they can't do a loop down so they have to tape around those ducts make sure those hoses get in right and you see the NASCAR official listening ten feet or the spotter also telling you where the pace car is and where the field is so that's critical information right?

Steve you have to know where they are so you don't lose so much noise yes you can't lose a lap this early in the race but it should be a simple fix as long as they take their time what they are doing you don't see any signs . Excellent observer information. Fix it in one go. We will close it. They're trying to make sure it's a close race off pit road. Presented by Kroger. Click list. Keselowski gaining places. and buckle up, you're watching the Coke Zero sugar 400 on NBC and Rutledge always finds the funniest thing in the infield Rutledge, where are you Rick?

I'm inside the infield on top of a custom six shop truck my friend Jake here from Leesburg Florida built he's been Coming here his whole life but in this truck with his friends for 18 years we're on the scaffolding at the ceiling. In fact, I was able to come here earlier, bring my friend Mike Tirico to show him what a great view you have. one at the back of our stretch but now mike has an even better view mike where are you buddy? I have a great view. I'm up here with Steve on top of the pit box. the pit stops we just saw so the boss put that hat back on, could he learn from the first leg?

Well, what I learned is that we wondered if driving was going to matter. maybe you and I were being told that they could see the cars moving that they say that in a single 40 lap race the handling disappeared so in the final stage, that eighty lap race, the crew chiefs are going to have to take good decisions on when to hit pit road laying hot during the day obviously the S A Goes Down The lights come on any change with a crew chief point of view as we get into the heat of the night race well , that's the debate every time you come, you argue with your driver, oh, the sun will fix it, don't worry, when the sun goes down, it's going to be alright and that's really what you're wondering, even at the beginning from this race it was still hot you were here with me it got a bit cold but mike i gotta tease you on the first lap when they went by your eyes grew we're close to the really big it's unbelievable you feel you feel the roar of the engines and you feel through your body, it's great to see it, doesn't it take time?

You guys are having trouble with a Michael McDowell 34 car that could have been a race winner today. in the opposite way they wanted to break so hard and soon we will see if he can continue now or if he needs to go down for another stop. How unfortunate that that 34 works so well. Keselowski William Byron inventing a one-handed robbery. Goes all the way to the flat has no fuel pressure in the car 13 just went off on the radio lucky there isn't an accident right there and he won't be speeding in the middle of the pack so the pack runs good way through one and two so tight Bell you tried to jump in 13 because Lao was skiing leading the race at the moment remember he put two Junior tires on you and I kinda wonder if that will be right for him in a long race to see William buying discs say he has a great Stenhouse's drive Byron will do it on a board track what will his moves be?

Will he stay in line? he will be aggressive first we have seen him in a cup car racing on a plate track I spoke to him this morning he said he was going to be aggressive he said he thought w like a long way to run well as he goes in attack he has a big company behind him, it's Stenhouse, he's going after Elliott, those guys will put a lot of pressure on him, give me that chance. he packs up although it's going to be hard to get the plane to the pump for those two cars because he's going to be moving back and forth to try and maintain that lead and keep momentum in his car he's going to get to the front of the line moving so he you can get it to push it keep the speed and revs up in your car kill the boys jamie mcmurray how to do a second trip down pit road in that car they saw some oil on the right rear tire they didn't know where it was coming from they bought it they brought it back the team is still trying to figure it out asking jamie to check his temps and everything on the dash inside that marty kelley booth when we watched the race off pit road we saw ryan blaney was second unfortunately they did not fill up car 12 and because we are running these full stages it has to be completely full of Sunoco fuel so when they came down I put n the left side tires also on this package Kevin Harvick says it has a vibration so a bunch of cars we're going to keep an eye on on the back of the package rig wild tire for round 7000 going to 21 lift the nard in the air but holds it down on the wheels Paul Menard when he turned around all four wheels seemed to have come off the ground as he was sliding sideways causing a lot of damage to the hood; otherwise you will be able to do little damage to the old tires and the front left there tell me how to put the tires on that would be fine but that bonnet damage there that is going to be very worrying hard to repair front left fender look at the test that they're talking about what they're going to have to do if they want to stay in this race that was running 15 look what happens it looks like the outside line looks like it becomes 48 for Jimmie Joh.

It's just a little hook there on the left rear quarter panel it's raining through the grass we're going to continue to get more aggressive as we get further into it we're going to see more crashes more shoving more shoving that's going to get wild we're going to work on it the 21st paul menard i want to take a couple of looks now at what just happened on the subway new tape we'll talk about the intensity rising you see jimmy johnson behind paul menard jimmy is in the middle of the race track and right there you look at the contact it's hard to tell from this view if paul moved down hill or jimmy moved in intending 21 so he didn't move i don't think so but he didn't give him much space you know paul was right up against the fence and if Paul moves down a bit, which she did, he rolls onto the nose of the 48, so be prepared for a crash.

The ingenuity of these guys to put this hood back together is what oppresses me. box says they can't cover those holes where t the flaps are ripped ripped off that hood they're going to try to put that hood on keep that hood back there look at that hood just waving the ties you know tied securely those ties keep the hood from get up in the grandstands and get dirty towards the fans and he's beating the roof to death while he was doing it just killing the splinter why does he go through this grass hey jeff two great things not just the ties on the hood but how about the flat roof I'm sure to say without those bigger roof fins this new style car has raced for the past few years that car stays airborne because it takes a hit in the worst situation those roof fins deploy the car sets on the track of races that, although sometimes you know that people do not notice them as much as they should, but that is unless the car flies upside down day 6 minutes five members of the crew to fix it to the best of their ability and send the car back but nascar still has to approve it to get back on the track so the I had told you we're going to record it to the best of our ability to see if they'll let us get on with it they heard you junior they're not going to cover up those complexes they're going to try to replace them so that the car if it manages to get off the ground for those flaps will help with that but this is the hard part it's better than your average tape trying to hold down a big hood on a car racing very fast.

The downside here is that they won't reset. with the leaders they're going to go one to go so they're going to be single file they're not going to have sorry they're not going to come at once yeah they're going to go so they're not going to be able being on that road it's going to be hard for them to get to minimum speed they're actually coming up to green here so you're going to have to come off pit road trying to get behind the pack it's going to be very hard to make an amazing stat there are two drivers who have a streak of top ten finishes at Daytona on restrictor plate tracks and one of them is Paul Menard you know who the other is a streak of three top 10s in a row Allmendinger AJ Allmendinger and Paul Menard are the only two drivers who they've finished in the top ten in the last three races let's get back to the action we're about to Brad Keselowski William Byron lasted both of them shooting in the 24th getting back to guy code we started the zone green flag up in the air again and in the background you saw Paul Menard coming off pit road the restart really tight here these guys are lined up tight on the bottom and the top it's hard to tell who will prevail here Jeff sees William Byron Lee pull this lead out for the first time has gotten a big push Kurt Busch does it's clear they would be smart enough for him to do what Keselowski doesn't t move back and forth in front of the inside and outside line to try and keep that momentum going in his car well he stays committed with that top, it's that tab, Boyd's job, touch the spotter for the 20 feet.

Are you going to give him that information? Wallace can give you all the information, but the drivers will know what to do with it and they will have the experience, you know what to do with it and it's a little difficult as a rookie to assert yourself, you have to assert yourself and say: I'm going to lead this race no matter what. pass and that's what Williams will have to do. He went to the bottom. He got a good shot from the . a good chef for both of us keeps the lead how about riding riding in the middle now just waiting for the caught up? a mess every Penske car right there than the only organization everyone came in here thinking they had the best chance of winning the three cars wiped out in this wreck Ryan Blaney in the 12 sitting there on the grass watched Brad's 2 Keselowski a lot of damage to the 9th chase Elliott so many good cars this happened this crash happened at the front of the field this is what they told us about taking out some contenders and now this is really a race of opportunity for someone sitting in 16th place sitting in that top 16 Denny Hamlin with big damage another fast car a big push we saw out of 17 Ricky Stenhouse jr.

Was it too big a push? Let's take a look at the replay. Let's take a look at the replay of car 9. First, let's look at all the damage to go after Elliott. that was enough going too far was there was a lot going on there and they were closing in on William so fast I think Brad was speeding up a bit because he was going to run to the back of 24 can you see 24 blocking here Brett probably speeding up a little Stenhouse crossing the nose so right here the 17 looks 17 when he gets into the rear bumper right there he hits him in the rear right and that's what sends him what we talking about? that before that's where you want to bunk draft someone you want to hit him in the right back butWhen you do that and the speeds are wrong and it's misaligned and it's turning left as well, then you literally pushed the left rear bumper into the car and shot a nose right into the wall.

We've seen this generation of cars. look at the xfinity

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so any time they push themselves they have to be careful and that was awesome there's so much going on there as you see running on the road Byron so fast look who beats Ryan Newman's 31 on 18 Kyle Busch, but after that everyone scrambled to find some kind of clear race track, the 41 Jimmie Johnson sideways, but is there contact? He was still on the gas when he hit the high banks. 400 listen to Erik Jones's radio already thinking about points that are far from the playoff now they also listen to 17 radio Ricky Stenhouse jr.

The straight head of him just passed a big problem. I'm sure he looks bad, but you know Bug pretty much tilted his head. and i'm sure you feel like you know you were partly to blame but as the race continues you've got to keep your head straight like he said and move on yeah i think ricky definitely knows he was partly to blame of everything. it happened here and a lot of guys criticized his activities and driving style in the Daytona 500 earlier this year and I think this will get him talking again you'll probably hear this this week some of the other drivers in this accident talked about it what comes Junior is that this race is so important to so many that they are going to do things that they otherwise would not do because there is a reward for doing it there is also a risk the risk is this the reward is that we have seen Ricky Stenhouse jr. win races at all game tracks and go to the playoffs and for that team that has really been their savior, they haven't run well the way you're used to Lucy in a round team race so when they come here, the pressure is high. to perform and even you know even with that going on and you know you have to shake off maybe this race is open to a lot of guys coming in here trying to steal a win absolutely half the field was involved in that crash 20 cars got some Kind of hurt when this happened on the Fourth of July weekend and the fireworks are already here in Daytona after the big one that just happened I know they had a promising day ahead of them.

