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

thank you 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 in us, in your name we ask amen here with us tonight to perform our national anthem from Fort Bragg North. Carolina, please welcome the all-American chorus of the 82nd Airborne Division in the last gleam of twilight, whose broad stripes and bright stars or ramparts we saw were so gallantly live and against the grain, oh, say, that star-studded banner. Oh, let's hear it one more time for the all-American choir of the 82nd Airborne Division and the F Twenty-seconds of Techno who continue a Daytona tradition dating back to the 1970s.

Join us as we honor three of the greatest heroes brave men of America this Independence Day weekend. Each of these individuals received a medal. of honor for going above and beyond the call of duty while engaging in daring operations against enemy forces, let us welcome Master Sergeant Don Jenkins, Command Sergeant Major Gary Luttrell, and Master Sergeant Leroy Petry, which is the highest personal military decoration. high and prestigious that anyone can receive. honor there was a beautiful the sun brought down our trap and our singing stewey he's running down the drain you would come to me down the drain it's Monster Energy Cup Series Coca-Cola Zero Sugar 400 Daytona Beach Florida Daytona International Speedway before the stories we're I'm going Let's move on tonight, let's go to pit road, we start with Marty Snider, hey Rick, although Chase Elliott starts from the pole tonight, he told me that stage 1 is very critical for this racing team, why did he say that he learned over the years that a restrictor plate

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II you have to prove that your car has speed if you prove that it has speed team to work with you helped me at the beginning of the

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and let's help each other late and maybe we'll get to the victory lane Kelly Kurt Busch just won the restrictor plate race win on his resume but it was important last year's Daytona 500 he told me this morning his tank is

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of desire to win here again if he does it tonight will be their first win of the season a pit crew is eager to score, they qualify 23rd, but were hoping a car would handle better once they entered the race partner and Erik Jones only has one top ten in the race with restrictive plate.

It was here last year and, when talking to his crew chief, Chris Gayle, he said to me: look. where we are in the points position at the moment we are only half as good in the playoff standings we desperately need stage points and we desperately want a win tonight it's that chance mate you have a tough task at home , starting in 29th place, Dave Parker last night. Kyle Larson, 25, from Elk Grove California, did something he had never done in his career before winning at Daytona. His team leader told me that he loves it when he runs a day before because he always learned something.

Could I have learned enough to win twice? On a weekend in Daytona it is possible that Steve Letarte will do it, you will have one of the best views from the top of the peacock box. I'm going to Dave down here, in the box, free. You mention what Kyle Larson learned last night. I've learned to cover NASCAR from Daytona for 25 years as it never lacks excitement, never disappoints in the action. Just look at one race last night, a big crash where we see Austin Syndrich's 60 go down in turn one. Think about the Daytona 500. In February, Austin Dillon's accident going to Victory Lane and Dale Jr.

I will never forget the first race for me, friends, see on the stand his last victory here in Daytona, it was impressive not only for his victory but for this accident, they always told him

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of emotion Sharia Steve, that was a really terrifying moment. We couldn't celebrate until we knew Austin was out of the car and what a night for us, it's a night for all of you, too big a night for you in the booth, but you know every time you win here at Daytona it's Special, obviously it means a lot for me and my family and to be able to add another victory to the victory column as a great night.

I think the good thing about this race is that you never know what's going to happen until it's over, you know. can go down, be leading the race over the Daytona 500 leading the race on a backstretch aric amirola didn't win the race someone else did Austin Dillon ran him off the road that's Daytona we talk about the accidents but also about those late races changes of position and that opportunity to take the lead and get that big victory you have 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 the engines so it is time for the order, come on track racing fans, it's time for the most famous words in motorsports to be here to give the order to start engines, please welcome your grand marshal, colonel Gregory Gatson, home.

I love a big order that gets everyone excited. 40 cars are coming. to live drivers tied 400 miles in front of us from Daytona NASCAR on NBC is out front, you buy Coca-Cola, the official fan soft drink of NASCAR Chevrolet, the most awarded car company for four years in a row and at Subway restaurants, oh My God, oh my God. that's not good Keselowski wins at Daytona instead the houses go to tonight's grid presented by Coke Zero

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up front once again, that's it Hendrick Motorsports chases Elliott Alex Bowman they'll make up for that chase in the road Elliott is 22 years old Alex Bowman only 25 years old, the youth of the sport at the forefront, everyone always talks about Piske Motorsports, they are the dominant team on the plate tracks.

Well, I think the best guy in that group is Brad Keselowski. It starts here in row 2 and in row 3, we have last year's winner. in this race Ricky Stenhouse, man, big surprise right here, Michael McDowell, had the best finish of his career, a fourth place here in this race last year, in row five, we have Austin Dillon, winner of the 500 of this year's Daytona, initial start. Clint Boyer has to play for wins, but never here at Daytona he started behind, then we have Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney Ryan Blaney raced very well here in February got caught up in a crash at the end of the race didn't get the win started on row seven behind them a Spartan it's true I can't believe it but I've never won a race at the plate 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 one at a time side by side again.

We could expect more from these two. Alright, let's talk to Kyle Larson because he put on an incredible show a week ago and he was actually able to get back to Victory Lane yesterday in the Xfinity Series, but style him on the radio. Hey Kyle, guys in the NBC booth, you're with us. Yeah I got it mate, you've been a part of two great results in the last two races. Can we expect more of that tonight? Yes I hope so. Carl, thank you. Chevy was good. A little drafting practice. We made it more comfortable than normal.

The good races were always crazy, no, they will just try to keep the problems going and I ask, how do you do that? How can you be aggressive and do the things you need to do to win this race and not get in trouble? Well, no. 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 drives well and is useful, they could be aggressive and try to get to the front to keep the track. position, but you know, if Hansel is in our cars, maybe you'll travel a little bit and wait until we get to the end of the race, but I don't know, no.

I have another good job in this career, the bathroom, well everyone on this board knows you have talent so I'm sure you'll find out, good luck tonight, but yeah, thanks, okay, we see we're going to travel with Kyle Larson, but we'll do it with a Some different drivers take us through this, guys we see here, we have Bubba Wallace jr. the

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camera has that great head cam, the helmet cam, which will be amazing, there will be some great shots tonight. We just talked to Kyle Larson, he has the credit, a bank camera on the roof.

Austin Dillon, Daytona 500 winner, Coca-Cola cameraman, here we are. riding for number 17 Ricky Stenhouse with the third bench Kim happy Harvick number four Jimmy John's came and this is the view everyone wants tonight Jeff yeah sure number nine is chasing Elliott and Camp Chevrolet is now invited to the fans to submit a design for the push-pull of war trophy that will go to the driver who wins the most awards in the polls throughout the season and Tyler Turner of Reynolds Illinois created the winning entry and decided to include a cup in his design after thinking what a Busch trophy would be without a cup.

I think he's pretty smart, we'll see him and his trophy in November at the NASCAR Awards in Las Vegas when he presents it to the winning driver and chases Elliott with the win here yesterday and now we're looking at the field. their way back to pit road is a tradition here in Daytona that honors the military this 4th of July weekend, the stars and stripes are still on our minds, Navy Air Force Marines and the Coast Guard, all represented as everyone on pit road and in the The grandstand will rise to honor our military, our men and women who wear the uniform with pride every day protecting our freedoms and allowing us to do the things we love to do like what we are doing right now, enjoying this 4th of July weekend a great racing atmosphere a lot of respect in this sport for our military weekly we proudly recognize members of the five branches of our nation's military, the Army of the United States, the United States Marine Corps, the United States Navy, the United States Air Force and the United States Coast Guard, NASCAR

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. -tail Daytona International Speedway and fans would like to thank the women and men of the United States Armed Forces past and present for their service, thank you for making the commitment and sacrifice to protect our freedoms, we honor you all and each of you 242 years.

Years ago the Declaration of Independence was adopted and this great nation took shape over that time. One constant has remained: the steady, unwavering strength of the United States Armed Forces. Tonight we celebrate the freedom and sacrifices made to maintain a NASCAR salute to those who serve and to those who continue to serve the United States of America, of course it shines a little brighter on the 4th of July weekend, but every victory in NASCAR from the world center of racing, Daytona International Speedway, about to start with the 18th race of the season and make sure that we will jump to the fantasy league, we have our own fantasy league, NASCAR, don't worry, NBC Sports, fantasy, I want to join, we'll gladly take you ten races up, let's say the playoffs, you guys are doing pretty well, right, yeah, we're doing well, this race is tough because you guys I really have to pay attention because you've got your driver in the garage and you must take him out if you want to put him in the starting lineup before the start of this last stage, so pay attention to what is happening on our line. up there, yeah, this is the one that's going to be the hardest to call because a lot of guys can go up there and make it a good night, so trying to pick those five, pick the right five, can we go down?

I'm trying to figure out when I'll have time to get the driver out of my garage I might be gone 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 won't forget about that hey Yesterday, Todd Lewis from the channel of golf, he came and took a spin with Denny Hamlin and they talked about seeing the air, listen, you know, here at Daytona International Speedway, Dale Earnhardt used to say he could see the air he used. You see it? Also, what it is basically saying is that you can see air pockets starting to form, so you can see two cars in front of you, if they are disturbing the air, you can feel it in your car, your car will start to rev up. . because there's less resistance, you know, if you can two cars next to each other, just think about yourself, you know, if you're following a tractor-trailer, that's a good amount of air on the road that, like your car, starts to dampen if you put two next to each other, almost no air enters your car, so nothing happens to the rear wing and that is the only thing that stops us is the air that touches the rear wing, that is what stops our car.

We heard Denny Hamlin talk about seeing. the air Junior and I know that I could never see the air and I always wondered when you found out that your dad talked about seeing the air what exactly he meant, yes, he couldn't see it either, but he knew where it was and he always always insisted on using a open helmetand he said he could feel the pressure change in the car and feel and hear the engine better so he could understand when that air is working correctly. You've seen Kyle Petty on the draft side. a lateral draft Oh, Dale Jarrett, right here at the rocket eight, look at the lateral draft and stay away, you know he's trying to get away from Dale Jarrett so he doesn't get drafted again.

I mean dad, I don't know if dad invented the lateral draft, but he certainly was the best at it, well I think you learned pretty well, you guys mentioned 34 wins for your dad or 17 for you, yeah, I saw him run a lot of races here , win a lot of races here and I was wondering. I 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 racer these days, he's the guy who's moving around trying to learn something. even if it isn't.

Work just trying to make something happen and I think that's the important thing about the start of this race, 160 to go, but be ready, get to the green flag, 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.In my opinion, in today's racing, surely playing races is exceptionally important, if you make it, do everything you can to keep the safety cars from reaching the top. Hard left turn onto pit road that will leave the field in the hands of chasing Elliott Alex Bowman forming row 1.

Fans stand up as the Coke Zero Sugar 400 is underway. An interesting restart, not a very tight restart, of course, the cars are going to bunch up. and start drafting a little as they get more pursuit speed. Elliott took out the wet lead quite easily. It's very important to get that lead and lead early. You want to lead every lap. That's where that's the safest place to be Jim in this race. As it progresses we're going to see more aggressive restarts with people trying to hit and push each other, they're trying to take that advantage. You say that's the safest place to be, but right here is where Aric Almirola was leading with just less than half a lap in the Daytona 500 and he turned around has the last lap anything goes on the last lap look different but there is a safe play speed throughout the race you are going to be in front and you want to work all night to try to stay there and that way you don't have to work to get there later.

You know that if you're leading this race with 100 laps to go, you're in a great position and you want to lead it with about 50 laps to go. Continue when they start taking those last warnings, so it's very important that you don't know, relax and abandon the track position, now you want to hold it all night, make it easy for your pit crew, make it easy for your team leader know. What strategy to use? Do all that to stand out from here. You see Austin Dillon and he wants to go up and give McDowell just a touch.

You didn't move. You have to be careful because Stenhouse's number 17 car is inside. in front of McDowell hooking into our do, push him to 17 and call a crash that will be much more aggressive later in the race at this point everyone is trying to look out for each other, obviously they are trying to take advantage of each other. and if you can get a position you get, but you don't want to start, there won't be any crashes that early, already rewired here and junior, you mentioned that being in the middle of the three could be the most nervous place on the entire track, yes, you need a A lot of information from your spotter to be able to navigate a situation like that outside of the chase.

Elliott's car. I think the most aggressive playing coach, sir, on the track is here, the two-car guy, Brad Keselowski. He could promise him if he can get it. The leader will be you and everything he can do with Boeing right here he has his teammate Jimmie Johnson chasing Elliott with the block, now he is hoping that Keselowski doesn't run because The keys to Laos are far enough away or anywhere place where I am not. I didn't think he would go down there and block him, he committed to that top and thought that even if Keselowski got to the inside, he has two teammates behind him, so he has good loyalty behind him to be able to claim that position.