What happened. I'm not sure, but someone probably screwed someone up and usually the one that starts off that usually doesn't screw up doesn't screw up, but I really don't know if the two were on their side. front and Each one crashed and everyone else did too so yeah it's unfortunate I mean this is the Coke Zero sugar 400 it's usually this kind of race but it usually happens much later in the night unlucky for all the cars that got wrecked you know now it's a total craps game with you know it seems like most contenders uh you know the battle for these races takes place but never you know it could be pretty exciting in the end but unfortunate for FX worries Team Rubicon Camry that we're not going to be a part of it Thank you Denny Dave Brad Keselowski walks in from the infield spotlight are you ok and how did it feel to get hit in the back yeah it's a very fast Miller Lite Ford and you know, Dave.

I'm just not trashing enough people. I need to smash more people so they stop dropping bad blocks. of them drivers out there throw another bad block coming its gonna drive three and reconnoiter so watch out til y'all write the words of brad keselowski kelly yeah the 41st on kurt busch really just innocent bystanders there how disappointing given the speed you were showing in the 41 I laughed I mean I thought I was in a safe place running in the top three and that's where the danger zone is it's like 3 to 12 everyone is unsafe there and so strong at the wrong time all 17 looked like they got together but i giggled like there was no safe place i mean i thought we were going to hook up and try to get to the driving part of the race and we just got hooked on Wrong spot, misfit with a helpless feeling getting cut off to the front of the field like that, but it's towards a driveshaft so there's no way we're going to be able to fix any overnight bummer for Monster Energy Ford, but he'll be back next week, just the nature of this race.

Dave Joey Logano is here, what did you see? or feel and try to get over it but like the longest crash ever I feel like I was in the middle of it all and it seems like there are some hard aggressive pushes up front and cars trying to get to the lead and once you cars laid on their side in front of the whole field you can't stop when you go 200 real fast and then there's no space between all the cars on a restart like that and we get torn apart so part of it you know it's just this super speed race from Daytona sometimes you get through it and you can win sometimes you crash and it's just part of the game you have to have that mentality when it starts for some reason but unfortunately we were in the bad 50% of this time hopefully we're in a good 50% when we go back to Talladega in the playoffs and try to get another one there. laugh, what if Brad Keselowski is very vocal?

As we ride along with Bubba Wallace, we see what the driver's perspective is. Life goes on in yellow here in Daytona. What does that mean? Fantasy live settings. We are still in the middle of stage two. your garage, see if any of your drivers were in the wreck, there was probably someone in that wreck, make a trade, get someone else on your line, I'm trying to salvage those fantasy points, okay, here's Joey Meyer observant of the two fine lines between managing and blocking if anyone asks one works the other doesn't we just heard Brad Keselowski say I'm going to screw guys if they block me on a spill what does that mean?

How can you block someone wrong? Well you know they did such a big race on William you know and he moves down and they both have to lift so much that he spins in the front of the house another 17 car I mean it wasn't a great Very clean push from the 17th but it's hard to say if that was a really more aggressive block. I've seen blocks that are really aggressive and for me I didn't initially think what is this thread blaming William Byron for Brad thinking the block is aggressive. That's Brad Saint William Bryan that he turned down. in front of me had to live senna said what stenhouse is fox announced he got behind me and we talked about william rod leading as a rookie yes he had to insert himself that's what you have to do you can't come out here and just not block and let go to people maybe the blocking was too aggressive according to brad it was too aggressive but that's why you know what i mean when i made him comment i said you know sin house was partly to blame because i've been in these accidents before and you know that sometimes it looks like someone just intentionally wrecked someone it's not always like seeing the cars involved in the Rackers we've already heard of a few of them getting out of the infield spotlight safety car turning left and the fi The field is now approaching the Geico restart zone with 18 laps to go and stage 2 recruited hard at ringside as you can try to keep that 24 there the whole time he could, but you get the help before Kyle Busch can get in there and push William.

Michael McDowell at 34 making the hot line making it three wide trying to move to the front think William Byron psyche now right? Did you get the message? Hey people thought you were blocking too hard is he going to continue this shit and rick stuck? outside: yeah that scares the house bill right now is he still dealing with that guilt about being involved or a part of it and he has killed sometimes? You have to act guilty and move on. looks aggressive but man it's really important you have a side turf this close if you're on that inside line push the outside line up get the fence hold it there until that Newman help comes. running standouts running around the middle of the corner trying to get some side shot off the 18 working all the time every chance you get and while they're at it William Byron is watching this deciding well which line to jump in front of getting a lot of spot info , it's nice, of course, he looks in the mirror, really, I bet he looks in the mirror 90% of the way around, you know, with peripheral vision, he drives forward, looks in the mirror and looks and look. listen to it to the spotter and usually using it in the mirror visually to understand what the spotter is saying what lines they are doing runs the spotters will probably tell you even the 20 car had a great run to the 18 it's going to give a little push and stuff so white right here in the back right away big info look that's a little fishy stay in the back 18 they're not organized on the outside they're organizing get up there Julie eighteen year old fourth-panel, she's going to recruit right here three or four oh sideways 18 heart on the wall around goes to 24 too william byron sliding to the inside wall jamie mcmurray also caught up to kyle larson avoiding the 18 he went down bakery boys , I'm afraid to say it, but I think Stenhouse was involved in this too.

I didn't, I can't wait to see the replay so we can break down how this all started. crash right there denny hamlin before this race started yesterday he said he expected to see a recreational festival ok you didn't drive it you were right as denny is probably sitting in his bus right now watching this race i mean this It's crazy, we're not delicious. you're not the charismatic winner from a week ago at chicagoland speedway kyle busch walking away from his wrecked 18 hit the wall hard went over to talk to william byron he's checking it out like all the fans in the seats gets into the corner guy lately tina's coming trying to go sidedraft and he's not following the 24 not following his line exactly he's also trying to sidedraft so Ricky's Travis an 1818 draft he's going down the 24 sidedraft just a couple bad calls they're trying to see you have to be aggressive in the side draft and that's what happens sometimes when there are three or four guys trying to do the same thing so what all seven teams are trying to do there is you're trying to get as close to the left rear quarter panel 18 thru Slow down and get into it you know he went up the track so aggressively I almost wonder if he got any tighter like me, You know he can see 18 is old he's right next to William Barn he's 18 he can't go. put the clock down look at what happens here so see how close the 18 and the 24 are here 18 these apple further down the 17 to the race track and it goes in at the 8 just makes me wonder if the bricks made a shooter they didn't lose the front of the car and get on the race track and you get into the side of him trying to side slide and you get close to someone if your car squeezes and moves two feet now you're in the left rear quarter panel and causing a crash We saw these guys have balance issues in the bottom groove could have cost him a bit up front a bit of sidestream and maybe overestimated how much front grip Ricky Stenhouse jr had. beat Ryan Newman the butcher Jimmie Johnson and Erik Jones all beat the chaos NASCAR on NBC is presented by Toyota let's go places credit one bank the perfect credit card for everyday purchases and coke the official NASCAR fan soda let's listen on Ricky Stenhouse Jr's radio one more time okay so you heard him say how light he was so how safe if he hit it but let's get on board and pay attention to the tape on the steering wheel to see that it's spinning steering wheel turning the wheel to the left approaches 18 turns it more to the left as soon as it makes contact have you gone back to the right to save on your car but that leads you to believe that you had tightened just before you reached 18 , Yeah? you can see him add a little more information just as he's coming up to the 18 car losing front grip tightening up we hear the guys talking about balance all weekend there's going to be a problem we saw the guys tonight having trouble in the rut bottom and got up there and underestimated front grip when he left he was in the worst position he could be in for front grip behind the 24th and at the gate of the 18th let's go back to the peacock box and Mike Tirico. the evil canvas bike i mean we talked earlier in the 40 laps and it was a quiet race this is anything but a quiet race now and now now we see more than half the field breathe now you have to wonder who is in a position to finish this and we've got a long way to go we're not even halfway there and second of all you're looking at the points, the overall season points because a lot of guys can change the whole spectrum of theback half of this. season with what happens in the next few hours yeah I mean these speedway races are all about nutrition they always are but the difference is if you're still on the racetrack with damage every yellow you need to come to pit road continually to fix your race car because those points you mention add up so fast.

We still have a stage that will award more points here at the end of stage two and what really surprises me is that it's not Martin Truex Jr. maybe a new winner that will change the Specter point even more a couple of the big three involved in this so Stenhouse has obviously been right in the middle of it all as crew chief anything you can tell him send him a message for you to move on. backwards I think at this point when he's in the race car it's very simple it's good look ahead we have to win this race we'll talk about the rest when I'm done but right now it's a homework so that's good Mike hey thanks for joining us great view great career there's a lot you've got here talk rebel we can look at the resume see notice you loosen your tie but you still have time Mike that's uh that's a step in the right direction he's half committed he's half committed Stenhouse jr. and Ryan Newman are retrieving shot one as the field approaches the Geico restart zone once again 11 laps to go in stage 2 good racing for Newman on the inside now some help on that outside line the descent steep going to be a lot of cars but you don't normally see up front that 37 Chris Buescher in the bottom his third or fourth in Joey GaSe double

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neck yellow car Ryan Newman running alongside Stenhouse jr. down the back straight, down those last hundred organized, waiting for one of them to get organized and start chef muertova it seems the outside lines are pretty tight like his job now and they goofy but it was in that accident earlier in contact with a gate Parsons cars look like they've repaired that damage and he's still up there in the battle but for sure his cars will be competitive don't be surprised the rest of the night to see Michael McDowell out front we saw him there at the start of the race, so he's upset inside the top three, but he has Bowman butcher Kasey Kahne, Joey GaSe and Brendan Gaughan all in the top ten. right now, yes, but even behind Ville, you have Trevor Bayne, winner of the Daytona 500 several years ago.

Kennington. You had time. Time killer. they have a chance to take advantage of and I think the names that now have a chance have changed, we were talking about Denny Hamlin who had won the duration and we're talking about someone who maybe never won a race in his career outside of the nursing home infield with Kyle Busch passed the first one you got flipped over in the second was your opinion on that accident I don't know only you know disappointing to be hit by the same guy who called the first accident but you know our Interstate Batteries Camry showed good speed, we showed good patience there in that first stint, we were able to come home second, at least get some points there, but and I don't know, you just always come to Daytona expecting to crash and trying to figure out when and where and just hoping you can pull away of that, so it's really frustrating and disappointing to have to run these races like this just on the fence on the line of when are you?

We're going to crash, you know, but we're going, we're going next week. I guess thanks Kyle Dave Kelly William Byron was the leader and William you drivers have taught us that the leader is the safest place to be what happened there yeah just the car 17 kind If I hooked 18 on me it looked like he was being really aggressive and the second time we were on the wrong end of something with him it was so unfortunate for us but we had a good race we needed to really have a good day the points position we are in but we're all part of drag racing I guess but I hate being on that side but at least we allowed a few laps so it was good Rick he was doing everything he was supposed to. to make, yeah, interesting coming off of Kyle Busch, he said you just want to be able to get away good, he was involved in a crash where he couldn't get away, he broke his leg and ankle in an Xfinity Series race here that same year. he went on to win the championship i see these tielines just disappeared everyone committed to the top closeout halon finish the stage this is right around the time he was busy last time with so many cars out of the race .

I'm not sure exactly what kind of battle we're going to have develop all these stage points well these guys who are giving you these stage points for the first time four at a rare time during the season they settle for their position It's interesting to see if any of them retire does it open the door for a driver like we just saw Jimmie Johnson it's amazing you have to say that but there's a lot of experience there as far as winning at this track let's take a look look at Jimmie Johnson it's something I saw in this iteration of the first Rick how cool this guy is so let's watch him as he tries to navigate his way through this getting off on the floor going too fast turning to the straight side sit on the back back here he's still around the corner tracking but don't be a bit more cause he's give me johnson that's the kind of driver he is what an amazing save for him to say he really is and still he's in this race and if he wins tonight he looks back, this is a pretty incredible moment dodging the boom we've been seeing for years.

In a Jimmy Johnson it's usually the control of the car to go to Victory Lane and win championships, but even in a bad year, I think that just proves Dale's Wow. Jimmie Johnson is engaged. He's not happy with his performance this year, but he's trying to spit it out to a positive slight lead. this race team and you have to look at it as you mentioned Rick is surprised to see Daytona as a great opportunity or maybe his only opportunity but he has to start thinking that as the field narrows live to get into the stage Two, Stenhouse Jr.

Still up front McDowell running second all these guys here you talk about Jimmy Johnson getting confident cause the field stands out all these guys here have a smile on their face I'm like winning this race tonight so Jimmy along with everyone in this small group they see this as a "you know, hey, you know the competition is down." I can beat all of these guys, so it should be pretty interesting to see who takes us out. I had this weekend but the goofy bud race was still there to put down what will be so hard though Junior the way you will have to race now has completely changed but you were learning which of the cars would do and what what could.

I don't when there were 40 cars on the track well there are 12 cars in this lead group so you won't get the races the way you did before you don't stop the lanes the way you do stop them before it's im gonna take a comp a whole different approach to win a stage or get the win in this race watch jimmy johnson make a hard left turn hey jeff we still talking about jimmy johnson whats up from your teammate? the biggest opportunity for Alex Bowman. I know he has a bit of damage, but I don't think that's going to hurt this fetal car.

He runs easily in third position. This is all. This is the green light for that young man to get his first win. the field pulls out that's a great opportunity for him to have an amazing finish our chance to win even he had a great car here in February and he actually ran the car very well until he was taken out in a late crash crash didn't get a a lot of help in the draft because no one really knew what kind of plate runner he was and if you know you have to trust these guys if you don't know what a guy is going to do or if he's going to make the right move and I'm not going to try to helped him out so much and maybe he got a little bit of respect from his peers in the last six months we had a little bit of bottom line development as we got to the end of this stint he got kicked out of his seat won the Daytona 500 in the top of the world and a few years later he gets kicked out says man you ain't gonna get a dime we need to try something different now that he has a chance to put himself in position to win this race and only out of him one of your teammates KCK ipo and another guy who tried to call himself out and rebrand himself he wasn't Hendrick Motorsports it didn't work he moved now he's got a chance i want to hear the 34 radio michael mcdowell jump down and get to you he ain't gonna jump down so stick with him Right now Steve parked the whole spotter there for Michael McDowell heard him say you know how it is he'll jump in there and block if they go down so he wants to find out if you stay wit h on the 17th or try to make a pass he'll stay right where is he going to try to get through this race have a good chance to win the final lap of stage two and now they are trying to go too far t ty Dillon inside 13 thinks otherwise he gets back on line Trevor Bayne still trying something on six come on guys move make something happen someone will try to outdo ricky stenhouse jr. as they battle their way through three and four reaching the green and white checkered flag to end stage two and it looks like it will be Ricky Stenhouse jr. sweeping the first two stages before tonight roush-fenway has never won a stage and now ya -- you saw the difference between the end of the first stage and the end of the second stage how much more aggressive that first stage was and jr.

It's just less cars less chances it's much more difficult with this view of cars on the race track I think Ricky to save a bit is going to win these two stages and the race well we mentioned at the top of the aggressive and crazy show that pretty much sums up Ricky Stenhouse jr. right now he's been aggressive and crazy in track pit stops just finished at Daytona International Speedway second on that stage Michael McDowell his best stage finish of the year with no car adjustments four Goodyear tires and Sunoco fuel Becky Stenhouse Jr. They take a lot of time on pit road to massage the right front fender and try to make it perfect for the rest of the race.

Kelly we also saw Alex Bowman's 88 there, it's on the divider a little bit taking off that they didn't want. wasting time on pit road fixing tire damage Goodyear Sunoco fuel for Alex very long pit stop for 17 Rick I'm amazed I love what 17 is doing here there are only 10 12 15 cars in this race we are done to see the Ricky Stenhouse jr. in the 17th he basically dominated that stage finished no one could retire but Brian Pattie is taking the time to improve his car I'm a bit surprised I thought these other team cheers the race is only half stop massaging their cars obviously none of them he had the speed to make a run in the 17 jr.

Don't you think if you were there you'd be yelling at me? Hey, let's take the time. Now this car could be better. later in the career but you know it's a hard decision to make let's talk to all 17 hey Ricky it's a drag you got time to talk yeah it's been crazy tell us what's going on I'm going to have a race in the 24 - the interior and I had to register very late in three there than the other. I tried to watch the '18 draft in the wrong place. They sucked me in and I flipped them over so it's crazy. here it is you know try to get it no playoffs you know win a point trying to get us in that position for when so we got a third forward real quick hey we threw up all our other four teammates that was according to as planned so we have to do it with our teammates left here but we appreciate you taking a bit of time good luck the rest of the night interview with the driver almost too bleak in there even though he won the first two gladiator freight train wrecking ball stages it's been all over the track tonight ricky stenhouse jr. but he has won two stages and he has the possibility, as he mentioned, of reaching the playoffs.

It's one of the best cars, if not maybe the best car still on the track right now, right? rick things are heating up online social media too zac the world i know said i don't know how many friends he was going to have he just said on ricky stenhouse jr. radio that's an easy question to answer plus the wood brothers add shadow stenhouse will win this race tonight one way or another things are hot at the track right now here rick social media to be friends letting them know that everyone on social media has an opinion. will give you Wood Brothers Racing social media, it's pretty awesome they have some fun stuff on there all the time, great follow up, how about the 21 Paul Menard? ground, Alex Bowman's 88 returns to pit road, looks like he's in for a little massage, maybe a little morefuel before it's out again who's going to take advantage it's out there the chance to make your year now we have saved those great teams and drivers that were knocked out boost not step up i mean that now's your chance there's a weird car vote up there if we balance the cars up there those guys who are willing to take chances and there guys are just trying to survive the night so it's hard to say who's going to be the most aggressive that you're going to play all the standards right now, yeah the points are definitely going to shake up Stenhouse jr a bit. he's out of the top 16 yeah he's coming oh he is and this lets you know this shows a tide Dillon is the leader so it shows him as a race winner because he's leading the race so you know he's coming back here look at Erik Jones, Stenhouse and Eliot Coleman I mean everything is good Dave Rick how about Truex the first big one he missed because he had a wild tire penalty and he was in the back and they led him the second time they had decided to lie down and missed the second big?

I've been discussing this run and here's a radio so lay down twice and it made you stay on it for now. I never won. He never wanted a restrictor plate track. fewer cars, there is less risk of losing as many places, so he can be more aggressive now to retire alone. Ty Dillon and Clint Bowyer are making up the front row. Now back to test stage three underwater and right away we saw the 17 of Ricky Stenhouse jr. jump out of line and it's hard to believe Clint Boyer the 14th who called the bottle had a damaged nose hard to believe that's what you'd want to lead a line you'd think you'd be better off following someone stop by pretty good got a great run down the backstretch got three decent hills behind a nice clean hill parker guys just below this caution cliff burton found on the radio and said i can't say i'd have to keep going we've got too much damage we're too much slow and then they took up track position, looks pretty good to me with all that damage, well we'll see if he can stay there, the key is who's behind him, you know some cars behind you aren't. very fast and you might be able to stay up there, but if you want those quality cars, if you have really fast cars behind you, it's much more difficult.