Marty, keep your FN Don. It's interesting what Chase Elliott told us, the countdown to get to green, he said I feel like from the beginning of the race I have to establish that I have speed, I want to show other cars that they can work with me and trust me, he said, I learned that yesterday in the In the Xfinity Series race they saw that we had a fast car and suddenly I have a lot of friends, so jr. For a young driver like Chase Elliott, you agree with them on how important it is to prove.

Hey, I have some speed work with me, that's absolutely true and you want to start doing it, you download the race card, you go out and practice and you show those guys that you can do the moves and that your car can complete the moves that they They know on Sunday when this race starts or on Saturday night in this example that you're a guy that's going to have a fast car and help them get to the front so they're more willing to work with you chase Elliott he's trying to drag that line. outwards look what he is doing he is entering the corner of the wall and he stays there without going to the bottom they wait to generate some momentum on the outside line to make the inside line move where it doesn't work and at this moment everyone go with them, as long as they stay single file, it's going to be hard to get that inside line moving again, so Chase Elliott is crushing the line.

He gasses right now with his right foot, but on Wednesday, when he was jumping into a pool having fun for the 4th of July, he sprained his right ankle. How hard is it for a guy with a sprained right ankle to step on the gas? That's a Great, that's a great question because he's going to be hitting the gas all night and pushing hard, man, he's going to try to get everything he can out of this car every lap so he doesn't feel any pain or right now. The ankle is going to be bothering him this weekend, but he's going to have to deal with it after the race for sure, honey, there were times when the inside of the car got so hot that I actually grabbed my left foot and squeezed the accelerator, yes, because my Hill is burning my right foot, so I lift it off the ground and put my left foot on the accelerator and use it.

You can do it here because you are very open. You can't do that in Charlotte, but you can. certainly do it here, let's take a look at the helmet cam here for the bumpy ride Bubba Wallace jr. and look exactly what he's dealing with here, an outside line that's trying to move forward saw 204 miles an hour there for a Bubba, yeah back in the pack, it's a lot harder to navigate, you gotta lift a lot, you're getting big . run on guys and sometimes you have nowhere to go, you're kind of boxed in if you swerve down the middle three times, is it too early to do that?

You know you get into a crash and then you're that friend's guy. I'm going to blame starting them, look hard, you had to get up right there and let the inside line run when you got such a big boost, so kind of half funny, oh you couldn't see it, but jr. that's what the inside line needs, they need something like that to happen to stop that momentum and get the inside spin, yeah, that's a driver, you're there looking far enough ahead to see that happen before it happens, you know, you see those cars four or five. rows ahead and start lifting, you need to be ready to lift or if you get this information from your spotter, you have a great spotter who can give you that information to pay until everyone is stacking up here Kelly for Bubba Wallace in the Daytona 500.

They showed that they had good speed at that time and were feeling very optimistic today. Their crew chief, Drew Blickensderfer, told me they are very happy with the car. It has very good handling. They said they intentionally took some speed off the 43 car to help with that drivability. Bubba knows exactly what to expect as the tires wear down on this car, they see this as a great opportunity for this 43. He earned a lot of respect in the Daytona 500 when he finished second in the fastest race. big. race, the sport has to start the season at the Daytona 500 and finish in second place while climbing to the front once again, here comes Ricky Stenhouse jr. very aggressive and a very good tackle runner making the move on the outside Jimmie Johnson was in the outside lane playing with all his teammates playing well and then he decided he was going to drive to the back and when he did he made that inside line would move. and I checked that outside alignment and that caused Chase Elliott to go to the back of the lane, so Jimmie Johnson's move changed the whole rhythm of what Chase Elliott was trying to do now that he's back to the back of the lane. , they use the word loyalty, well teammates. he sees different ways right now, he grabs a nice cold coke and buckle up.

You're watching Coke Zero

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400 on NBC and you need to buckle up. They have been two and three open and a good fight for the John Deere leadership has begun. three wide Gator brings you this moment when the drivers were three wide, you see Clint Boyer on the inside of Logano right in the middle and Jamie McMurray on the high side. TJ majors is the Joey Logano watcher and DJ majors very familiar with you, Dale jr. he was your spotter for many years absolutely you know he's a spotter so abort this racetrack is where they make their money man are they talking to their drivers all night trying to help them get around this racetrack and help them navigate traffic? the races come from who pushes who how strong the races are from behind how to block them big change in the lead here obviously with the man making his way into second place it was a surprising qualifying so it surprised the race tonight. now he applauds leading the race and before we left we said that Hendrick's chat train went to the back of the race track and when he did it created a big line on the outside with all the pressure inside, it's outside, look at the shot of he.

The McGregor girl gives two. he just pushes it down in front of Chase Elliott and that's how he got the lead, then once he got the lead he drug the line to the top right now the top line has been the best line which is once that align themselves. the file goes up, it seems to move away from the bottom, you will need something like having jr above. where two guards got together, those below from those above have to achieve that result with the momentum and I will be surprised that with the track cars lined up and working together they couldn't offend that or not Don't you know that the chase maybe wasn't a little more aggressive to finish that, but they're committed to ingenuity, they're committed to each other just to get better and if they stay there, can they get that line going again?

On their way back to the front they're going 200 miles an hour and pulling away from Austin Dillon in 3, a big move Austin is running third right now, but when they're going 200 miles an hour someone comes and knocks you in the face. the back. bumper like that and it gives you that little extra burst of speed, how does that feel? You just want them to do it on the straight, you don't want them to do it in the corners or obviously on the tri-oval, the cars are very loose. and a handful are already alone in the tri-oval, so you don't want anyone to push you there and that's where they push you, Jeff, they want the guys to push you on the right back panel, which is where it will be most comfortable if they get into that left rear quarter panel and they hit you, that's easily a way to make a guy turn around.

It's so scary to get up on that right rear quarter panel and push that rear bumper because if you ever get this line now, you don't route the court right or you turn the hippo head first into the wall, so that's the most effective spot, 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, this little team is bringing the fight with all the big boys in the Cup Series and they have a Roush engine, they had Shella to build this car and he is closely following Dave, that's right, Jeff and a small group of people who have the help of a great organization like Roush, but Roush has been fighting everywhere put in the restrictor plate brackets, so when Roush does well here so do front row motorsports Michael McDowell and David Ragan right now McDowell proving they have the same muscle that our brother has.

It's great to see these little guys. teams have a chance, that's what Daytona offers Daytona and Talladega, let's take a look at this replay here. Impact draft if you see the frontstretch through the route he gets, it's a decent push.I mean, that's nothing that bothers McDowell, you know? of the problem, you're trying to hit it as soon as you can, so as soon as it straightens out, you want to give it that push, so Dillon did a great job of going to the trouble of setting it up, you know, pushing it as soon as his car settled .

Right off the bat, buddy, he remembers that his brother won the Daytona 500 earlier this year. Asked. Know? When you come to these Super Speedway races, do you enjoy them? You look forward to it because you know that a couple of years ago I made a conscious decision to like this guy. of racing because you can go in any direction, you can hate it and knock yourself out or you can like it and enjoy it and get great races and this race last year it slowed down the race and that's what triggered it when he said that gave me so much confidence.

To come here tonight, confidence is key, if you are safe behind the wheel of your car, you should feel good about doing what you want. Very interesting things happened here. Jeff, yeah, Denny Hamlin trying to make some moves. on Joey Logano, he's weaving in and out of the line trying to see this whole line starting to form up high, but he's still looking there, still trying to make passes and trying to make them, so I'm with his sneaky cousin, I hate to say which was like a man who slides, he's trying to get up, he's trying to move around that guy, he stops in front of him before the hole closes and he's trying to see these cars coming back, he knew that They were going to be on the outside and I think that's what he was trying to do, he 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 it in him to do this.

Time and time again, when the entire field lines up at the top, he will be one of those guys who will do everything he can to form a line at the bottom. He doesn't like sitting in a row. I'm traveling on top of the track all day he's trying to find everything there, he found a hole so he tried something he almost paid a price for it. 2016 Daytona 500 winner Denny Hamlin has backed off a bit trying to be aggressive trying to take away some spots. You have to have while watching the races Nascar Mobile 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 as you are watching the Monster Energy Cup The stock races at Daytona International Speedway and Steve, this race is a little different, the length of the stages makes it a little different.

For tonight's strategy, Ricky would return here in February or the first race at Talladega, all of these cars would have had to come to the pits during the first stage to refuel, they couldn't run the entire stage on a single tank of fuel , but here at Daytona, the 400 mile race is a 40-second first leg, I think that really drives some of the racing. You see, because these drivers know that they can race safely 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.

Marty, do you know how difficult these pits are? Crew members were following Ray Black Jr. on the track right now and he will have Brianna Daniels, who will be the first African-American tire changer to crash into a cup car tonight in this car, and also Brianna O'Leary , she will also be on this team changing tires, she had a chocolate 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 to me, hey, I could have played professional basketball in Europe, but I heard about the NASCAR 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 choose this car and they will do it on this first stop of the night, Rick, what about that achievement so that those Ladies get here and compete on this hole? The path tonight is still athletes. I asked them both: are you nervous? He said no. We are athletes. We were ready. Well, a lot of pressure on the pit crews here because a small mistake is difficult to gain track position, but you can grab a lot. When you're in the pits there's a lot of pressure, well it's great to get into the playing positions on the track.

We have seen that Jamie McMurray leads this interior line. There were about four other cars on this line and we built several of them. I had rescued cliff Boyer he was there rescued there have been several and then he came 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 go back down through the butt So now everyone is afraid to for Junior to do this bottom 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 would know that they believe in it and they'll get off. there's going to be a part of it, I'm sure there's maybe some guys on that outside line that want to be there, they just can't get on that line, there's not a space for the knots, obviously, for them to get off in front of someone, but there are they are working on this background and that background will eventually be something that they will have to deal with, it will find its way to the front and what will happen right now, the observers are talking better to the drivers. the outside lane and they say the inside lane is being built, it's getting a little better, someone is going to turn left and try to lead that inside lane, who's that guy going to be, we're going to board nine cars, it takes a lot of guys there to do it.

You work, I mean, you have it, you have it, too, and there's a lot of things to talk about what to do with the side draft when you're on the inside line and you're trying to continue to fight to beat that outside line, you have a side. Take that guy out in the driver's door, pin him against the fence and what that will do, hold him in position, maybe this guy will come up behind him, rarely will they be able to push him and what that does. This gives your help a chance to come and help you on the inside, so it should really be Menard, the 21 car, as strong as he can on the straight to hold that position until Chase can get there and surprisingly he'll be between the first five. that started this race aren't even in the top ten right now, that's how quickly the positions changed Kelly Rick, you guys talk about the drivers that tried that low lane, well Jamie McMurray in car 1 had been running the hilum but he said I was just doing a really good race, so he talked it over with his spotter and said, "Hey, do you think it's worth running to the bottom?" and basically said: you know what we have nothing to lose at this stage, they feel like they can always achieve it. a move back to that high line if you need to remember Jamie McMurray trying to snap a 165-game winning streak and this could be the place to do it.

Marty, they're trying to mix it up, but going after Le and his team is a numbers game. they're trying to get a feel for how that end result is going to work, in fact, getting too hot told him you can go up if you want the toes to stay on the end result, so they're trying to get Parker to do those numbers. work the bottom if you can Marty I think I know the problem from talking to Clint Bar who has been between the top line and the bottom line trying to make it work today he joked and said you know the problem is getting those lines . to work his Dale Jr.

He's not around anymore no one knows who to follow but no one leads the group at the bottom we need you out there Give him what he said is a great consolation I tell you what I think many drivers are going to start following at 17 that he has had some amazing races on these restrictor plate tracks and once again out front here at Daytona Stenhouse jr. has already led 19 laps in his victory last year, he led only 17 laps of that race, six laps left in the first stage of the Monster Energy Cup Series Coke Zero sugar 400 Daytona International Speedway NBC Sports Championship season continues top golfers of the world competing for the coveted Claret Jug, you won't want to miss the open July 19-22, a golf channel and NBC.

Jordan Speith trying to defend his championship. He gets back on track. Stevens was nearing the end of stage one. Will anyone try some strategy and make it to the pits? before the end of the stage, yes, it's a great question, Rick, we've seen it at Talladega. The motocross will take off right here, turn left, hit pit road with three laps to go. Ideas come, get tires and fuel, getting to know the rest of the field. 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 the risk of losing a lap is greater.

Matt says you can't pit, but you can't have any problems. Jeff, a slow pit. stopping a driver error and losing a lap, which is a big risk for anyone in this leading group, yes it's a big risk, but the guy we saw was willing to take the risk to try to regain the position, so how far away is that car Jamie McMurray sees Joey Logano he just jumped out front five to go it's time to start making something happen the 21 cars that went with him in the Gunder God there are 12 cars and look who the camera is, it's come all the way down to block Ricky Stenhouse jr. and Michael McDowell, they both saw that and got to the end of the track, we were single file and at the handle we added that look, where are we, we have a race on our hands, guys, come here, these points are so critical, with a special facility. playoff points because no one will get any this year except the big three, now the big block, you'll see the gold Ricky Stenhouse jr. it's just blocking blocking blocking has been easy for him, it won't be easy anymore.

I think Michael McDowell is blocking too, so Ricky Stenhouse jr. he stays ahead of Michael McDowell, but McDowell is doing most of the blocking right now. Those guys that I saved from some handling problems in a corner towards the 22nd car, are totally going to have to back off really hard in a corner too late in the race here for this bottle job or where these guys have handling problems on the exit from the corner Elleni is on the left, trying to get to the end The Dillon brothers are running second right now and third Austin Dillon in second now Michael McDowell has made that first line move a little faster goes up to the third guy, Dillon, the line bottom stagnates a little and you know Ricky Stenhouse jr. want to win this stage, they don't have a single stage win this year,

zero

playoff points, so even the one you would get for saying you're in front here is critical to making the playoffs and I'm watching these guys from the end prove it.

They're not handling very well down there, late handling will be an issue on the long runs tonight, a lot of learning is taking place as we get closer to the end of this stage and Michael McDowell down there looks like he could lose that. in the table crash, that was just a mental mistake, not paying attention and blocking every run a guy makes, he was pretty committed, he was pretty comfortable that these guys were going to take care of him on that top line. and he opened the door of opportunity, someone took advantage of it, there are three of them, one, Ryan Blaney said, I'm not going to follow you, I can go inside and once again they are launching into aggressive positions with less than two laps to go and how much time would last. take him to get that position back you know, you make that move you open the door someone is going to take it you have to defend this whole race Kozlowski tries to make something happen in the background but he doesn't have any help Clint boyardos gets back there at 14 here comes Joey Logano in on the 22nd I think I sent it to you I think he'll have to go to the end if he doesn't, then they can hang a left and get close to him, enough of them make that effort. that would probably work if he runs up here he wanted that's absolutely right once again on stage one Ricky said house outside let's see what he does he'll stay on top and come down sure push down he's got to run.

Look where he's going, there's a big gap between him in the next car, he'll probably fade on the backstretch, let's see how that works out, critics run and maybe turn left, like you said, Jeff and try to take the lead, it's Kyle Busch, he gets a little. a little quarter panel on a 42 side draft and he's going to get some help. William shoots inside. He has a great upbringing for Austin Dillon. He goes high. Here comes 18 Kyle Busch trying to make the High Line work. Austin Dillon tries it. blocking him isn't going to work this time, although Ricky Stenhouse jr. on 17 ahead three wide as they battle for second place at the end of stage one Stenhouse jr. winning that stage, Kyle Busch, what a move he made to move into second place and finish stage one, Kyle Larson, William Fyren, chasing Elliott, all in the top five.

Manor points yesmatter and he also chased Elliott, he had fallen quite far back and that caught him. Back to 5th Place William Barn did a good job getting 4th place in that fundraiser. Many times these drivers have said that their blood pressure goes up to about 180. Well, it's going back down now. NASCAR on NBC is presented by Pizza Hut. one out pizzas the hot Monster Energy unleashes the beast and with credit a bank the official credit card of NASCAR tomorrow the Verizon IndyCar Series on NBCSN will win the pole and of course win the Indianapolis 500 earlier this year, how cool is it to have the Indy 500 on NBC next year oh come on that will be my first Indy 500 and I'll never see it in person so why don't we all rent an RV?

I love Stevie. I can go? He is that one. tour director me, I have a Steve, we'll go there and have a lot of fun, yeah, it's going to be an amazing race and we've got a great race in front of us here, right, Marty, actually, Rick will be a little bit up there. A little longer stop for Kevin Harvick and his racing team if you see the inside of the car where they run a right side window here on the Cup cars the hose is connected to that window for Kevin Harvick's team has released and his feet have become very hot. inside the race car to be successful, how important is it for Childers and the team to reconnect those hoses here at this pit stop where you see they are missing there, on the right side of the car, two problems, one you mentioned, his feet they're going to heat up The second problem is that there are rules about how the air can be tricked, you know, inserted into the car, if you have that duct open, it has to go to a hose and it has to end in a certain position, so if those hoses are closed at the end of the event, I think NASCAR will have a problem, they won't have a problem if they fall off trying to correct it, but they'll have to do it right now at their first opportunity to do it so the field is preparing to lower. to the pits for their first stops of the day and we're going to Dave Burns, last night's winner, today's stage one, third place, Kyle Larson in 42, his car was a little tight but he said he'd rather be that way.

More than loose, they will make some adjustments as they get here. The big question will be two or four tires. It looks like they are going to take four. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. On stage 17, the winner said that I would like to weigh my runs with the car, but I have not returned to the group, they will leave it as it is, a four-tire stop. Kelli Kyle Busch's biggest concern was that he was just a little loose coming out of the corner, so they're going to make a little adjustment to the chassis, they just asked for a backup so you can get out of this tight box.

It was four tires for 18. Marty and Kelly, you see Kevin Harvick coming. one stop Rodney Childers has told Kevin that it will be a slightly longer stop and Robert Chatter Smith has jumped over the wall to do this, the car boss for 14 and now you will see him come in. right side window reconnect those hoses to make sure everything is good now the key here Steve obviously they can't go around down so they have to put tape around those ducts, make sure the hoses go in correctly and see to the NASCAR official, listening from ten feet away or the spotter also telling them 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 miss so much noise, yes you can't miss a lap this early in the race but it should be an easy fix as long as they take their time with what they are doing you don't see any signs. Excellent information from the observer, fix it already, we will tie it up. They're trying to make sure it's a close race out of the pits. Presented by Kroger. Click list. Keselowski gaining places. Blaney. 12 places gained in the pits. Have a nice cold coke. And buckle up, you're watching Coke Zero Sugar 400 on NBC and Rutledge always finds the funniest things in the field.

Rutledge, where are you? Rick. I'm in the field, on top of a custom six-tent truck, my friend Jake, here from Leesburg. Florida built, he's been coming here all his life, but in this truck with his friends for 18 years, we're on the roof scaffolding. I was actually able to stop by here before, bring my friend Mike Tirico to show him what a great view. You have one in the back of ours, but now Mike has an even better view Mike, where are you buddy? I have a great view. I'm here with Steve on top of the box.

This is a great place to start the race and the pit stops we just saw, so the boss put his hat back on. Would you learn from the first stage? Well, what I learned is that we wondered if the handling was going to matter. You heard Dale and Jeff yell a couple of times where the cars were. and it seemed stable, maybe to you and I we were calling them and they could see the cars moving, which says that in a single 40 lap race the handling disappeared, so in the final stage, that eighty lap race, the team leaders will have to do. good decisions about when to hit pit road, how hot it is during the day, obviously the sun goes down, anything changes with the crew chief's point of view as we get closer to the heat of the race night, 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 everything will be fine and that's really what you're wondering, even at the beginning of this race it was still hot, you were here with me, it's cooled down quite a bit. but Mike, I have to tease you on that first lap when they came, your eyes grew, we're close to the really big thing, it's incredible, you feel the roar of the engines and you feel it through your body, it's great. to look, no time required, cash, that's good, Ty's offer, okay, hey guys, you guys are having trouble with a 34 Michael McDowell car that could have been a race winner today, don't know if you can fix what they have.

Continuing with the tow, you have towed it in the wrong direction, they may have set it in the opposite direction they wanted to break early. We'll see if he can keep going now or if he needs to get off for another stop, how unfortunate for that 34 runs so well Keselowski William Byron inventing a one-handed robbery some guy Dillon Idaho can't get up to speed goes to the platform no fuel pressure in car 13 just came on the radio lucky It wasn't a disaster right there and it won't accelerate in the middle of the pack like that, the pack makes its way between one and two, so tight Bell you tried to jump in 13 because Laos ski leads the race. now remember he put on two tires, Junior, you and I are a little wondering if that will be adequate for him in a long race.

He sees William buying records. He says he has a big push from Stenhouse. Byron will do it on a plate track. What will be his movements? Will he stay in line? First he will be aggressive. We've seen him in a cup car competing on a plate track. I spoke to him this morning and he said he was going to be aggressive. He said he thought it was a long way to go to run well. as he goes on, he's got big company behind him, it's Stenhouse, he goes after Elliott, those guys will push him hard, give me that chance.

I wonder, clear here last year, assured, has a great plate racer leading the group, although it will be difficult to break the plane to the bomb for those two cars because he will move back and forth to try to maintain that lead and maintain the momentum in his car, he will get in front of the advancing line so he can get that push, keep the speed and revs high in his car killing the boys jamie mcmurray how to make a second trip down pit road in that car they saw a little oil on the right rear tire they didn't know where it came from they bought it they brought it back, the team is still trying to figure it out, asking Jamie to check their temperatures and everything on the dashboard inside that cabin.

Marty Kelley, when we watched the race outside the pits, we saw that Ryan Blaney was second, unfortunately they didn't get 12. The car is full and because we are running these full stages, it has to be completely full of Sunoco fuel, so when They came back, they put tires on the left side, also in this group. Kevin Harvick says he has a vibe, so many cars. Let's keep an eye on the back of the cargo bed, the runaway tire for round 7000 goes to 21, lifts the tuberose into the air, but keeps it pressed down on the wheels. Paul Menard when he turned, all four wheels looked. like they came off the ground while sliding to the side, a lot of damage to the hood, otherwise you will be able to put old tires on with little damage and the front left there tells me how to put the tires on it would be fine, but that damage to the hood there, that's going to be very difficult to fix left front fender look at the test they're talking about what they're going to have to do if they want to stay in this race he was running 15 look what's happening it seems out of line It looks like he turns it on 48 by Jimmie Johnson, just a little hook there on the left rear quarter panel falls to the grass.

We will continue to be more aggressive as we get deeper into it. We will see more accidents, more pushes. more pushing that will get wild going to work on 21 paul menard i want to take a couple of looks now at what just happened on the new subway treadmill we will talk about the increase in intensity you see jimmy johnson behind paul menard jimmy on the middle of the track and right there you see the contact, from this view it is difficult to know if Paul went down to Hill or if Jimmy went up with the intention of reaching 21, so he did not move.

I don't think so, but he didn't do it. give her plenty of room you know paul was right up against the fence and if paul moves down a little bit which she did she spins on the nose of the 48 so be prepared for a crash there's genius in these guys to put it back together this hood. that's what oppresses me my crew chief down at the checkout says they can't cover those holes where they ripped the flaps ripped off that hood they're going to try to put that hood back on, keep that hood back there, look at that hood just Shake the restraints , you know, tied down securely, those ties keep the hood from going up into the stands and into the fans, but it's hitting the roof to death while doing it, just killing the splinter, why is it going through this grass?

Hi Jeff. Two great things, not only the straps on the hood, but also the flat roof. I'm sure I can say, without those bigger roof fins, that this new style car has been used for the last few years, that car stays in the air because it takes the worst hit. Situation where those roof fins deploy the car sets on the race track, although sometimes you know people don't notice them as much as they should, but that saves the car that flew upside down. Day 6 minutes, five crew members to repair as best they can and send the car back, but Nascar still has to approve it to get back on the track, so the team said we'll film it as best we can to see if They let us go, with that they heard you, young man.

They're not going to cover those complexes, they're going to try to replace them so that car, if it manages to get those flaps off, will help with that, but this is the hard part that's better than the average tape trying to hold down a big hood on a very hot race car. quick, the downside here is that they are not going to restart with the leaders, they are going to go one by one, so they will be in single file, they are not going to have it, sorry. They're not going to get there all at once, yes, they're going to go, so they won't be able to be on that road, they'll have a hard time reaching the minimum speed, they're actually coming to green here, so he's gotta get off the road. pits, trying to get behind the pack, it will be very difficult to make a surprising statistic.

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's the other a streak of three top tens in a row Allmendinger AJ Allmendinger and Paul Menard are the only two drivers to finish in the top ten in the last three races let's get back to the action we're close to Brad Keselowski William Byron has lasted both shots on the 24th going back to the boys code we start the green flag zone again in the air and in the background you saw Paul Menard coming off pit road, really tight restart here these guys are lined up at the bottom. and it is difficult to know who will prevail here.

Jeff sees William Byron Lee take this advantage for the first time. He has received a big push. Kurt Busch does it. It's clear they would be smart enough to do what Keselowski doesn't back down from. forward ahead of the inside and outside line to try to keep that momentum in his car, well, he's going to stay committed to that top, that's the tab. Boyd's work touches the observer for 20 feet. Are you going to give him that information that he can give to everyone? Wallace's information, but drivers will be able to know what to do with it and have the experience, you know whatto 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 and that's what Williams will have to do.

It was until the end. He got a good shot from... I thought the 41st was going to get his fourth panel and fight side by side, but he went down there. I have a good chef for both of us keeps the lead how about riding in the middle now just waiting for the trapped ones Denny Hamlin Austin Dillon has hurt Daniel Suarez trying to keep ty Dillon from sliding in an accident 22 of Joey Logano sitting in the apron destroyed - all Penske cars right there, the one organization that everyone came here thinking they had the best chance of winning, all three of their cars were wiped out in this accident.