He's got Kasey Kahne in the 95 behind him now and then Michael McDowell, who we've followed up on. Let's just say time and time again maybe he's beating what everyone thought he'd be capable of in the 34th. He's currently running third again. We've seen him in the top three a lot tonight. He's in the top 5 here in this race last year so and he's got two top 5s in a row just hints about we're on the radio Martin Truex Jr's 78 they said well maybe you know just feel how it goes and then go down to the back if necessary. well no drop at the back right now he's trying to break into the top five so it's that the outside lines weren't working so well and he stayed he started that inside line he just took advantage of it and as going forward he was the only winner this year who had a car that could win the race and here the clip Boyer proves me wrong Leading with all that damage I see a guy who could save the night and that's the car of six Trevor Bayne, he's making some moves, he's not going to sit here and ride and McDowell McDowell moves to the outside of KCK trying to make that outside line work. and Clint Boyer goes up to block to the back of the track goes McDowell trying to take the lead doesn't help has a big help from Trevor Bayne Trevor is going to move is going to try to make something happen it all started back in turn 1 or going into turn one it all started and the whole race was put together there michael mcdowell leading at daytona remember mike michael mcdowell that car he drives roush-fenway built that prepped car has a big round body the 95 go i really couldn't do it Casey came in with a great run and blocks the 95 so Michael McDowell stays in front of the momentum until third now Martin Truex Jr right now you guys are spread out in the field right now back for him there you have to protect the bottom predict the bottom but the first two are online but they all got pretty small back there so we just have to be careful what voice you're hearing how steve barked at the obs ervador move you forward he let it put it alone for a while until 95 orders back he won ahead of the 7770 but i still got the 95 race still with you get that race from him get those guys off him then you go back down a time you feel it with you now it's clear clear on the first single fiber here that's great spotter feedback so resolved the spotter saw the outside forward line let your driver know when to move up when it was ok moving up and going through some crazy block was a nice early step towards that timeline that I can prepare myself for Really smart info interesting to see if Stenhouse is going to be as loyal to McDowell as McDowell is to him early on career.

I think that's what makes it very difficult. He's so aggressive that he runs, this top opens the door to turn left and have Kevin Harvick, who I don't know where he came from. in free practice the damage wasn't too bad and he said something interesting to Rodney Childress he said with fewer cars in the race handling will be less of an issue think speed so Steve you're looking for a crew chief to go down to the pits and adjust. in his car Rodney Childers did that Kevin Harvick said I still think we have the speed to win this race yeah Marty I love that call I mean those are the kinds of decisions that prove why the four and Rodney Kevin Harvick's Childers win that combination. so mom Any race they just keep working on their race car, remember there's still 65 laps to go.

There is at least one other pit stop that may or may not come under green flag conditions. We see how quickly both the 4 and 17 bounced back. I think this team. the bosses have to change their thinking, it's not a 40 car field, it's a much smaller field with a lot of racing like you and I looked at each other when we saw the four cars like where did they come from? well that's why we wonder this is the first accident while traveling together with kevin harvick look at this damage i mean it heats up the wall hard it hits the bench it damages the splitter listen to the car i mean it's damaged and here it is running at third with a chance to win the race, hey junior, as I look at this front pack, is there an advantage to those two Hendrick cars having a teammate?

Does a teammate become more important in a smaller group? up this race about how they can work together and how they can be stronger helping each other so you know if you want to make a move you have a teammate who will be able to be loyal to go with you stage one winner ricky stenhouse jr. second stage winner Ricky Stenhouse jr. final stage kenny wins daytona

monster

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cup series rates only 60 laps left of the

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cup series coke zero sugar 400 there's a pretty good lineup right there an awesome race on the track michael mcdowell vs ricky stenhouse jr.

Kevin Harvick Alex Bowman Jimmie Johnson in the top five in line When will someone blink? When will someone make the move and decide it's time to get out of line and challenge for the lead, but also get out of line to get to pit road? You see Trevor Bayne trying to make a move if you laugh and now look he's all the way to the end of that line Jeff so that's the risk I mean if you get out of there and try to run back like we see. aric almirola falling to the tail on this line a person who is not going to load back here martin truex jr in the 78 car has made up his mind he doesn't want to be a part of this he wants to stay away from there he thinks they're going to crash again he's just afraid they're going to crash again he's going to try not to get in trouble the danger in this is if he has a problem here he is he just back off he said I'm out I mean he's a long way but he's backed up far enough to be terrified it was going that way and you lose a draft and have a slow little pit stop then you might the next thing you know you might be one lap back so this line is single file.

I'm afraid they're just going to walk away from him he's giving them too much space well Jeff we need to take a look at the Toyota Truex driver update 19th DJ Kennedy JJ Yeley Erik Jones the concern I have for Martin Truex while 19th sounds pretty good you just showed how far he is from the rest well now he's basically out of the draft I mean he's running slower than single file cars around the track so if he continues to lose time does he really Will you lose a lap? little bobble and it's going to be a big problem feels that way but he's running some very fast laps he's actually running under this lead pack and he's running low in the corner you see back running low in the corner he runs in shorter distance so you think he's ok you think he's still getting on that comp looking at the board here he ran a 46 19 to the direct lead at 2:46 7 so he's got the comp and he's closing distance running that bottom, showing that the spark from the corner break that time was a flat 46 for his fastest lap. from anyone who can modulate that I'm sorry, go ahead, yes, they were telling him that he was catching it.

I couldn't tell if they were sarcastic or not because they've been so unlucky here, but there you go, he's right up there. Back at the back of the pack if he had lost that stamina completely he would have easily dropped a lap that would have been a terrible situation for that team but he gets back up there he has the speed ok you know we didn't we did. I have to put a graph to test jr. it was the right car and he said hey man I don't think we have enough speed well basically he just ran the pack himself so now the decision is with pit stops potentially come and see if that's true.

How long before they're going to pit, but you know when you start to see the pit stops and you want to push yourself to pack up a bit, you don't want to be in the back in case you have a bad pit stop. pits so now if Truex is starting to try to work forward to have a little bit of protection if they have a slow stop FAT FAT sell you see what the ass guy missed arresting these guys Marty hey Rick Jeff just mentioned ago a moment we are fast approaching what could be green flag stops and maybe the last stops of the day now earlier today the four teams got together all 13 teams and made a plan as to which lap they were going to stop on at this stage they were going to stop all together but they didn't communicate on the radio because anyone who wants to jump into their strategies t See it's a different ball game now because there are so few cars in this race how does that change that strategy Now why can't tables really?

Sure there's some strategy to try to fool someone, but with fifty-five laps to go, I hope these guys still run five or six more laps to get to their fuel window and then it all goes on and off. We'll see Truex on the inside line. what he needs is everyone to get on that line with him and he's moving forward, look at the wide teams driving just up front, look at jimmie johnson, jump in there, try to get in front of that, he won't see it. action and now Martin Truex Jr, after trailing almost four seconds behind the pack, is right in the mix up front at Daytona, you saw it, we heard it here at Daytona, Jimmie Johnson's 48 has moved up to the front of the field and The roar of the crowd here was almost as if an Earnh ardt had taken the lead at Daytona his trials and tribulations made him a fan favorite or fans rooting for Jimmie Johnson to reach his former glory he left early he has led two laps all season Jimmie Johnson seven times we did it two laps we could see the fans went crazy when he took the lead they loved it and now Jimmie Johnson is going to have to fight that 17 one more time he is candid and challenging and what a race for Martin Truex Jr's 78 only moved as far as the top five and now he's fighting to get back up and leave Dave Rick with some trophies for Jimmie Johnson here at Daytona, but business as usual is He wanted to stay in the garage for most of practice so he wouldn't have an accident with that race car.

Well, the other day he ran as many practice laps as a lot of the other cars and got an idea of ​​what his car needed, then he moved up to third in qualifying. Jimmy had a great car all week and has a chance to return to Daytona's Victory Lane. let's take a look and seehow jimmy johnson takes the lead gets a big bush more tricks jeter out the back immediately gets up there to help me my bad bart wanted to go anyone could fit in that hole so jimmy has michael mcdowell now to try and push him there, they worked on some corners and got it done. 48 up front at Daytona, he won here in this. race track three times, but it's been a long time since we've seen Jimmy Johnson in victory lane.

This is the longest time he has gone without a win in his career. I found out that he is chasing Elliott and my friend in the 21 car that we will be fighting for. slickest driver award this year but we may have another guy i met in the battle with jimmie johnson jimmie johnson might jimmy john's jimmy with the buzz dad popular driver freak the guys out for my fall saying i'd take him to seven times Curtis lastly hilarious big strong staff push for the big 34 talent he's blocking from running and finally Martin Truex drugged that whole inside line it just started coming when everybody saw it coming everybody started to feel the inside alignment and now we have a race.

Jimmy Johnson dives to the bottom of the track trying to regain the lead. The winger selects 34 and Jimmy Johnson moves back to the front so he can recover so quickly from losing the lead and regaining it. It really shows me the strength of that. The car that's building that confidence within Jimmy Johnson, okay, crew chief Steve Letarte, what time do we start to think we're going to see you hit pit road? road on tires they can do it now on fuel but as we keep mentioning with a smaller field there's no reason to take a chance and stop so early but I really think in about six more laps who opened the pit window? did you see the 17? wiggle right there yeah big ricky stenhouse jr wiggle Crew chief Rodney Childers said it looks like a big problem but you can still lose shape no doubt gaining grip as we go into the night and the temperatures cool. that's enough cars now in a competitive battle where handling will matter i mean look how many are too wide so i think handling will matter yeah it's not done we have a long travel on four tires that could really work later in this race yeah long runs i like to be on that outside line we saw before that bottom has issues with old tire handling late in the race so you're going to try to get from that outside line late some guys in the bottom of that right where you get to his right or a quarter panel easy pickets Johnson is very aggressive trying to get under mcgavock hesitant in the back talk to me a little bit of contact but now i came up the track and it's one of those places you just have to be you know you don't block that will fly by if you pick it up they'll crash into you from behind I was really surprised by the speed the au Al's guy has been consistently in front tonight has been able to lead won't be surprised if he gets a good push and is back in contention for the lead again Jimmy Johnson trying to lead HMS to its 250th win for that organization has been Big week for Jimmy Johnson and his youngest daughter, Lydia, because Mom and Genevieve were out of the country, so Dad and Lydia were in New York together, they went to a lot of the best places and had a little bit of Dad. daughter time it's like that pa ck is breaking down really surprised how those bottles up you got guys come to pit road diving down pit road they got merola but the group has dissipated right there now we have a single car file a single file there are the guys thinking about hitting your sin trying to get to the bottom everyone is trying to organize to the back of the race track so they can get to pit road safely did you just mention speed in that car 34?