Ryan Blaney in 12 sitting there on the grass saw Brad Keselowski's 2 so much damage to chase 9 Elliott so many good cars this happened this accident happened at the front of the field this is what they told us all about taking out some contenders and now this really is a race of opportunity for someone sitting came out in 16th sitting in the top 16 Denny Hamlin with big damage, another fast car, a big push that we saw between the 17 of 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 look at all the damage to chase. that was enough, going too far, there was a lot going on right there and they were closing in on William so fast I think Brad was slowing down a little bit because he was going to run to the back of the 24. Can you see the 24 blocking Brett here probably slowing down a bit? Stenhouse crosses his nose, so here 17 looks at 17 as he gets into the rear bumper and hits him in the right rear and that's what sends him that we talked about. that before that's where you wanted to throw someone, you wanted to hit them in the right rear, but when you do that and the gears are wrong and it's out of alignment and it's turning left, that literally just pushes the left rear bumper into the car and shoots a nose straight into the wall, we've seen this in this generation of cars, these guys, you know, the bumpers don't line up as well, we never see these guys block the bumpers like they used to or like to. we see it in the Busch, but after that, everyone scrambled to find some kind of clear race track, the 41 Jimmie Johnson on its side, but is there contact?

He was still on the gas when he hit the high banks, the big one that just happened, the Monster Energy Cup Series Coke Zero. sugar 400 listen to Erik Jones' radio already thinking about points that distant playoffs now also listen to radio 17 Ricky Stenhouse jr. his straight head just happened, it's a big deal, I'm sure it looks bad, but you know, the bug is pretty tilted right, man, you know what's on the next page, you hate to be involved in something like that if you're Ricky Stenhouse Jr. And I'm sure you feel like you know you were partly to blame for it, but at the same time the race goes on, you have to understand what he said and move on, yeah, I think Ricky definitely knows that he was partly to blame for everything. happening here and there were a lot of guys criticizing his activities and driving style at the Daytona 500 earlier this year and I think this would get him talking again, you'll probably hear this this week, some of the other drivers in this accident talked about it .

Getting there, Junior, is that this career is so important to many that they are going to do things they otherwise wouldn't do. Do it 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 on all the game tracks and advance to the playoffs and for that team that has really been their savior they have not raced well like you are used to Lucy in a round team race, so when they come here the pressure is high. to perform and even you know that even with that happening and you know you have to shake it off, maybe this race is open for a lot of guys to come here trying to steal a win, absolutely half the field was involved in that accident 20 The Cars suffered some type of damage when this happened over the 4th of July weekend and there are already fireworks here in Daytona after the big incident that just happened.

Denny Hamlin, the first of the drivers caught in that to be released from the infield spotlight. I know you guys had a promising day ahead of you. What happened. I'm not sure, but someone probably trashed someone and usually whoever starts that usually doesn't get it, doesn't get ruined, but I don't really know that they were both on sides. Go ahead yeah two crashed and so did everyone else so yeah it's unfortunate. I mean, this is the Coke Zero sugar 400, it's usually this type of race, but it usually happens much later at night, which is unfortunate for all the cars that got totaled, you know, it's now.

It's a total game of chance, you know, it seems like most of the contenders, uh, you know the battle for these races is over, but you never know, it could be pretty exciting in the end, but it's unfortunate for FX to care. Team Rubicon Camry that we are. I'm not going to be a part of this Thanks Denny Dave Brad Keselowski walks from the center of the frame, you're okay and what did it feel like to get hit in the back? Yes I'm fine. You know Ricky was pushing me and doing something bad. It was my fault.

I know it's a really fast Miller Lite Ford and you know, Dave, I'm just not wrecking enough people. I need to destroy more people to stop them from throwing bad blocks and that's what happened to me on the tackle track, so you know everyone watching. all the drivers throw another bad block he'll drive three and recognize so watch out until everyone writes the words of Brad Keselowski Kelly yeah the 41 on Kurt Busch really just innocent bystanders how disappointing given the speed you were showing. in 41 I giggled, 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 risky there and so strong at the wrong time that the 17 looked at. like they had gotten together, but I giggled like there was no safe place.

I mean, I thought we were going to be left hanging and trying to get to the driving portion of the race and they just cut us off in the wrong place, it fits poorly with a feeling of helplessness. getting stuck in front of the field like that, but it's towards a driveshaft, so there's no way we can make up for any bad night for the Monster Energy Ford, but it'll be back next week, just the nature of this race. Dave Joey Logano is here, what? Did you see or feel it and try to overcome it? But like the longest accident in history, I feel like I was in the middle of everything and it seems like there's a hard, aggressive push in front and cars trying to take the lead and Once a car goes sideways in front of everything the field, you can't stop when you're going 200 really fast and then there's no space between all the cars on a restart like that and we just get wrecked, so part of If you know, it's just this Daytona Super Speedway race, sometimes the You overcome 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%. This time I hope we're at a good 50% when we get back to Talladega in the playoffs and try to get another one there. Joey generally does very well in these types of races. He left early tonight, guys, unfortunately you heard a pilot say "well." You gotta laugh, how about Brad Keselowski talking a lot while we ride along with Bubba Wallace? See what a driver's perspective is. Life is still in yellow here in Daytona. What does that mean? Live fantasy settings.

We are still in the middle of stage two. We just had the big accident now it's time to go to your garage and see if any of your drivers were in the accident. There was probably someone in that accident. Make a change. Get someone else in your line. I'm trying to save all those fantasy points. Here's Joey Meyer, observer of the fine line between managing and blocking. If anyone asks, one works and the other doesn't? We just heard Brad Keselowski say I'm going to destroy guys if they block me at the drop of a hat, what does that mean?

How can you block someone wrong? Well, you know, they had such a big race against William, you know, and he moves forward and they both have to lift so much that he spins in the front of the house, another 17 cars. I mean it wasn't a very clean big push from the 17th, but it's hard to say if they were really more aggressive blocks. I've seen blocks that are really aggressive and for me initially I didn't think what's to blame for that. William Byron that's why Brad thinks the blocking is aggressive that's Brad Saint William Bryan he rejected in front of me I had to live Senna said what Stenhouse is Fox announced he got behind 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 go out here and just not block and let people go, maybe the blocking was too aggressive according to Brad, it was too aggressive, but that's why you know, I mean when I did it comment.

I said you know Sin House was partially at fault because I've been in these accidents before and you know what sometimes looks like someone just intentionally wrecked someone isn't always like seeing the cars involved in the Rackers that we've already heard enough about. some of them coming out of the field focus safety car turned sharply left and the field is now approaching the Geico restart zone with 18 laps to go and stage 2 were heavily recruited into the ring, since you can try to keep those 24 there while he Could, but you get the help before Kyle Busch can get there and push William.

Michael McDowell on 34 making the straight line, making three wides trying to get forward, think about William Byron's psyche now, right? I got the message, hey, people thought you were blocking too much, he's going to continue this shit and Rick is left out? Yeah, that drives the house bill crazy right now. Are you still dealing with that guilt for being involved or being a part of that? And sometimes it has killed you. You have to act like you're guilty and move on. What you have to do seems aggressive, but man, it's so important that you have a side grass so close if you're on that inside line, push the outside line. the fence keeps him there until help arrives from Newman, maybe he's moving up the track, he's running prominently running down the middle of the corner trying to get some lateral flow off the 18, working all the way time every chance I get and while they're doing that William Byron is watching this deciding well, which line do I jump to get a lot of information about the place?

He's kind, of course, he's looking at himself in the mirror. I really bet he's looking in the mirror 90% of the time. the lap you know with peripheral vision he is driving down the front looking in the mirror and looking and seeing, he listens to the observer and usually uses them visually in the mirror to understand what the observer is saying, what lines are making runs, the observers probably They say even car 20 had a great run to 18, it'll give it a little push and things like that so white here on the backstretch, great information, look that's a little suspicious, stay at the bottom 18, they're not organized in the outside.

We're getting organized, get up there, Julie, the oldest quarter panel of eighteen, she's going to take it out right here, three or four. Oh, sideways, 18, the heart on the wall around it goes to 24, too. William Byron sliding up the inside wall. Jamie McMurray caught up with him. Also, Kyle Larson avoided the 18 and fell under the bakery guys. I'm afraid to say it, but I think Stenhouse was involved in this one too. I don't, I can't wait to see the replay so we can really analyze it. how did this all start I didn't see these guys having an accident right there Denny Hamlin before the race started yesterday he said he was hoping to see a reenactment festival well you didn't drive it you were right since Denny is probably sitting on his bus in right now watching this. race I mean, this is crazy, we're not delicious, we're not the very charismatic winner from a week ago at Chicagoland Speedway Kyle Busch walking away from his destroyed 18, hit the wall hard, walks over to talk to William Byron is controlling He, like every fan of sitting, gets into the corner a little late.

Tina is trying to get to the lateral draft and she doesn't follow the 24, she doesn't follow her line exactly, she is also trying to do the lateral draft, so Ricky's Travis is an 1818 draft that comes for the24 lateral draft just a couple of bad decisions are trying to see you, you have to be aggressive in lateral draft and that's what happens sometimes when there are three or four guys trying to do the same thing, so what are the guys trying to do seven teams? there it is, it's trying to get as close as possible to the left rear quarter panel on the 18th to slow it down and it goes into it, you know, it came up the racetrack so aggressively I almost wonder if it got tighter. , something like me, you know he can see that. 18 is old he's right next to William Barn he's 18 he can't go any lower look what's going on here so look how close 18 and 24 are right here 18 these Apple's going lower 17 goes up the track and it goes into 8th gear, it makes me wonder if the bricklayers made a shooter, they didn't miss the front of the car and they got on the track and stood next to it when trying to avoid the side shot and you got close to someone if your car It was tightening and moving two feet now that you are in the left rear quarter panel and causing an accident.

We saw that these guys have balance issues in the bottom slot. It might have cost the front a little bit of lateral pull and maybe overestimated how much front grip. he had Ricky Stenhouse jr. beats Ryan Newman, the butcher, Jimmie Johnson and Erik Jones, everyone beats the chaos NASCAR on NBC is presented by Toyota, let's go to credit places, a bank, the perfect credit card for everyday purchases and for coke, the official fan soft drink of NASCAR, let's listen to Ricky Stenhouse Jr's On the Radio one more time, okay, so you heard him say how light he was, so how safe is it if he hit it?

But let's get on board and pay attention to the tape on the steering wheel to see how the steering wheel is turning. the left approaches 18 turns further left as soon as he makes contact, he goes back to the right to save his car, but that leads him to believe that he had tightened up just before reaching 18, yes. You can see him adding a little more information just as he reaches car number 18, losing front grip, getting tighter. We listened to the guys talk about balance all weekend. There will be a problem. We saw guys tonight struggle in the bottom slot and him. he got up there and underestimated the front grip when he left, he was in the worst position he could be in for front grip, behind the 24th and in the door on the 18th, back to the peacock box and evil Mike Tirico. tarp bike I mean we talked earlier in the 40 laps and it was a calm race, this is anything but a calm race now and now we see more than half the field breathing, now you have to wonder who is in a position to finish.

This is over and we have a long way to go, we're not even halfway there and secondly, you're looking at the points that the overall season scores because a lot of guys can change the whole spectrum of the second half of this season with What's going on? 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 track with damage, every yellow, you have to be in the pits continually to fix your race car because those The points as you mention add up very quickly, we still have one stage, it will award more points here at the end of stage two and what really surprises me is that apart from Martin Truex Jr I still don't see another race winner from 2018 . early in the field, so you start to think about maybe a new winner that will further change the point of Specter, a couple of big three involved in this, so Stenhouse has obviously been right in the middle of it as team leader, anything you can tell him.

Send him a message to move forward, not back. I think at this point, when it's in the race car, it's very simple. Hey, look ahead, we have to win this race. We'll talk about the rest when it's over, but right now. task at hand, so that's good, Mike, hey, thanks for joining us, great view, great race, there's a lot of things, are you here, speak rebel? Can we see the resume? Look, notice you loosened your tie, but you still have time, Mike, that's a step in the right direction. He's half committed. He's half committed. Stenhouse Jr. and Ryan Newman are recovering the first shot as the field approaches the Geico restart zone once again. 11 laps to go in stage 2.

Good race for Newman on the inside, now some help on that outside line. The steep descent will be a lot of cars. but you don't normally see up front that 37 for Chris Buescher at the bottom, his third or fourth in the neck of Joey GaSe, the double

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yellow car, Ryan Newman, running alongside Stenhouse jr. down the final stretch for those last hundred organized waiting for one of them to get organized and start the dead chefIt seems that the outside lines are quite tight like his work now and boban, but it was in that previous accident in contact with a door of walls.

Parsons' cars repaired that damage and he's still up there in the battle, but his cars are sure to be competitive. I won't be surprised the rest of the night to see Michael McDowell up front, we saw him there at the start of the race so he's upset in the top three, but you've got Butcher Bowman Kasey Kahne Joey GaSe and Brendan Gaughan all in the top ten. Right now, yes, but even behind Ville you have Trevor Bayne, a Daytona 500 winner from several years ago. Kennington, you had a time killer, but we saw problems before, he's back in the game, so the door is open that we talked about in the Starling race like someone's going to do it.

I have the opportunity to take advantage 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 may have never won a race in his career outside of the infield spotlight. with Kyle Busch he passed the first one, they flipped you in the second one, what was your opinion about that accident? I don't know, you know, it's disappointing to get hit by the same guy who called the first accident, but you know. Our Camry from Interstate Batteries showed good speed, we showed good patience in that first stage.

We were able to come home second, at least get some points there, but I don't know you, you always come to Daytona expecting to crash and trying to figure out when and where and I just hope you can get away from it, so it's really frustrating and disappointing to have to race these races like that, right on the fence on the line of when are you going to screw up, you know, but we Carry on, let's go next week I guess thanks Kyle Dave Kelly William Byron was the leader and William, you drivers have taught us that Leadership is the safest place to be.

What happened there, yes, just the number 17 car, I guess hooked up to the 18. It seemed to me that I was being very aggressive and the second time we were on the wrong end of something so unfortunate for us, but we had a good race and we needed to have a really good day to get the points position. We're in, but we're all part of drag racing I guess, but I hate being on that side, but at least we left some laps, so it was good. Rick, he was doing everything he was supposed to do. Yes, it's interesting.

Kyle Busch said you just want to be able to walk away, well he was involved in a crash he couldn't walk away from, he broke his leg and ankle in an Xfinity Series race here that same year and won the championship, look , these join lines just disappeared, it's that everyone is committed to the top closure. Halon finishes the stage, this is right around the time he was busy last time with so many cars out of the race, not sure exactly what kind. of battle that we are going to have to develop for all these stage points, well, these guys who are knowing these stage points for the first time, four at a rare moment during the season settle with their position, the interesting thing is to see if some of them manage to do it.

Does it open the door to a pilot like the one we saw a moment ago? Jimmie Johnson. It's surprising that you have to say that, but there is a lot of experience in winning at this track. Let's take a look at Jimmie Johnson. It's something I saw in This rerun of the first Rick, how good this guy is, so let's watch him try to navigate, get over this, hit the ground, go too fast, turn to the side, straight, sit back, here he goes, turning the corner, following, but no. I'll be a little bit more because he's given me Johnson, that's the type of driver he is, what an incredible save he made to say he really is and is still in this race and if he wins tonight, look back, this is quite a moment. amazing to dodge the boom.

I've been seeing that for years in a Jimmy Johnson, normally it's car control to go to Victory Lane and win championships, but even in a bad year, I think that shows that Dale's Wow, Jimmie Johnson, he's committed, he's not happy. with this year's performance, but He's trying to spit it out in a positive way, he leads this racing team and you have to look at it like you mentioned Rick, it's amazing to see that Daytona is a great opportunity or maybe his only opportunity, but he has to start thinking that as the field dwindles live. to move on to stage two Stenhouse jr. still up front McDowell running second all these guys here, you talk about Jimmy Johnson getting confident because the field stands out all these guys here have a smile on their face.

I want to win this race tonight, so Jimmy along with everyone in this little group. They look at this as 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 have to say Jimmy has to be one of the favorites with the speed they have. I had this weekend, but the dumb friends run in the dark house, they are still there to leave what is going to be so difficult, although Junior, the way you will have to run now has completely changed, but you were learning which of the cars would do and what could.

I don't do it when there were 40 cars on the track, well there are 12 cars leading the pack so you won't get the races like you did before, they won't block the lanes like they blocked them before. I'm going to take a completely different approach to winning a stage or taking victory in this race. Watch Jimmy Johnson make a sharp left turn. Hi Jeff, we're still talking about Jimmy Johnson. How about his teammate Dale, your old car, the 88, which is running third? It has to be the biggest opportunity for Alex Bowman. I know he has a little damage, but I don't think that's going to hurt this car in the fetal position.

He is easily running in third position. This is all. It's got the green light for that young man to get his first outright win, the field pulls out, it's a great opportunity for him to have an incredible finish, our chance to win, even he had a great car here in February and it actually worked out very well with the car until it was taken out in a late accident. I didn't get a lot of help in the draft because nobody really knew what type of tackle rusher I was and 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.

You've helped him a lot and maybe earned a little respect from your peers over the past six months. We were a bit underdeveloped as we neared the end of this stage. Trevor Bayne. think about Trevor Bayne, you know he has a good chance, remember he got kicked out of his seat, he won the Daytona 500 on top of the world and a few years later he got kicked out, he says man, you won't get a dime, we gotta try it. something different now has a chance to put itself in position to win this race and just outside of it, one of your teammates, KCK, and another guy who tried to tell himself off and change his name, it wasn't Hendrick Motorsports, it didn't work out, they moved him . now he has a chance i want to listen to the radio 34 michael mcdowell they jump and catch you he's not going to jump so stay with him right now steve parked the whole spotter there because michael mcdowell heard him say you know how he is he'll jump there and block if they go down, so he wants to figure out if you stick with 17 or try to make a pass, he's going to stay right where he is, he's going to try to pass this run.

They have a good chance to win the last lap of stage two and now they are trying to go too far Ty Dillon in 13 thinks otherwise he gets back on the line Trevor Bayne is still trying something in six, come on guys, move, do let something happen, anyone? he tries to outdo Ricky Stenhouse jr. As they go through third and four, they reach 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 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 that there are fewer cars, fewer opportunities, it's much more difficult with this view of the cars on the track. I think Ricky, to save theappearances, he will win these two stages and the race. Well, we mentioned it at the beginning of the show. He is aggressive and crazy. More or less sums up Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Right now he has been aggressive and crazy on track pit stops, finishing at Daytona International Speedway in second place at that stage. Michael McDowell, his best stage finish of the year, no adjustments to the car, four Goodyear tires and Sunoco fuel, Becky Stenhouse jr.

They take a lot of time on pit road massaging the right front fender and trying to get it perfect for the rest of the race. Kelly, we also saw the 88 there from Alex Bowman, it's on the divider, taking off a little bit, they didn't want to. wasting time on pit road fixing damage to Goodyear tires Sunoco fuel for Alex a very long pit stop for 17 Rick I'm surprised I love what 17 is doing here there are only 10 12 15 cars in this race We just see Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in 17 he basically dominated that stage finished no one could retire yet Brian Pattie is taking the time to improve his car I'm a little surprised I thought these other teams applaud the race it's only half way to the stop they massage their cars obviously none of They 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. Yes, he probably wants to do all the work you know on the car. I could do it early and not have to worry. later in the race, but you know it's a hard decision to make, let's talk to 17, hey Ricky, it's a burden, you have time to talk, yeah man, it's been crazy, tell us what's going on, crazy barley, we open the, we are. I'm going to have a race on the 24th - the inside and I had to check very late in three there than the other.

I just tried to see the 18 draft in the wrong place, got sucked in and turned them, so it's crazy. here it is, you know, try to get it, there are no playoffs, you know, win a point trying to put ourselves in that position by the time, so we got a third forward very quickly, hey, we threw in our other four teammates, that was, uh, it went as planned. We have to do it with the teammates who left us here, but we appreciate you taking a little time. Good luck the rest of the afternoon. Interview with the driver almost too gloomy, even though he won the first two stages.

Everything tonight is on the track Ricky Stenhouse Jr. but he has won two stages and he has the possibility, as he mentioned, of reaching the playoffs. It is one of the best cars, if not maybe the best car that is still on the track right now. Rick, things are heating up online and on social media. media Zac, the world I know said I don't know how many friends they were going to have, he just said about Ricky Stenhouse jr. radio, that's an easy question to answer, besides the Wood Brothers, Stenhouse, will win this race tonight one way or another, things are hot at the track now here Rick, social media to be friends with everyone, letting them know that everyone on social media has an opinion.

They will give you Wood Brothers Racing social media. Is incredible. They have some fun things there all the time. Excellent follow-up. How about 21 Paul Menard? We saw that car rise and the four of us take off from the ground. The four wheels of the ground. ground, Alex Bowman's 88 returns to pit road, looks like he'll get a little massage, maybe a little more fuel before he goes back out, who will take advantage? He's out there, the opportunity to make his year right now. saved those great teams and the drivers are eliminated momentum, don't take a step forward.

I mean, now's your chance, it's weird voting of cars up there if we balance the cars up there, those guys that are willing to take advantage of that opportunity and there are guys. They're just trying to survive the night so it's hard to say he'll be the most aggressive to play by all standards right now, yeah the points will definitely shake Stenhouse jr up a bit. he's out of the top 16, yeah, he's coming, oh, he, and this has, you know, this show is a tide, Dillon is a leader, so it shows him winning a race because he's leading the race, so you know that you come back here, look at Erik Jones, Stenhouse and Eliot.

Coleman I mean it's all good Dave Rick how about Truex the first big mistake he missed because he had a wild tire penalty and he was behind and was guided through it the second time they decided to lie down and missed the second big mistake? I just discussed this race and there's a radio here, so lie down twice and keep it on for now. I never won. He never wanted a track with a restrictor plate. He has one, but you can choose to take more risks now that there is. With fewer cars, there is less risk of missing as many spots, so now you can be more aggressive about going out alone.

Dillon and Clint Bowyer are taking back the front row, now it's back to test stage three underwater and we immediately saw Ricky Stenhouse jr's 17. jumps off the line and it's hard to believe that Clint Boyer, that 14 called the bottle, had a bad nose, it's hard to believe that's what you're going to want to lead a line, you'd think it'd be better if he followed someone who pass by there. Pretty good, he had a great run down the backstretch, he's got three decent hills behind a nice clean tight hill. The Parker boys, just under this warning, Cliff Burton came over the radio and said, "I can't say I should go on, we have too much damage, we're too slow and then they took position on the track, it seems 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 there but if you want that quality of cars if you have really fast cars behind you, it's much more difficult.

He's got Kasey Kahne at 95 behind him right now and then Michael McDowell, who we've been following. say over and over again, maybe he is surpassing what everyone thought he was going to be able to do in the 34, he is currently third again, we have seen him in the top three many times tonight, he finished in the top five here in this race the last year, so and he has two top 5s in a row, right on top, we're on the radio, Martin Truex Jr's 78, they said, well, maybe you know, just feel it, see how it goes and then go back down if it's necessary.

Well, there is no drop at the back right now, he is trying to be in the top five because the outside lines are not working as well and he stayed. He started that inside line, just took advantage of it, and as he goes, he was the only winner. This year he had a car that could win the race and here clip Boyer is proving me wrong by leading with all that damage. I see a guy who could save the night and that's the six-car Trevor Bayne, he's making some moves, he's not going to sit back. here and mounts and McDowell McDowell moves to the outside of KCK tries to make that outside line work and Clint Boyer moves up to block to the back of the lane, McDowell goes trying to take the lead away, it doesn't help, he has a big help by Trevor Bayne.

Trevor is going to move, he is going to try to make something happen. He started all that in Turn 1 or coming into Turn One. All that started and the whole race was organized there. Michael McDowell leading at Daytona. Remember Mike Michael McDowell, that car he drives. Fenway built that car prepared, it has a big round body, the 95 we are going for. I really couldn't do it. Casey came in with a great run and blocks 95, so Michael McDowell stays ahead of the push to third place, now Martin Truex Jr. Right now you guys are separated on the field right now back with him, there they're going to protect the bottom, they predict the bottom, but the first two are in line, but they all got pretty small there, so we have to be careful what voice they're listening to. how Steve barked at the spotter, move in front of him, let him put alone for a while up to 95 guarantees, he won ahead of the 7770, but I still have the 95 race, you still have that race from him, understand that guys. of it then you go back down once you feel it with you now you're clear clear on the first single fiber here that's great information from the observer so he resolved the observer saw that outside line forward and informed his driver when to go up when It was nice to move forward and overcoming a crazy block was a good initial step towards that timeline.

I can prepare for it with some really smart and interesting information to see if Stenhouse will be as loyal to McDowell as McDowell was to him previously. The race, I think that's what makes it very difficult, is that we notice that the announcer wants to lead and we've seen how aggressive he is, so running this peak opens the door to turn left and have Kevin Harvick, who I don't know where. He came from where I thought he ended up, they made him go with you and do a race, Marty, you got something on Kevin, look for free, the damage isn't that bad and he said something interesting to Rodney Childress, he said with less cars on the career management.

It's going to be a minor problem, think about the speed, so Steve, you're looking for a crew chief to come to the pits and tune up his car. Rodney Childers did that. Kevin Harvick said. I still believe we have the speed to win this race. Yes, Marty, I love it. that call I mean those are the types of decisions that prove why the four of them and Kevin Harvick's Rodney Childers that combination wins so many races they just keep working on their race car remember there are still 65 laps left there is at least one more pit stop that may or may not happen under green flag conditions, we see how quickly both the 4th and 17th recovered.