Let's not forget earlier in this race they were on pit road tightening a tie rod adjusting the trailer this is the car that hasn't had the smoothest run now you have different manufacturers going head to head here Ford's Chevrolet's coming at the same time Martin trucks jr. which group jumps with everyone there comes that point where i saw them all jump to the back of the track and go around three and i thought here they come but they keep moving so bug amirola came to pit road a little while ago and he's warning these cars the pit as soon as again there he's right there a lot of pressure now on the pits because if you have to come to pit road green flag you can't make a mistake you can't lose this group you come to pit road with i got what do you think they're doing well jeff i have the advantage here off pit road to the pits on my right it's the four pits of this for a guy here the 4 of kevin harvick ok they're warming up huh you see the tire changer waving his arms around jack man stretching who tells me you haven't been with nothing on the radio they may only be a couple of laps away from pit road they're all in position they're protecting the part themselves bottom of the race track That's why the lines move down they stay on that yellow line so they can't get pushed and go to the outside and then they can't get to pit road when they want to see that information many laps before they're going to pit , you know they're ready for the car they've come to talk about it now the drivers need to get that information with about five laps hey we're going to pit about five laps find a way to the bottom that's why we saw them everyone trying to figure it out. how to get to the bottom proved to get to pit road and it's hard to get to pit road here we see a lot of accidents coming to pit road let's see if everyone can get into pit road clean up the dirt by digging this time correct the fords will They move Chevrolet's Gaylord Viper it looks like Martin Truex Jr will join the Chevrolet Brigade when they hit pit road Enter Dave in the 48 of Jimmie Johnson they had a fling tonight as well before they had a low average changed the battery twice plus tires and fuel Sunoco fuel and new tires for Jimmie Johnson Martin Truex Jr's 78 also in pit road which is a two tire stop killing Alex Bowman also when told not to slip Tigers in 600 the two tire stop for the 88 Kelly sees Kasey Kahne on pit road them I told her to wait until they fill it up with Sunoco fuel it was just right side tires for Kasey Kahne all is The other cars that were left out, Rick, will be coming this lap, including Kevin Harvick, and as fast as you say, the Fords will keep flying. in front of us and they slowed down so think about this they were running 45 50 60 s now the pack dissipated and they went to 46 22 so let's see how they blend when they pit let's see how they line up at the back now they've slowed down because the packs have gotten smaller, yeah you're assuming they're wasting time so when they come out they'll have a harder time maybe keeping the draft leading the pack?

That's why I always like short or a short hole here so that I didn't put myself in this situation. The only advantage of this is that you have fewer cars now, so it's a little easier to get to pit road. It looks like he can bring a little more speed to pit road and there's a little less risk. I understand that strategy about getting in and out of the pits. way, but they are losing a lot of time on the track. I think if that other group can get organized, this will be a track swap and these four that have stayed on the track are going to give up. they lose the leading draft, but I don't think they will.

Is there any way they end up being the front four cars when this is over. We're at 45-50 on that lap, so you're thinking they're just losing a bit. a little bit of track position, but they'll be able to hold onto that Steve's draft-leading group just fine, but the other group has to get organized. cars should run more efficient laps as long as they can stay in line t This team's advantage is that they have the 17, probably one of the fastest cars at Daytona, leading their four-car field. everyone is able to bring more speed to the speed lanes because of the speed point and the most advantage is given to the chefs these will also be two tire stops so they don't spend more time in hit lane than they need to No I slipped them that was the rule that worked for Michael McDowell Ricky Stenhouse jr. on pit road he didn't slip his tires either they could change him he made a great stop but they have to get out together that's the other thing and Rick at the break of the last stage Kevin Harvick took four tires they told him to wait for Rodney Childers to tell him let him go and not slide the tires like everyone else that has right side tires for Kevin Harvick we'll see where these four Fords will shake up with the rest of the field who are pushing down on them fast Rick 48 78 20 Jimmie Johnson Martin Truex Jr Erik Jones leading that other group in Rick what's really going to hurt is that the leaders are coming single file which I think means they're going to get through them even faster, doesn't it fail?

I mean it's going to be hard, it's going to be hard for these guys to hang on to this tractor that's going by pretty fast and it's also creating a lot of turbulence for this group of cars and you can see oh-ho a lot of sparks flying as the 42 goes around Alexis 17 Larson and has Ricky Stenhouse jr. Since he was riding 48, we also mentioned that he can't make a mistake. The 48 was going to have to get to pit road because he was pitted out of the box. you just have to get lucky this is a big big save for the 48s since you mentioned the penalty would hurt them now he will be able to serve that penalty under yellow which would be a little better it will still cost a lap but doing it green they hold you you lose a lap you don't really lose a lap in the draft we're here chad arguing we'll see i've been trying so hard it never seems to work in my favor so i'll see if nascar sees anything different but the camera system caught the 48 so they will lose one lap, but they will be able to line up with the group wins, but let's see here, let's take a look at this penalty. on the 48 so basically here the 40 is right on the front line the 48 that's the problem so you can't fix it.

Car checks anything tighten lug nuts or fuel up car nose of 48 crosses front pit line fuel cans still capped black and white no doubt servicing car then crash down the stretch Kyle Larson some sparks right there look at that tire yeah he had a problem he just bought himself I saw sparks flying from the Robert Cochran car aside I don't think Ryan Newman made contact he just has a problem I retired around he goes now all of a sudden to make decisions though guys decisions remember 17 would he have been at the back of that group would he have even been in that position had he been hit earlier with the other leaders so this is the Sixth warning to slow down here at Daytona as we go Nonstop NASCAR action like the one we're seeing tonight is exactly what you need when you want to come to the racetrack as well.

So be sure to get tickets. you can Be the one standing there cheering for Jimmie Johnson as he goes to the front of the pack now Jeff let's take a look at the Toyota Camry in the track car and there's something different about it than pretty much every other car on the track what what is? most weeks you look we look at the Toyota on the track card and we explain something that's really cool about the race car today it's pretty simple it's not wrecked yeah all the pure paint looks good it could be the only car on the track or in the facility that has no damage it's been a crazy night at the track and that car looks good it's prepared for some incidents which is why Martin Truex Jr scored in front at Daytona and has never won in a restrictor plate track check out Kevin Harvick's 4, he's behind this for whatever reason to see Monty Malinois.

It's going to open. They are easy now. from In the morning, hey Rick, you know it's amazing what you can catch on the front end of a race car, isn't it all this rear bumper cover? sitting for these guys I was in Kevin Harvick's 4 car as we just saw it's a pretty big piece and I think I'll give this to Mike as a souvenir for his first trip to Daytona for the Coke Zero 400 what do you think so ? Yes, bring it to you tariqa, so that's an interesting way to collect the memories. Have another race car bring it over.

It will go on the roof on the way back. he needs the rest of the way here so basically because he was put out of the box it's a one lap penalty, the caution saved him or he would have lost a lap and the draft will now be in the draft but one lap less. needs a yellow I think you can easily compete to be the first car one lap back which puts you in position for the wave-around or the free pass but you have to have a yellow you will never get it back under green and we talked about tricks what what he did, his decision to leave themix and then move to front. with a strong car it's the strongest car guys near the front we've been talking all weekend how this wasn't going to be big 3 weekend and here's Martin Truex Jr great decision not to be in the field but with that crash picking up the 17th i think the 78 has to be the favorite at this point as he's going for a fourth win here this season wild race wild finale coming up i love it oh yeah 33 to go there's no telling what can happen one listen to the 48 radio and that was Chad Knaus talking to driver Jimmie Johnson as a tentmate arriving on pit road once again Martin Truex Jr and Kasey Kahne's 95 up front will help Austin Dillon in the 3 behind Martin Truex Jr you talked about last week restarts are an art to solving Austin Dillon time that just right to be able to help our jr tricks. clear up there the waves come out the windows 3.x and the insurance will wait on the throttle on austin dillon rev it up and then trix rev it up as soon as you feel the contact align you on that outside or it moves a bit there outside of 95 Kasey Kahne's very tight against the wall this is picking up man we're three wide never Rose deep less than 32 laps to go Joey gates driving him there push him right in front of him DJ Kennington right now he's running second at Daytona Falls back to third eighth Austin Dillon moves in front of him, but how about that name?

You saw those cars go under the yellow line. no penalty for that there bottled up at the bottom and a lot of movement a lot of damage to Austin's 3 Dillon has had a little trouble being the main card so you seem to drop like a rock and it's crossed out this is that line and these guys broke away PACS starting to break away itself six cars trying to leave the rest of the field and you look at the race wins for the top ten right now junior trucks kasey kahne and newman in double digits but everyone else one or two wins and quite a few without neither of them were able to get their first career win here imagine what bubba wallace would be like he finished second and he was so excited because he wanted to make his parents proud and he said boy that was the best feeling finishing second in the Daytona 500 so what if he wins at Daytona tonight here? we're riding along with him, I think Oh Cole, ahem, the helmet cam has a great shot here, it's wide open on the throttle.

Had to get it all up not to get any major runs on the car in front of him the tracks have actually been resurfaced recently but there's starting to get some bombs on the corner see those bulges in the helmet cam as he's dealing with that when going through the corner and to make sure that those bumps do not alter the rebound of the car it goes in a single file like this you are not going to have any problem with the handling this is a good scenario to be in where you are not going to feel lots of balance issues here RPM's up he's getting a little push he's going into action he's decided to stay in line and push the 47 and he's looking at this mirror right here this is what he's looking at he's looking through that mirror out the back window he's going to spend a great deal of time looking right there actually jr.