I think these crew chiefs have to change their thinking, it's not a 40 car field, it's a much bigger field. small with still many races. Like you and I looked at each other when we saw the four cars like, where did it come from? Well, that's why we're wondering, this is the first accident while traveling with Kevin Harvick, look at this damage, I mean, that heats up the wall. crashes hard off the bank damages the splitter listen to the car I mean it's damaged and here he is racing to third position with a chance to win the race hey young man as I look at this front group is there any advantage to Those two Hendrick cars? having a teammate, does a teammate become more important in a smaller group?

Yes I think so. I mean, those guys are talking all week leading up to this race about how they can work together and how they can be stronger by 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 accompany you. , the winner of the first stage, Ricky Stenhouse jr. The winner of the second stage, Ricky Stenhouse jr. final stage Kenny wins Daytona Monster Energy Cup Series fees, only 60 laps left Monster Energy Cup Series Coke Zero sugar 400 there's a pretty good lineup right there, awesome race on track Michael McDowell vs.

Ricky Stenhouse jr. Kevin Harvick Alex Bowman Jimmie Johnson top five, all in line, when will someone blink, when will someone make the move and decide it's time for us to get out of line and fight for the lead, but also get out of line to get to the pits? See Trevor Bayne trying to make a move if you laugh and now look, he's at the end of that line, Jeff, so that's the risk, I mean, if you get out of there and try to run backwards, as we see. aric almirola falling at the end of this line a person who is not going to make the charge back here Martin Truex Jr in car 78 has made the decision he does not want to be part of this he wants to stay away that's why he thinks they are going to shipwreck again he's just afraid that they're going to shipwreck again he's going to try to stay out of trouble the danger in this is what happens if he has a problem here he is he just backs away he said I'm out, I mean he's very far away, but has regressed enough that I was terrified of losing direction and missing a draft and making a bit of a slow pit stop and then the next thing you know you can. be one turn down, so this line is all in one row.

I'm afraid they will turn away from him. He's giving them too much space. Well Jeff, we need to take a look at the Toyota driver update. Truex 19th DJ Kennedy JJ Yeley. Erik Jones, the concern I have for Martin Truex, although 19th place sounds pretty good, you just showed how far he is from the pack. Well, now he's basically out of the draft, I mean, he's running slower than the cars single file around the track, so if he continues to lose time, will he really lose a lap? I mean, it seems like maybe he's barely keeping up, but one little bubble and it's going to be a big problem, he feels that way, but he's running some really fast laps, he's actually running for this. he's leading the pack and he's running out of steam in the corner, you see him back there, running low in the corner, he's running a shorter distance, so you think he's fine, you think he's stillhe's getting that draft looking at the board here, he ran a 46 19 to the lead straight in 2:46 7 so he's got the draft and he's cutting distance running that bottom showing that the spark of the curve that time was 46 for him, the turn Fastest of anyone who can modulate, sorry, go ahead, yes, they were telling you that. he was picking up, I couldn't tell if they were sarcastic or not because they've had very bad luck here, but there you go, he's at the back of the pack again, if he'd lost that stamina completely, he'd easily have gone. a lap down that would have been a terrible, terrible situation for that team, but he gets back up there, he's got the speed, you know?

We didn't have to put up a graphic to prove that Jr. was the right car and he said, "Hey, man, I don't think we have enough speed." He basically just ran the group alone, so now the decision is with pit stops, potentially, come and see if that's true. How long before they arrive? We're going to pit, but you know when you start to see the pit stops coming and you want to push yourself to pack up a little bit, you don't want to be in the back in case you have a bad pit stop, so now if Truex is starting to Try to move forward to give yourself some protection if you have a slow stop.

FAT FAT comes out. See what kind of ass was lost? He arrested these guys. Marty, hey, Rick Jeff, you just mentioned a moment ago, we're quickly approaching what green could be. flag stops and maybe the last stops of the day earlier today, the four teams got together, the 13 teams and made a plan about which lap they were going to stop on at this stage, they were going to stop all together, but they didn't communicate in the radio because anyone can jump to their strategies to see it's a different game now because there are very few cars in this race, how does that strategy change now? because boards really can't.

I think now you just have to understand that it's about getting Clean on and off pit road. I'm not sure there's any strategy to try to fool anyone, but with fifty-five laps left I expect these guys to run five or six more laps to hit their fuel window and then it's all moving forward. clean out look we see Truex on the inside line what he needs is for everyone to get on that line with him and he's moving forward look at the wide teams driving to the front by himself look at Jimmie Johnson jump in there try arrive.

Ahead of that, you didn't see that action and now Martin Truex Jr, after being 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 been completely moved. The walk to the front of the field and the roar of the crowd here was almost as if Earnhardt had taken the lead at Daytona. His trials and tribulations made him a fan favorite or fans cheered Jimmie Johnson to achieve his former glory. At first he has led two laps all season. Jimmie Johnson seven times we did it in two laps.

We could see the fans go crazy when he took the lead. They loved it and now Jimmie Johnson will have to fight those 17 once again. He is sincere and defiant. What a race for Martin Truex Jr's 78 alone, he climbed into the top five and is now fighting to get up and leave Dave Rick some trophies for Jimmie Johnson here at Daytona, but standard procedure was to stay in the garage for most of the practice so as not to have any accidents in practice with that racing car. The other day he ran as many practice laps as many of the other cars and got a feel for what his car needed and then moved up the order. 3rd Jimmy has had a great car all week and has a chance to return to Daytona Victory Lane.

Let's take a look and see how Jimmy Johnson takes the lead. He gets a big bush. More tricks. Jeter in the backstretch. I do not know if. He thought he was going to make a move here, but he does because the quarter panel is 17 to get that side draft. Martin can't get up there to help me. The bad thing, Bart wanted to go, anyone could fit in that hole, so Jimmy has Michael McDowell now. To try to push him there, they worked on some corners and got him 48 ahead at Daytona. He's won here at this track three times, but it's been a long time since we've seen Jimmy Johnson in victory lane.

This is the longest he's ever had. he left without a win in his career. I found him chasing Elliott and my friend in car number 21. We're going to fight for the most polished driver award this year, but we might have another guy I knew fighting with Jimmie Johnson. Jimmie Johnson, could you Jimmy? Jimmy John with popular host Buzz Papa drives the guys crazy over my fall, saying he was going to take it seven times. Curtis, finally, a hilarious big push from the staff, strong for the 34 great talents he's blocking to be able to compete, and finally, Martin Truex drugged all that inside. line, he just started coming when everyone saw him coming, everyone started feeling the inside line and now we have a race.

Jimmy Johnson goes to the back of the court trying to take the lead, the far side selects 34 and Jimmy Johnson comes out again. front for him to be able to recover so quickly after losing the lead and take it back, it really shows me the strength of that car that is generating that confidence within Jimmy Johnson, okay, crew chief, Steve Letarte, where are we at? starting to think? that we'll see them come to the pits Rick, I really think there's 40 to go, that's when I think they could probably come to the pits to get tires, they can come in now with fuel, but as we keep mentioning with a smaller field, there's no there's reason to take a risk and pit so early, but I really think about six more laps in, with the pit window open, you saw the 17 move right there, yeah, great move from Ricky Stenhouse jr.

Crew chief Rodney Childers said it appears to be a big problem, but you can still lose form, certainly gaining grip as the night goes on and the temperatures drop, the track temperature cools, but it's still difficult for drivers. That's enough cars in a competitive battle where handling is going to matter. I mean, look how many are too wide, so I think handling is going to matter. We saw that you are not sure that you are in the test. Well, things are small and big, so. yes it's not finished, we have a long course with four tires that could really play later in this race, yes on long runs I like to be on that outside line we saw before, that last one has handling problems at the end of the batch with old tires, so you're going to try to get from that outside line, late, some guys on the bottom, to the right, where you get to your right or a quarter panel, easy pickets.

Johnson is very aggressive trying to get under McGavock's doubts at the back, tell me a little. a little bit of contact, but now I got on the court and it's one of those certain places where you just have to be, you know, you don't block, that'll fly by if you pick it up, they'll meet your back. It really surprised me. Because of the speed of Al's car, which consistently stayed out front tonight and was able to lead, you won't be surprised if he gets a good push and comes back to fight for the lead again. Jimmy Johnson attempts to lead HMS to its 250th victory for that organization.

It's been a 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, going to a lot of the great places and enjoying some little daddy. It's daughter time, it's like this group is breaking up, I'm really surprised how that bottle cap they have, guys, they come to the pits, they dive in the pits, they got Merola, but the group dissipates a little right there, now we have a single car file, a single row. line there the guys are thinking about hitting your sin trying to get to the end everyone is trying to organize themselves to the end of the track so they can get to pit road safely did you just mention the speed in that 34 car?

Let's not forget it. At the beginning of this race they were on pit road tightening a tie rod adjusting the trailer. This is the car that hasn't had the smoothest race. Now you have different manufacturers side by side. Ford's Chevrolet, will they come at the same time? Martin Trucks Jr. What group do you jump with? Everyone arrives at that time. I saw them all jump to the back of the track and turn three and I thought, here they come, but they keep moving, so Bug Amirola came to the pits a little while ago and is warning these cars.

There's a lot of pressure on the pit crews because if you have to come to pit road with a green flag, you can't make a mistake, you can't lose this group that you come to pit road with, I have to believe. They're coming along well, Jeff, I have the advantage of being here off pit road towards the pit stalls to my right, there's this guy's four pit stalls right here, Kevin Harvick's 4, well, they're warming up, see? changing tires moving their arms around jack man stretching that tells me you haven't been without anything on the radio they can only be a couple of laps away from the pits it's all about positioning themselves they're protecting the bottom of the race track it's that's why the lines move down and stay on that yellow line so they can't get pushed around and go outside and then not be able to get to the pits when they want to see that information many laps before.

We're going to go into the pits, you know they're ready for the car, they're coming to talk about it now, the drivers will get that information with about five laps. Hey, we're going to pit about five laps, we'll find a way to the end, that's why we saw. Everyone is trying to figure out how to get to the bottom. It was shown that they got 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 make it to pit road. Clean the pit lane.

This time, correctly. the Fords move in Chevrolet's Gaylord adder looks like Martin Truex Jr will be joining the Chevrolet Brigade when they hit pit road Jimmie Johnson's 48 Dave comes in, they've had an adventure tonight and they had a low average before. I've changed the battery twice plus tires and fuel Sunoco fuel and new tires for Jimmie Johnson Martin Truex Jr's 78 also on pit road that's a two tire stop that killed Alex Bowman too when he was told not to slide to the Tigers at 600 the two tire stop for the 88 Kelly saw Kasey Kahne on pit road they told him to wait until he filled it with Sunoco fuel they were the right side tires for Kasey Kahne all those other cars that were left out Rick they will Come to this lap including Kevin Harvick and as fast as you say the Fords continue to fly in front of us and they slowed down so think about this, they were running 45 50 60s now the group dissipated and it was 46 22, so let's go.

Look how they mix when they enter the pits, let's see how they line up at the back, now they have slowed down because the packs became smaller. Yeah, are you assuming they're wasting time, so when they get out, maybe they'll have a harder time? Keeping the draft leading the pack is why I always like to short or have short pits here so I don't put myself in this situation. The only advantage to this is that you now have fewer cars, so it's a little easier to pit. On the road it seems like you can take a little more speed to pit road and there's a little less risk.

I understand that strategy of entering and leaving pit road, but they are losing a lot of time on the track, I think that if that other group can organize, this is going to be a change of position on the track and these four who have stayed on the court they are going to give up, they are not going to lose the draft leader, but I don't think they will, there is some way they can finish. Being the front four cars when this happens, we're at a 45 50 on that lap, so you're thinking they're just losing a little bit of track position, but they'll be able to maintain that lead draft, Steve okay, but The other group It has to be organized.

You know it's hard to determine time and score as you go through a loop, but you figure Baker's group of cars should run more efficient laps as long as they can stay in line with this team's lead. Here you have the 17, probably one of the fastest cars at Daytona, leading your four-car field. Looks like you'll see them all come to the pits this lap. Look at only four cars, although all are capable. to bring more speed to the speed lines due to the speed point and give themselves the biggest chef advantage, these will be two tire stops as well so they don't spend more time than they need to in the hit line to not slide them, that was the rule worked for Michael McDowell Ricky Stenhouse jr.

On pit road he didn't spin his tires either, they were able to change them. He made a great stop, but they have to go out together, that's the other thing and Rick, at the last break of the stage,Kevin Harvick took four tires, he was told. wait for Rodney Childers to tell him to go and not spin the tires like everyone else who is Kevin Harvick's right side tires, we'll see where these four Fords will shake up with the rest of the field they're headed to. on them fast Rick 48 78 20 Jimmie Johnson Martin Truex Jr Erik Jones leading that other group on Rick what's really going to hurt is that the leaders are coming in single file, which I think means they'll get passed even faster, right? a failure?

Yeah I mean, it's going to be tough, it's going to be tough for these guys to hold on to this tractor, it goes by pretty fast and it's also creating a lot of turbulence for this stream of cars and you can see, oh-ho, a lot of sparks flying. 42 surrounds him Alexis 17 Larson turns around and catches Ricky Stenhouse jr. Since he was in 48, we also mentioned that you can't make a mistake, 48 was going to have to pit because he was stopped outside the box. Steve is a big break for them as sometimes the yellow flag comes out. you just have to be lucky, this is a great save for the 48, since you mentioned that the penalty was going to hurt them, now they will be able to serve that penalty under yellow, which would be a little better, it will still cost a lap but by doing it under green they hold you lose a lap you don't really lose a lap in the draft us here Chad arguing we'll see I've tried it many times although it never seems to work in my favor so We'll see if Nascar sees something different but the camera system caught on the 48 , so they're going to lose a lap, but they'll be able to line up with the group winners, but let's see here, let's take a look at this penalty. in the 48, so basically here the 40 is right against the front line of the 48 oh that's the problem, so you can't fix the car, nothing, tighten lug nuts or put fuel in the car, the tip of the 48 crosses the front pit lane with the fuel cans still plugged in black and white that's definitely servicing the car and then the crash on the backstretch Kyle Larson some sparks right there I see that tire yeah it had a problem that you just bought alone.

I saw sparks flying from the car. Apart from Robert Cochran, I don't think Ryan Newman has made contact, he just has a problem that I retired with, he is now suddenly going to make decisions, although the guys' decisions remember the 17th. Would he have been at the end of that group? in that position if they had hit earlier with the other leaders, so this is the sixth caution to slow the pace here at Daytona as we move forward. Non-stop NASCAR action like we're seeing tonight is exactly what you need when you want to come. to the racetrack, so make sure you get tickets, visit

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.com and clip tickets to see some of this action in person, maybe you can be the one standing cheering for Jimmie Johnson as he steps to the front of the pack , now Jeff, let's take a Look at the Toyota Camry on the track car and there's something different about it than virtually any other car on the track.

What is the good? Most weeks look, we look at the Toyota card at the track and explain something that's really interesting about today's race car. It's pretty simple, it's not wrecked, yes, all the straight paint looks good, it may be the only car on the track or in the facility that doesn't have damage. It's been a crazy night at the track and that car looks good, it's prepared for some incidents, so Martin Truex Jr has points up front at Daytona and has never won on a restrictor plate track. Take a look at 4 by Kevin Harvick, who is behind this.

Any reason to watch Monty Malinois, he's going to open. Now they are easy. Don't slide, don't slide just one game, look at your rear end or tail, car 42 is coming down pit road to take it out in the morning, hey Rick, you know it's amazing what you can catch on the front of a racing car, right? This complete rear bumper cover, as you guys just saw from Kyle Larson's car, all the work that's calling this Steve and here it is for these guys, it was on Kevin Harvick's car 4, as we just saw, it's a fairly large piece and I.

I think I'm going to give this to Mike as a souvenir from his first trip to Daytona for the Coca-Cola Zero 400, what do you think? Yes, bring it to your tariqa, so it is an interesting way to collect the souvenirs. Have another race car. bring it in, he'll go over the top on the way back, okay, deal with Jimmie Johnson, you were talking about what he needs the rest of the way here, so basically because they put him out of the box, it's a one lap penalty. Caution saved him or he would have lost a round and the draft will now be in the draft, but one less round he needs a yellow card.

I think you can easily compete to be the first car a lap down, which puts you in position for the wave. -around or the free pass, but he has to have a yellow, he will never get it back under the green and we talk about tricks, what he did, his decision to get out of the mix and then move to the front with a strong car, is he? the strongest car, the guys that are near the front, we have talked all weekend that this was not going to be the weekend of the big 3 and here is Martin Truex Jr.

Great decision not to be in the peloton , but with that crash picking up the 17, I think 78 has to be the favorite at this point as he looks for a fourth win here this season, wild race, wild finish, love it, oh yeah, 33 to go, no telling What can happen, you listen to radio 48 and that was Chad Knaus speaking. with driver Jimmie Johnson as a tent partner hitting 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 that you talked about last week, the restarts They are an artistic solution Austin Dillon is the perfect time to be able to help our jr tricks. clear the waves outside the 3.x windows and the insurance will wait on the throttle in Austin Dillon accelerate and then Trix will accelerate it as soon as it feels the contact will line it up on that outside or move hard there outside of Kasey Kahne's 95 very tight against the wall, this is getting better, man we're three wide, we never go deep with less than 32 laps to go, Joey Gates drives him in, push him right in front of him, DJ Kennington is right now. running second at Daytona Falls returning to third eighth Austin Dillon moves ahead of him, but how about that name?

You saw those cars go under the yellow line. Okay, go. Oh, you lied if you're not advancing your position, so there will be no penalty for that, it's pent up at the bottom and there's a lot of movement, a lot of damage to Austin Dillon's 3. He's had a bit of a hard time being the main card, so it seems like you drop like a rock and he strikes out, this is that. line and these guys separated PACS starting to separate six cars trying to leave the rest of the group and you look at the race wins for the top ten right now the junior trucks kasey kahne and newman with double digits but everyone else one or two victories and many without any were able to get the first victory of their career 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 greatest feeling finishing second. the Daytona 500, what happens if he wins at Daytona tonight? Here we go with him. I think Oh, Cole, ahem, the helmet cam is a great shot. In front of him, the tracks have actually been repaved recently, but there's starting to be some bombs in the turn. Watch those bumps on the helmet camera as you deal with them going through the turn and to make sure those bumps don't mess up the rebound.

The car goes single file like this, you really won't have any problems with the handling. This is a good setting to be in, you won't feel many balance problems. Here the RPM increases. He's getting a little push. you're going into action, you've decided to stay in line and push the 47 and look at this mirror here, this is what you're looking at, you're looking through that mirror out the back window, you're going to spend an enormous amount of time looking right there . in fact jr. You absolutely have to make sure those guys don't get on that side panel and draft me like they're trying to.

Look outside, you could see on the side, yeah, beer, right there, he's got company on the outside with Chris. Buescher, are you detecting? So we talk a lot about observers, but that mirror works too. It's not just about the observer. Sometimes you have to respond and react before the driver understands the ball. The spiral can tell you. Texas' Chris Buescher thrives trying to climb it. and from the shot, a '96 DJ Kennington, can you straighten it out before you go into the wall? He does, they will stay green if he continues in the right direction and gets back up to speed.

We mentioned he was running upstairs. He is from Ontario, Canada. DJ Kennington typically doesn't have a full schedule, but an opportunity here at Daytona doesn't get going and therefore he will take the yellow flag. He did a good job there, he's driving that thing all the way to the finish to slide into the seventh caution of the night. and this one did not break any sheet of metal now well, strict game, traces, junior, the smaller he goes, the more intense these restarts will become, it is incredibly intense how he picks up aric almirola will get the free pass that will move Jimmie Johnson up place , but he is still one lap down, so Aric Almirola gets the free pass that will put 21 cars on the leading lap.

DJ Kennington brings out the seventh caution as we go non-stop in NASCAR with just 25 laps left in the Monster Energy Cup Series. Coca-Cola Zero sugar 400 well Monday on NBC the new generation of young inches will face the greatest ninja veterans in a battle for the ages American Ninja Warrior all new that's Monday on NBC the 10th aric almirola again we mention received the free pass and we thought they were going to make it to pit road. Pit road was still closed, so you have to make sure you don't go into that orange square. He does it and makes it back to the race track safely, but it was close and then close, they thought we were going to pit, it was closed, but not only was it close because mom got engaged, he almost crashed the car, let's go back to the track, let's not go into the pits, let's not go into the pits, let's listen to Sidon becomes chaotic.

Yes, 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 at Daytona. Well, we saw that 48 in its pit box, the fuel filler was involved like that car. rolled forward and crossed the front line which is black and white according to the rules a penalty, you are not allowed to service the car outside the pit Chad alluded that this is a new rule, I didn't know anything about it, unfortunately for Chad this it's something that was also cleaned up during the off season, as you see here the fuel pump on the back of the car is completely plugged into Jimmie Johnson's 48 which goes several feet over the line, that's not even a questionable decision Last year there were some doubts. about some details that cleaned it up, you couldn't do anything to that race car out of the box, there's a clear penalty for the 48, so look Rick, you showed wins in your career, how about this?

These are RIN this season 2x with three Harvick with five, everyone else with the big one. Goose egg, this is not only exciting for the guys on the court, but it puts a lot of pressure on the guys that the night is already over. If one of these guys wins, maybe Wallace or Newman, the butcher Bowman will change the entire playoff picture. Back on the road and Marty, hey Rick, do you think after looking at that graph there are some drivers who are desperate for a win, including Kasey Kahne? I talked to his car in our Bob Levine today he said, man, it's been a miserable season, this is a team that let go of their crew chief, who started the season, Travis Matt, a few weeks ago and John Leonard, now in his third race as crew chief, what if they could win tonight?

Kelly, that would be a party, how about what a party it would be if Richard Petty Motorsports' 43 and Bubba Wallace finished in victory lane, they talked about it over dinner Thursday and how fun it would be to see Bubba do a movement to the front. His crew chief, Drew Blickensderfer, told me that's what he likes. about Bubba on these tracks, he's aggressive, he's not afraid to make moves, others could be Parker, okay, what if the Dillon brothers could make a splash here at Daytona during the year? Ty Dillon ran 10th place, remember he had a problem, fell this side on the restart, fills everything. the way back to the end of this lap and now he struggled to come back after turning the switch on that card has been working fine since Dave there is Michael McDowell on the front of the repaired 34 and also on the side of the repaired 34 that had driver.

He's never led a lap here in the Monster Energy Cup Series races here, he did it tonight and he's got strength for the end of the 34. He's led the second most laps of anyone Ricky Stenhouse Jr. led51 Michael McDowell led 20 laps at Daytona tonight Martin Truex Jr. has never won on a restrictor plate track he already has three wins the season wants to make it four Kasey Kahne outside again to race at Daytona another great restart for Truex 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 still being in the top three, a good top down title is tight, so the tricks they will stay down there to get the help of that here comes the top here comes the top tricks they are going to block that he is side by side for the leadership he actually lost the leadership Kasey Kahne Kasey Kahne after running it Hendrick Motorsports for so many years loses his work there goes to the 95 team and now Kasey Kahne leading the field at Daytona, now they don't think Casey Kane is going to block that.

I can promise you that even Hendrick Motorsports is going to drive for this team and wants to show the world that he can still drive a race car. We'll see some aggressive blocking from Kasey's game A week ago we mentioned how Brian Newman's 31 was probably the hardest car to pass on the track. What about blocking you? How difficult is it to block cheats? The stall leaves landed around eight. 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 clean up he's going to put it now he'll let it go back to the outside he's going to need some help yeah wants to beat Kasey Kahne, a lot of people have reached the bottom right here, they saw Truex jump to the bottom now he has some help Ryan Newman runs to the bottom thanks to his tight

energy

he reached the bottom lane again there are three in the middle he is about two idiots who fall for three walks backwards for an idiot with a race the babies come down to rock beer America what Alex Bowman's run in '88 went up to the second it seemed like he had a run for '95 he wasn't able to make the pass now Harvick is back behind Kasey Kahne's 95 with 19 laps to go at Daytona this is taking it up again like they have to go through the motions now they have to try to get in front look at Martin Truex, he has worked he returned to third position .

I think right now he may have the fastest car on the track. That's what Harvard Walt is pushing him for. We heard Kasey Kahne spotter Doug Campbell mention 78 overseas. I know how well he didn't need any help. the last time he made the top five he did it alone kasey kahne in front he is number one on a restrictor plate track what a move from Alex Bowman's 88 as we go through NASCAR non stop you saw all of NASCAR amazing non stop action and so much carnage in these cars, so many cars hit and hit Kasey Kahne in front, they've separated Kahne Harvick Truex Jr, Bolin Boyer Newman, those guys, all trying to separate themselves from the other group, listen to Martin Truex Jr's radio and the intensity than you want, you're trying to get that information from your spotter to let you know what 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. about that at the beginning of the race, in fact, a few laps ago they didn't do anything good, they didn't do it, they didn't communicate well and Martin gets excited, we are non-stop, we saw the action in the peloton We saw that the number 17 car was smoking the left rear tire.

Here's why a big sigh, gentlemen, Tim and just crashed into it, yeah, there's no way to say it, I mean this contact and that's got the leather smoke and I hope he can make it through the rest of the race without blowing up. The damage looks like it has been cleaned up now, there is no more smoke, but it is better to damage the much larger tire. Now there are three different packs and are we in a situation where the second packer can be rolled into that first Packer? Kasey Kahne Harvick Truex Jr Ballman Boyer Newman Erik Jones Busch, those are those cars that are going to decide the winner of this race.