You absolutely have to make sure those guys don't get on that quarter panel and pick me on the side like they're trying to look at the outside you could see it on the side yeah beer right there he's got company on the outside with Chris. Buescher, are you watching? We talk a lot about spotters, but that mirror works too. It is not just about the observer. Sometimes you have to respond and react before the driver does football. and from the take a 96 DJ Kennington can untap it before it goes into the wall it does it will stay green if you stay in the right direction and get back up to speed we mentioned he was running on top he's from Ontario Canada DJ Kennington normally doesn't He has a full schedule, but an opportunity here at Daytona doesn't come off and therefore the caution will come out.

He did a good job there. He's driving that thing all the way to slide the seventh caution of the night. and this one no plate was broken now well play strict junior tracks smaller is going to go more intense these restarts are going to come back is unbelievably intense how he picks up aric almirola is going to get the free pass that will move Jimmie Johnson one place but there is still a lap back so aric almirola gets the free pass that will put 21 cars on the lead lap DJ Kennington going around bringing out the 7th caution as we go into NASCAR non-stop just 25 laps to go in the Monster Energy Cup Series Coke Zero sugar 400 well monday on NBC the new generation of youngsters will square off with the greatest ninja veterans in a battle for history American Ninja Warrior all new that's monday on NBC aric almirola's 10 again we mentioned got the pass for free and they thought they were going to pit road.

Pit road was still closed, so you have to make sure you don't go into that orange square. We were going to come to pit road, it was closed, but not only was it close because mom got engaged, but she almost hit the car. Yeah that was Joe Evans now Steve a few moments ago we heard Chad Knaus complain about what happened to the 48. Can you explain this? Yes, Rick, we talked about the chaos in Daytona. rolled forward and crossed the front line which is black and white in the rules a penalty not allowed to service the car outside the pit box Chad alluded that this is a new rule he didn't know anything about it unfortunately for Chad this is something that was also cleaned up during the offseason as you can see here the fuel in the back of the car is absolutely hooked up.

Jimmie Johnson's 48 goes several feet over the line. That's not even a questionable call. Last year there were some doubts. about some details he cleaned it up you couldn't do anything to that race car out of the box they're a clear penalty to the 48 so look Rick you showed wins in your career how about this? This is RIN this season 2x with three Harvick with five everyone else with the big goose egg this is not only exciting for the guys on the race track but it puts a lot of pressure on the guys the night is already over if one of these guys win, maybe Wallace or Newman kill Bowman, it will change the whole picture of the playoffs, let's get back on the road and Marty, hey Rick, do you think after seeing that graphic there are some drivers who are desperate to win, including Kasey Kahne? your crew chief who started the season Travis Matt go a few weeks ago and John Leonard now in his third race as crew chief what if they could win tonight?

Kelly would be a party how about the party if the 43 of Richard Petty Motorsports and Bubba Wallace ended up in victory lane they talked about it over dinner Thursday and how fun it would be to see Bubba move to his front his crew chief drew Blickensderfer told me that's what Bubba likes at these tracks, he's aggressive, not afraid to make moves, others might be fine, Parker, what if the Dillon brothers could sweep here at Daytona for the year? way back at the end of this lap and now struggled to come back after cycling the ignition switch on that card has been working fine since Dave 34 front end fixed by Michael McDowell and also 34 side fixed Driver I've never repaired led a lap here in the Monster Energy Cup Series races here he's done it tonight and he's going strong for the final 34 he's led the second most laps of all Ricky Stenhouse jr. led 51 Michael McDowell led 20 laps at Daytona tonight Martin Truex Jr.

Never won on a restrictor plate race track. He already has three wins. The season wants to reach four. Kasey Kahne on the outside. Back to racing at Daytona. he gives Bubba the signal to go and Bubba gets a pretty good show and a lot of damage on the right side of Bubba Wallace's 43, but he keeps moving up in the top three. help of that here comes the top here comes the tricks of the top they're going to block they're next to each other for the lead he's actually losing the lead Kasey Kahne Kasey Kahne after running it Hendrick Motorsports for so many years loses his job and he's going to the 95 team and now Kasey Kahne leading the field at Daytona now you don't think Casey Kane will block that.

I can promise you that even Hendrick Motorsports is going to drive in this team that wants to show the world that he can still drive. e a race car you will see some aggressive game blocking from Kasey a week ago we mentioned how Brian Newman's 31 was probably the hardest car to pass on the race track what about blocking you how hard it is to block tricks lost leaves landing somewhere eight right back at the bottom though the car is moving there look uh here comes Harvick to the inside corner drive the four he's got some help now he's leaning back there he's going to punt he's going to put now he's going to letting back the outside is going to need help if he wants to get past Kasey Kahne a lot of people have hit the bottom right here they saw Truex jump to the bottom now he's got some help Ryan Newman runs to the bottom with his energy tight got to that bottom lane again there's three in half he's for two idiot falling for three walk back for idiot with a run babies go down to rock america beer what alex bowman run in '88 went up to l to second it looked like he had a run for the 95 it wasn't I can't make the pass now Harvick behind Kasey Kahne's 95 19 laps to go at Daytona this is picking it up again like they gotta make the moves now they gotta try to get on up front look at Martin Truex he is back up to third position.

I think right now he may have the fastest car on the race track. That's what Harvard Walt is pushing for. We heard Doug Campbell, Kasey Kahne's spotter, mention 78 on the outside. We know how well he didn't need help. last time he broke his way into the top five he did it by himself kasey kahne in front he's number one on a restrictor plate track what an alex bowman filled 88 move as we go NASCAR nonstop you saw it all in NASCAR unbelievable action without stop and so much carnage in these cars so many cars hit and pummeled kasey kahne in the front they have split kahne harvick truex jr bolin boyer newman all those guys trying to get away from the other group listen to martin truex jr radio and th the intensity of what you want you're trying to get that information from your spotter to let you know which blades are coming because you want to get up and get in front of that lane and block that lane and get momentum and speed out of it earlier in the race actually a few laps they didn't do it right they didn't do it they didn't communicate well and Martin got emotional we're nonstop we saw the action in the group we saw the 17 car smoking the tire rear left here's why big sigh gents Tim and he just ran into it yeah no way to tell I mean this contact and he's got the leather smoke and hopefully he can continue the rest of the race unexploded the damage looks like it's clearing now no more smoke but better to damage the much bigger tire now there are three distinct packs and we're in a situation where the second pack can roll on that first Packer is Kasey Kahne Harvick Truex Jr Ballman Boyer Newman Erik Jones Busch are those those cars are going to decide the winner of this race it looks like the first group is someone splitting up in the laps those guys are at the bottom they see they are not running in the top if they moved to the top which I think would be a bug letting this group catch them. so the case cait needs to know this is a smaller group less guys to defend for this stale win the bottom eight cars broke away created their own group running end to end right at the bottom of the track so you did a great point you make them move too soon and then you drag everyone back to you drag that caution back there ricky stenhouse jr. around the tire finally falls off now congratulations york because the notes go to the top minard races down pit road because he wants to take his life under trouble this is great for jimmy johnson he was the car that got one lap under high score one lap back and you still drive straight to pit road you'll go through the grass and hit pit road instead of going around the racetracks yeah I don't think you'll be moving around the racetrack without a left rear tire on. take a look here obviously we talked about it he's got watford tires breaking down he does it with a separate car look at all that chris panels stage one winner stage two winner we called him a gladiator earlier .

See all those flames down on the left side of him that's just a tire that ripped him off pulling metal aluminum it's all down there eighth caution and now less than 10 laps to go at Daytona Kasey Kahne can finish it he's in front amazing two weeks alreadyas NBC c Covers the Monster Energy Cup Series racing again, well it will continue next week, the night race in Kentucky, next Saturday night, 7:30 ET, come down here, talk with my crew chief, Steve Letarte, nine laps to go, I don't care if he goes down pit road I can drive this thing up front how come you didn't bring me that pit road to make me better?

I think even with a small group like this you don't want to give up the track position you have keep it to the front this is really the most frustrating time for a crew chief he enters the restrictor plate track about 20 laps ago and we really became a fan too we are training our driver to try to cheer him up in the spotter but as far as race duties mine ended about 15 or 20 laps ago now im just a fan so true , I always win, the next big decision is what Lane is going to pick, kasey kahne, to be the leader of the race. outside of picking your lane and I think when you have to decide there are two things number one who you think will push you better and number two which lane will be better on the bottom than the top and this could be a tough call yeah yeah in case you have come and we have seen these drivers they will signal to the driver behind them when to go ok if you are in the outside lane they all can see you ok they all see you signaling when you are going to draw look if you are on the inside line what you're hiding whoever's on the outside line so far tonight that the inner light prevails and he can signal the guy behind him to push no one else an outside line sees it they get the jump that's what i do and what i makes it so frustrating is you know the option the leader or anyone in the front row has to take the lead can be back row 2 row 3 row ahead so many times we've seen you know push is not the front row not even the two front cars can be all the way back as we see Jimmie Johnson's 40 Rick you mentioned it went down he got a penalty I rode it finally got his lap back Dave is now on pit road with four tires and Steve I mentioned both battery changes earlier it was an amp thing Jimmy was reporting and you see he has a chassis tweak there as well they just wanted to be sure the first time it was a little low the second time it wasn't that low but Chad Knaus made the decision to say we need to keep that thing running regardless so they changed the battery twice now they get the free pass jimmy johnson is back in the game yeah so i've seen an electrical problem for jimmy johnson ok you have to ask yourself dave you know if it goes low enough in volts they can start to damage the power and that's the last thing to try. to go back through the Martyvan field to have to have all the power available in Chevrolet, we will see, we always talk about the driver, but what about the owner?

Bob Levine is a Texas homebuilder with a passion for racing. Eight years ago, he started this racing team. of his own money and he has financed it with his own money for years 165 races later they have yet to get to Victory Lane imagine what he is going through now I asked you a moment ago you a little nervous said what do you think then jr. you've been in this position before sitting here trying to get the first win as an organization a lot of nerves in this pin 95 I absolutely want to say that's why they start this team to go to Victory Lane and they've been struggling to find the Circle of Victory for years.

There is a team with a very low budget. They started this team to make a positive impact on the sport and on their community. I mean, these are great people. It could be an incredibly important night for them to go to Victory Lane and This is why they hired Kasey Kahne when he was available. They wanted a big-name driver and they got Kasey Kahne's guys. It's been an amazing night, all right, let's bring everyone up to speed on what happened. he's been in the heat of battle all night good and bad a stage one a stage two - Long live Ricky Stenhouse jr. although not all of us have been good jr.

That's right, we're going to look at the first accident that Stenhouse has in the back of car 2 when you shoot, you throw a block. Stenhouse spins with it as if going through the rear. an accident where the country houses go a little crazy with the side drafting going into the back of this side of the car 18 Martin Truex Jr decided hey I'm done with this too much madness I don't want to be in the middle of this, but then it was time to go get that trophy and he just drove his car in the front and drugged the whole bottom line with me, a great ride back to the front for Park until that year.

I tell you what guys, the only thing we did. t see was the wild ride the 17 and 42 had also because when the 42 went around the 17 didn't really take much damage they did a good job preparing this car and giving it a go until the left rear tire blew all good so that Casey Kay made her decision, she decided that she will go to the top. has Martin Truex behind him Sorry he's got a bone behind him with a little bit of damage Martin Truex Jr is in a bot lane Martin's car is mostly unharmed maybe the only one the Toyota car the only one has no damage, i dont know if they are that big but as a driver you have to take your best bet and you have to stick with it go with the guy he will just push you as hard as he can yeah i am just concerned that he is literally showing his hand like when he gives a single which I hope most drivers do when he gets a single to boban behind him he's basically giving Kevin Harvick a single too hey guys listen up you talked about all the guys needing a win how about the big one? three lined up again two of them on the inside row can get another win Kasey Kahne the control car in 95 and they all speed together nose to tail top 14 cars will do it for Casey kevin harvick in the bottom kasey kahne high low six laps to go down the backstretch t Hey, go again.

Harvick is still there. He has momentum. Samba is going to sign a quarter draft of the 95. Inevitably, the 95 is hanging tight in the right back quarter here from Harvick coming off the fourth, but tricks will push him here. I think he needs Bowman. to get behind him the 95 puts Harvick in the lead five to go and now Harvick will try to block any line that has momentum sure the foul says clear the pack too strong Martin Truex Junior's car was earlier Couldn't believe that the tight tricks got towards his bumper right there back off a little bit look at that run the 14 had pushing the 78 to run he won't take it he'll just push him forward a little bit.

I wonder if he didn't take it because of his teammate there's a teammate for all four cars behind him right on the wall this time aric almirola caught double 0 Joey GaSe in the 34th who had a great run tonight gets caught on michael mcdowell not jimmie johnson also jimmie johnson's 48 just got back to the lead lap however not much damage on the 48 and a wheel rolled down the race track that thing still has the hub on it and everything is broke off the shaft. We tried to look at the smoke on the right front of the 48.

You see that's where the wheel was on Eric Ali Rolla's car, he ripped it off the casing it must have been hard contact because Michael McDowell tried to get off the 34, feel bad for michael we still going michael mcdowell had such a great time last night he took some of this and now the flames under the hood what a great night michael mcdowell had until that moment they knew you were here i can promise you he had a chance to win this race he showed he could Running up front put the shoot under the 34. They will have to clear these cars off the grass which could take some time.

I'd be surprised if they don't red flag this race. I think it's hurt but sometimes you know you hold that wheel a little bit and you'll see just reach a little bit here it's three wide four wide and four wide is hooked yeah it's just not enough this track it's not wide enough before a width at Talladega you can make it work it's a little wider but this race track ain't as wide as Talladega don't look the double 0's already on the hood turn the corner , case he's just trying to pick it up I know where those guys go Jimmie Johnson like I've seen this before a loud bang was my angry McDowell sandwich Eric on the wall celebrates the wheel coming off then you see the 48 it slides down on the grass the wheel actually comes back and hits the 10 and rolls over it and then it keeps going down the track thats what hurts check this out yeah the wheel comes back it rolls over the 10s 10 and go on, those hurt, well you're the car outside and cars sim They just push you against the wall, those are the ones that talk to me, just take my breath away. outside of you it just hurts n it's just that those are painful accidents remember aric almirola broke his back in Kansas when he was involved in a big accident we saw him come out of 10 again the ninth caution at Daytona only three more to go here the Cleanup continues and it looks like I'll be back to do overtime at Daytona, we've seen a few times at this track, we've seen some incredible battles that have taken place at the track tonight and long before this caution came out we saw Martin Truex Jr with a great racing look. on Clint Boyer gets to 78 the air pushes the 78 out now Martin Truex has a great run but he doesn't take it he doesn't stop next to the four cars he just runs to the back of the floor to move him forward it's a call interesting look what happens you see Kevin Harvick sighs he's like what he's going to do it looks clear that will be the decision Martin regrets maybe it was a shot but he has a boyer clip behind him so the cliffs won't help him pass Clint teammate that's the sticky item situation now the situation on the restart Harvick I'm sure he's going to want Boyer behind him pushing him because those teammates will be working together Marty Rick tonight it's Kevin's nine lives Harvick let's look at the early crash on Rodney then though bumper cover and all and here you are in overtime over the start and you're in the lead are you as surprised as anyone? would you like?

Well that's the way things work in these Speedway races, you never know what's going to happen, you just have to keep fighting all weekend, but you get to know everyone at Super House Race and build a great car. I felt like the car was still fast enough to start the race and Doug Yates texts me every two seconds trying to say. us what to do here so we'd really like to get a restrictor plate win you know like 14 we've been quick on everything where before we haven't been able to get one so let's try like hell how do you to do things differently on this reboot maybe because I know that's been a topic that Doug has been texting you about, well I don't know, I mean, you just have to go after it and try to make that something happen, a semi eight car has been fast, I think everyone knows that, but we've got our teammate behind us to push and hopefully we had to practice.

Kevin Harvick Kelly has been all over this field tonight but right now he's in the lead but he'll be lined up next to 78 Martin Truex Jr. Cole Pearn is the crew chief, you guys are looking at his first race win with restrictor plate, what would you like to see from Martin in this overtime? So who knows, I mean it's a, you know, almost weird picking up speed, one lane holds together better, so how have they managed to survive this long? the night has been like yeah we know we wanted to stay out of trouble all night and we managed to do that and here we're sitting we have an opportunity that's pretty unknown to us so who knows we'll take everything we can to get here, okay, we're looking forward to it.

Rick, that's been amazing, so now you see them lined up two by two and Kevin Harvick has picked the inside lane, which means his teammate will be right behind him with Clint Boyer. my decision right now i thought it was a great interview rodney childers talking about doug yates calling him texting him telling him what to do door racing robert yates his father man this is all plate racing they love it and just have a passion for it and you know doug yates wants to win this plate race, it means a lot to that company in the sense that they're doing well jeff jr. check out these top three, well they already have 10 wins this season, the rest of the top 10 have yet to win, they talk about Erik Jones, he snuck in there and had a quiet but effective afternoon. to show that he lost a few races this year, kasey kahne, we talked about him, he gave up on that inside line and maybe he picked wrong on that restart,can he bounce back and maybe get his team back to victory lane tonight, yes Alex Bowman, Hendrick Motorsports drivers in which ty Dillon? the bottom of the track may be trying to keep fuel on fuel injection has had its fuel problems yes we've been there oh dear it's over time featured by credit a harvick truex bench through the gears everyone is pushing that sideline looking a little better right now but we have to go down to the turn here and the shorter distance on the bottom are diving together though Truex has the help hey Rick Joe look at his work doing a great job pushing mar Rey Rex Jr. up front and they break apart but the rinse is clear when the women don't get help there's no one at the bottom to help Harvick now the 95 is pushing Erik Jones now he clears the rice Hari goes up on the 95 try to move to the front too he's going to push the 20 the 78 of Martin Truex Jr to the front coming out of turn four once they get the white flag the next flag will call the 14 around boyar er against the wall caution exits just before they hit the start/finish line some major hits bayne caught up with his favorite racers brendan gaughan also on this one jimmie johnson's 48 trevor bayne lots of damage to jimmy's car Johnson Ross Chastain major damage to 15 overtime rules you have to take the white flag again to make it a full run otherwise they'll try again this time the caution came out just before Martin Truex Jr arrived to the finish line and we see Jimmie Johnson going out the window so they'll try overtime one more time you see Trevor Bayne has won at this track before as you mentioned trying to prove himself again Clint Boyer got sideways in the trioval, he hit the wall hard, let's take a look at the replay, get an idea of ​​how this all started, see Clint Boyer and Bubba Wallace, Clint is in. but he's got a little thai rub there but he's pushing and turning pushing so hard that Clinton is moving around the front bumper and pinning him against the wall which is really aggressive. you're hooking up wrong, it's just very aggressive pushing, very aggressive drafting, which is what's going to happen at the end of these races, yeah they got misaligned when they got misaligned, here's Kevin Harvick. running is a big shock they let it hit really hard for sure Harvick did it acknowledging the crowd also two teammates are going to talk about it teammates two great friends right there find out how that started and how it happened you know they are talking about that, normally they would take an ambulance ride back to the infield care center, they didn't want to wait around, they decided they would walk themselves and us.

There will be another overtime still up front Truex Jr and Eric Jones will now have no teammates to help them because they will be together at the front watch another replay of this and junior you're right it's that moment in a race you're going to push and right there you see bubbles pushing 14 and 14 moves to the left and when it did now you push it on the far right rear of the bumper and just like the crash we saw earlier in the race you just turn the car right into the wall and you know when you're pushing someone how you're pushing it is so important you have to have everyone everyone needs to be lined up and the most effective way is to the right rear but if you get misaligned just hit a boom that's what happens it just pulls it back the right always painting with a fan to remember these cars going over a hundred and eighty miles an hour with a hard wall impact yeah guys you just mentioned that ace That's how it starts, 14 becomes a big impact, but look Jimmy Johnson comes in, he's at the top of the screen, he hits the wall, then he hits Clint Boyer and he starts to turn left, he basically has to come straight towards me.

Another shot at the 48 at this point, it's just ready for the ride, but you see, wow, why doesn't NASCAR use these last three pit stops anymore? This is basically a pit stall. so you see I mean you see how close you are to you See now how NASCAR makes the decision which pits are no longer used for pit crews and people may wonder why Jimmie Johnson wasn't on the brakes well I did I was, but when cars break down, that valley of Rick breaks things and the brakes don't. it doesn't work anymore there are times when you just don't have your brakes and you see fluid on the track too so if Jimmie Johnson was even trying to brake there was probably fluid on the track in front of him let's do a replay here with the top off Ricky Stenhouse Ascari slow and down a lot of debris these cars sliding all over the place nowhere for him to go he can't slow the car you're going too fast so that's something that's going to get you Also you talked about the fluids and debris in the race track, you lock up the front tires and you drive right into that accident.

Check this out right here. These guys knew what they were doing. Look what it says. Records seconds on the back of the record. They knew what was coming, yeah Jr., he's working, a knife hasn't made it to the checkers, yeah, but we will Tenth warning now a red flag as the field what gets parked on the backstretch power cup series coke zero sugar 400 from a Daytona International Speedway I want to hear some exciting 78 and 20 team radio. I see we always pull it off, so they're congratulating Erik Jones there as far as pushing the 78 to the front and how close they came to getting that white flag. oh that white flag means Martin Chuzzlewit not everyone made it so now he has a tough decision to make because he doesn't have Erik Jones behind him now the guy who did a great job will have a decision to make.

I got Chris Buescher he was a guy I could pick I don't know I don't know what his pick will be or Kasey Kahne that's usually how it works so if you're the lead and you're going to hand signal the car behind you , you signal him to speed up not you and so when he speeds up that's a guaranteed shock going to happen and as soon as you're gone you signal him to speed up then you speed up like a division and say later than that guarantees you'll block the bumpers and then he can push you and take out and so on. wait to give that signal i want to be inside and not show you know not show my hand to the guys if i'm on the outside row and you brought the control car does that first which right now is a smart truck tractor which It's lane you choose so I'm going on the inside and you have to have the discipline too if it's not locked on your bumper you have to drag that brake you have to get away from you it's so hard to lift the throttle I don't even care if it's probably what I'm supposed to do it's hard to live that's what's going to help you stay cool crew chief be cockpit what's up last start listen I'm going to pick background just because I think background is the place to be I think the cars in the bottom are forced to stay there for e and two can't jump off the line guys on the outside row 3rd fourth 5th and position can bail out they can go up a lane at the bottom cr I see the push stays more consistent until the start ooh now you come out of turn two game on.

Not sure what happens on the backstretch but if you can run the first mile of this track think you have the best chance of winning ok so crew chief says get that first stack. Underway, well, we saw them complete almost two and a half miles before chaos ensued in the test. I'm not saying the outside line can't do it, he's seen it happen, but if you start off right he gives a good push. spin one and then you have the shortest distance seems like the best option to go with Matt DiBenedetto Chris Buescher running fifth and fourth two names you don't normally see up there remember when I said Allmendinger was one of two drivers to have three consecutive finishes between top 10 on restrictor plate tr well guess what's in the top six which is back in eighth place DJ Kenta saw him spin out the back right away the other thing we've seen on these restarts the cars that are in the third lane can also play a role, so you know. we're talking about saying 37 pushes 20 but also 47 can push 37 which is very important and they're teammates so if 47 can do a good job pushing 37 then that gets 20 pushed Like well what I'm looking at right now is a 32 car how can it push compared to the 47?

There was three rows back but it will influence how this restart happens see Benedetto has issues yes he has damage to his car so no I don't think Lane is going to be able to push as well as 47 yes they come out of a turn Two in the leaders are still satisfied, the outside becomes probably the most competitive lane, the yellow lights go back to the pace car, which means I'll go around one more time if the outside is organized out of turn. two and they're still side by side with the lead they definitely have a boost in opportunity to clear the rear right away so if Truex can get clear if T-Rex is going to take the lead he's going to have to get clear no. exit to turn to i'm kind of a listener i've been paying attention down here you had me at the bottom now you got me at the top y'all have had great arguments but you've had great arguments for both lanes now i'm confused where i think i want to be.

I don't like the top. I'm just saying if you don't clean the top on 1 and 2, they'll be a bunch in the back right away because they'll get organized. Hey. Steve only told you one thing: the last time Martin Truex Jr was on pit road was lap 120, it's been 45 laps with no fuel issues, right? I mean we wouldn't have a problem with running out of fuel. about five laps away theoretically how far they could go but see ya 21 of those laps weren't too yellow I probably have basically half a tank of gas left there's so many low yellow so I don't think that be a concern now it's all going to be about what the two drivers have said the crew chiefs are out of it they're all out of it now it's about who gets going and who has the most help yeah I think that's is the key but that's why I'm sure you know last restart Kevin Harvick picked his teammate and he picked the line he protected but his teammate couldn't push him Boyer wasn't with him in the outside lane , they're all, they were all hooked up and they passed him because it was a more organized push and I'm just looking at car 32 DiBenedetto it looks like he's damaging me on the front of the car looks damaged the 47 car looks clean on the front lead, so i think that outside lane may have better boosters i like the race track at the bottom but i like the lane on the outside jeff yesterday we saw the pass coming from the second row coming out of turn four with fewer cars no that dynamic change oh I think it changes I think it changes a lot because when you get to the fourth or fifth row you have cars that are wrecked you have no fingers on some of them well the fans know it's about to go crazy. again because everyone has stood up once more, it will be two laps in time for the second time march rex jr. on the inside, his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Erik Jones will be on the outside Eric Jones is still tight, he's still there on the fourth panel, but there's a big gap between him and Chris Buescher and he leads, he has to clear easily up front with no help to Erik Jones at the back of that restart Martin Truex Jr well up front now all he has to do is block but here comes Casey Kahne on the high side Trader wants to take the lead as they go Down the backstretch Big move now Kenny clearing Jets, are you trying to slow down? side seat for the lead how's that laughs lynch more organized only two cars really down on the inside going back to the white flag if they get it the race is official two and a half miles to go to Daytona with only two cars tricks It's going to sink the grass, but he's not going to get much help from Kasey Kahne.

His 47 outside lane pushes him to 37. That will get him to 20. Possibly here he comes. Here it comes. in the 20 is close got a big push from Butcher's 37 here comes the 78 one more time Jones this number one in Monster Energy silverware easily blocked Martin Truex Jr's 78 has never won on a restrictor plate track reaching the tri -oval for the last time Erik Jones is what Daytona came up with and just gave one shot pushed past Martin Truex Jr's career to find one night for that kid his first win and the date told him and how emotional Erik Jones has to Being his first time winning the Cup Series, his father is not w With him, he lost his father two years ago in order to compete.Erik Jones's father sold his Corvette, his prized possession, so that Erik Jones could race well.

Erik Jones, after making it to the Cup Series, bought that Corvette back and now he can celebrate at Daytona. the biggest race track in NASCAR is going to put a smile on Joe Gibbs' face Joe has been very public and has said how bad he felt about Erik Jones because they've been working out well and things just hadn't worked out and he kept Saying man he's doing a good job not getting the final results so tonight was a no trouble night he did what he had to do in the end he got this moment presented by Sunoco fueling the wins all season and fueling Erik Jones' biggest win of a lifetime the crowd here on this fourth of July weekend, you got to see amazing racing last night in the Xfinity series and now Erik Jones has taken his first career win in the Monster Energy Cup series.

Teammates with Martin Truex junior last year wondered why. in this move to Joe Gibbs Racing was going to do for Erik expect something big for him this year and realize his potential with Isis let's go to Rutledge Wood Rick all smiles for Mayor Jones down here picking up his first Cup Series win in Daytona Eric, how you feeling, man? You did it. Congratulations, boys and girls of the race. What's that? That was something else. got away but Wow awesome race Toyota come here and my first Cup win my first Daytona win my first Super Speedway win what an amazing day man it's uh I'm out of breath too much smoke in the car because of that exhaustion.

I can barely breathe though awesome ending Erik the years of hard work you brought down you got that checkered flag all these fans on their feet what do you want to say thank you so much thank you I was a lot of hard work to be here man i was thinking about i sing about myself mom and dad rig After checker my mom stayed over from this one she's going to mix my first Cup win so hi mom and dad he would have been so proud of the work we did to get here thank you me Terry Jones first time winner tonight Rick said he was out of breath but he was able to race to get the checkered flags.

The 22-year-old from Byron, Michigan. Erik Jones wins on Daytona's biggest stage. we're here with you and post-race coverage will continue on NBCSN as the trip to the most coveted field in all of Daytona Beach, Victory Lane and Jr. I talked about this, I mean, this is a trip this young man will remember for the rest of his life. , that's right, I mean it went into what I told you today, the biggest stage in NASCAR, this is this race track, it's kind of the foundation of our sport and it can drive on very, very hallowed ground, you know that, and he knows it you know he's a runner and a purist at heart he knows how important and how big this is to him it's a bit of a long drive so you have that anticipation when you get there you get a great link from picture you make it turn right there you can see the crew these guys start to show their excitement, excitement, happiness for you and he's the real deal that's the best. place to stop after a race The Barker boys were here in victory lane Erik Jones is going to throw get out of the car here Daytona bunch of Gatorade confetti the excitement of the first way Eric I know how much you wanted this first witness to say I what it means for them to be in Daytona and get it and be locked in the playoffs for the first time of your career oh man what a day what a day I didn't think we were going to have a chance to win it they're halfway there and we went back in In contention the guys did a great job fixing this and getting there with the Toyota comms camera to Victory Lane.

I mean, I've never been that good at super speed and I never thought this was our chance to win, but we got here tonight. so much feels better than this what a thrill Rick you don't even care about the confetti in your face more live coverage of Daytona below on NBCSN with the post-race show below on NBC you're late for local news except on the west coast has more first-time winners than any other race track in Daytona and it just so happens young Erik Jones wins at Daytona This copyrighted broadcast may not be reproduced, rebroadcast or used in any way without the authorized written consent of NASCAR.

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