It looks like the first group, someone who is separating in the laps, those guys are at the bottom. Look, they wouldn't run on top if they moved to the top. I think it would be a mistake to allow this group to catch them, so Cait needs to know that this is a smaller group, fewer guys to defend for this win. The last eight cars have separated and created their own group running head to head. right at the end of the track, so you made a great point, you make them move too soon and then you drag everyone back, you drag that caution back, Ricky Stenhouse jr. around the tire finally falling off now Congratulations York for the grades going up Minard runs down pit road because he wants to take the life out of it under the problems this is great for Jimmy Johnson he was the car that got one lap less with the highest score one lap down and it still drives straight to pit road, it will go through the grass and get to pit road instead of going all the way around the race tracks, yeah I don't think you can go around the race track without a left rear tire on.

Take a look here, obviously we talked about it. He's got Watford's tires going down. He does. Separate car. Watch all of Chris's panels. Winner of stage one. Winner of stage two. We used to call him a gladiator. See all those flames down in the. The left side of it, that's just a tire that destroyed it, taking out the aluminum metal, everything is down there, eighth yellow flag and now there are less than 10 laps left in Daytona. Kasey Kahne can finish it. He's leading the way in incredible fashion for two weeks now as NBC returns. covering the Monster Energy Cup Series races well, it will continue next week night race in Kentucky next Saturday night at 7:30 ET, come down here, talk to my crew chief, Steve Letarte, nine laps to go .

I don't care if I go down to the pits. road I can drive this to the front how come you didn't bring me that pit road to make me a better man? I think even with a small group like this you don't want to give up track position, you have to keep it towards the front, this is really the most frustrating time for a crew chief. You get into it about 20 laps ago on a restrictor plate track and we really became fans. We are also training our pilot to try to encourage it in the observer, but as much as possible.

My race duties ended about 15 or 20 laps ago, now I'm just a fan, very true, well, I always win. The next big decision is which Lane is going to pick Kasey Kahne, so he is the leader of the race and will be out of the running. his lane and I think when he has to decide it's two things: number one, who does he think will push him better and number two, which lane will be better at the bottom of the top and this could be a difficult decision, Yeah. In case you have come and we have seen these drivers, they will tell the driver who is behind them when he should go.

Well, if you're in the outside lane, everyone can see you, everyone will see you, indicating when you're going to turn, look, so if you're in the inside lane you're hiding it from whoever is on the outside lane, so far tonight prevails the inside light and he can tell the guy behind him to give that push, no one else sees it an outside line, they get the jump, that's what I do, and what makes it so frustrating is you know the option that the leader or anyone in the front row has to take the lead can go back to row 2, row 3, so many times we've seen, you know the push is not the front row, not even the first two cars, it can be completely back as we see the 40 of the Jimmie Johnson Rick, you mentioned it, he fell, had a penalty and finally got his lap back Dave is now in the pits getting four tires and Steve.

I mentioned the two battery changes before, it was an amperage thing that Jimmy was reporting and you see he gets a chassis adjustment there too, they just wanted to be sure the first time it was a little low, the second time it wasn't. so low, but Chad Knaus made the decision to say we have to keep that thing running anyway, so they changed the battery twice and now they have a free pass. Jimmy Johnson is back in the game. Yes, I have seen an electrical problem for Jimmy. Johnson, well you have to ask yourself, Dave, you know if the volts get low enough, they can start to damage the power and that's the last thing the 48 needs to try to come back across the field, Marty.

They're going to have to have all the power available in Chevrolet. We'll see, we always talk about the driver, but what about the owner? Bob Levine is a Texas home builder with a passion for racing. Eight years ago he founded this racing team. of his own money and he's funded it with his own money for years 165 races later they still have to get to Victory Lane imagine what he's going through now I asked you a moment ago, a little nervous, he said, what do you think, jr ? . You've been in this position before sitting here trying to get that first win as an organization.

There are a lot of nerves in this 95 pin. I mean, that's why they started this team to go to Victory Lane and I've been struggling to find Victory Lane for years. There is a very low budget team. They started this team to have a positive impact on the sport and their community. I mean, they're great people. It could be an incredibly important night for them to go to Victory Lane and that's why they hired Kasey Kahne when he became available, they wanted a big name driver and they got the Kasey Kahne guys. It has been an incredible night.

Okay, let's get everyone up to speed on what happened. Well, let's get started, Ricky, don't participate jr. He's been in the thick 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 see the first accident that Stenhouse has in the back of the 2 cars when you shoot, throw a block, Stenhouse turns and goes around the back, the hit of the two turns them a little. an accident where the houses go a little crazy with the side wording going into the back of this side of car 18.

Martin Truex Jr decided, hey, I'm done with all that crazy, 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 to the front and drug the entire backline with me, a great trip back to the front by Park that year. I tell you what, guys, the only thing we did. I don't see the wild ride that the 17 and 42 had too because when the 42 went around the 17 didn't really suffer much damage, they did a good job preparing this car and giving it a chance until the left rear tire blew out. okay so Casey Kay made the decision for him, he decided he's going to go to the top, he's got Martin Truex behind him.

Sorry, it has a bone behind it with a little damage. Martin Truex Jr is in the bottom lane. Martin's car is nice. very unharmed, perhaps the only one that is the Toyota car, the only one that has no damage. I don't know if it's that big, but as a driver you have to make your best decision and stick with it, go with the guy that I'm just going to push the best for you, yeah, I'm just worried that he's literally showing his hand, like when he hits a single, which I hope most drivers do when he gets a single to boban behind him, he's basically giving a single to Kevin Harvick too, hey.

Guys, listen, they talked about all the guys needing a win. How about the big three align again? Two of them in the inner row can get another victory. Kasey Kahne, the control car in '95, and they're all speeding up together. face to face with the top 14 cars they will do it for Casey kevin harvick in the background kasey kahne up in less than six laps to go down the final stretch they go again Harvick is still there, he has momentum Sam ba is going to sign the draft one quarter of the 95 Inevitably, the 95 holds firm in the right rear quarter here of Harvick at the exit of the quarter, but the tricks will push it here.

I think he needs Bowman to get behind him. 95 puts Harvick in the lead with five minutes left and now Harvick will try to do it. block any line that has momentum sure foul says clear the pack also strong Martin Truex Junior's car was before I couldn't believe the close tricks reached his bumper right there back off a little look at that race he had the 14th pushing the 78th to run He won't hold it, he'll just push a little further ahead. I wonder if he can't handle it because of his teammate. There's a teammate in the four cars behind him right up against the wall this time.

Aric Almirola caught up with him. the double 0 Joey GaSe in the 34 who had a great race tonight gets caught on Michael McDowell not Jimmie Johnson and Jimmie Johnson's 48 just got back on the lead lap although there isn't much damage to the 48 or a wheel . Rolling down the track, that thing still has the hub and everything in it broke off the axle. We tried to look at the smoke on the right front of the 48. That's where the wheel was on Eric's car. Ali Rolla, tore it from the casing. There must have beena heavy contact because Michael McDowell tried to get out of the 34.

Feel bad for Michael. We're still going. Michael McDowell had a really good night leading some of this and now the flames under the hood, what a great night. Michael. McDowell had until that moment known they were here. I can promise you that he had a chance to win this race, he showed that he could run up front, he put out the fire under the 34, they're going to have to clear these cars off the grass, which might take some time. I would be surprised if they don't put a red flag on this race. Look, I have to keep cutting, leaving his hand back and forth like I think he's hurt, but sometimes you know you hold that wheel and you see you just reach out your hand. a little bit here they have three wide, four wide and four wide they are hooked up yeah it's just not enough this track just isn't wide enough before a wide one at Talladega you can make it work it's a little bit wider , but this racetrack just isn't as wide as Talladega, don't look at it, double 0, it's already hood, turns down the corner, it's just trying to pick it up.

I know where those guys are going. Jimmie Johnson is like he's seen this before. A loud impact was my McDowell sandwich, Eric angry at the wall. cheers because the wheel comes off and then you see the 48 sliding into the grass the wheel actually comes back and hits the 10 and rolls over it and then keeps going down the race track that's what hurts look at this yeah look at the wheel. come back run over the 10 and keep going those injured well you're the car on the outside and the cars just push you against the wall those are the ones that talk to me they take your breath away it just hurts I mean it's just those are painful accidents remember that aric almirola broke his back in Kansas when he was involved in a big accident we saw him come out of the 10 again the ninth yellow flag in Daytona there are only three left to go here the cleanup continues and it seems that we will do it we are on time extra again at Daytona, we've seen some over the top times at this track, we've seen some incredible battles that have taken place on the track tonight as well before this yellow flag came out, we saw Martin Truex Jr with a great race.

Clint Boyer gets to 78, that 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 track to move it. Go ahead, it's an interesting decision, look what happens, you see Kevin Harvick sighs, says: "What he's going to do seems clear, that will be the decision." Martin regrets that maybe it was a shot, but he has Boyer behind him, so the cliffs won't help him get past Clint. teammate so that's the sticky situation of the articles now the situation in the restart Harvick, I'm sure, he'll want Boyer behind him to push him because those teammates will be working together Marty Rick tonight, it's the nine lives of Kevin Harvick, let's look at the disaster from the start Rodney so still the bumper cover and everything and here you are with extra time on the start and you're in the lead are you as surprised as anyone?

That's how things work in these Speedway races, you never know what's going to happen. I just have to keep fighting all weekend, but you know everyone at Super House Race and you build us a great car. I felt like the car was still as fast as it was going into the race and Doug Yates is texting me every two seconds trying to give it a try. to tell us what to do here, so we'd really like to earn a restrictor plate, you know, like 14, we've been fast throughout, whereas before we haven't been able to get one, so we're going to try like hell how.

Do you do things differently in this reboot, maybe because you know it's been a topic Doug has been texting you about? Well I do not know. I mean, you just have to chase it and try to make something happen. A semi eight car has been fast, I think everyone knows that, but we have our teammate behind us to push and hopefully we had to work. Kevin Harvick Kelly has been all over this field tonight, but now he's at the helm himself, but he'll be lining up next to Martin Truex Jr.'s 78. Cole Pearn is the crew chief.

You guys are looking at his first win in a restrictor plate race. What would you like to see from Martin in this extra time? Hopefully we can get off to a good clean start. I mean, our car seems to have pretty good speed to feel pretty good about it, so who knows, I mean, you know, almost as much speed is lost, one lane stays together better, so how have they managed? Are you able to survive so long? We've seen them regress and then I had the speed to get back into the rhythm of the night. Yes.

You know, we wanted to stay out of trouble all night and we managed to do that. And you know, here we sit, we have an opportunity that is quite unknown to us. so who knows we'll take whatever we can get here okay we're waiting for you Rick it's been amazing. Now you see them line up two by two and Kevin Harvick has chosen the inside line, which means his teammate will be there. right behind him with Clint Boyer let's listen to radio four without confidence right I love that I made 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 Gates careers Robert Yates, his father, this is plate racing, they love it and they're just passionate about it and you know Doug Yates wants to win this plate race, he means a lot to that company because they're right, Jeff jr.

Take a look at these top three, 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, you know he's trying. To show that he lost some races this year, Kasey Kahne, we talked about him. He gave up on that inside line and maybe chose wrong on that restart. Can he bounce back and maybe lead his team to victory lane tonight? Yes, Alex Bowman, the Hendrick Motorsports drivers, he is Dillon's rival. the bottom of the track may be trying to keep fuel in the fuel injection, have you had fuel problems, yes we've been there, oh dear, time's up brought to you by a credit bank, Harvick Truex, via of the gears, everyone's pushing that sideline looking a little better right now, but we gotta get down to the turn here and the shortest distance at the bottom they're diving together, although Truex has the help, hey Rick Joe, look at his job doing a great job pushing marked as Rex jr. . they go in the lead and they separate but the rinse is clear when the women are not helped there is no one down to help Harvick now the 95 is pushing Erik Jones now it is clear Hari Rice goes up in the 95 tries to move forward too He is going to push Martin Truex Jr's 20 to 78 to the front coming out of turn four once they get the white flag, the next flag will call the 14 around the boyar against the wall, the yellow flag comes out just before they reach the exit. finish line some big hits Bayne hit his favorite drivers Brendan Gaughan also in this one Jimmie Johnson's 48 trevor bayne a lot of damage to Jimmy Johnson's car Ross Chastain major damage to the 15 overtime rules you have to take the flag again white to make it a full race, otherwise they will try again this time.

The yellow flag came out just before Martin Truex Jr reached the finish line and we see Jimmie Johnson coming out the window, so they will try for overtime one more time. You see, Trevor Bayne, he's won at this track before, as you mentioned, trying to prove himself again. Clint Boyer turned sideways on the tri-oval and hit the wall hard. Let's take a look at the replay. Have an idea of ​​how this all started. You see Clint Boyer. and Bubba Wallace Clint is on the inside, but he's got a little bit of a Thai touch in there, but he's pushing and he just turns around, pushing so hard that Clinton moves on the front bumper and hooks it against the wall, that's a very drawing aggressive here it's from the Route 43 cam just turning on the curb, they're hooking up bad, it's very aggressive pushing very aggressive bump wording, which is what's going to happen at the end of these races, yeah, they got misaligned when they misaligned, here's Kevin Harvick.

Two cars turn your head toward Kevin Harmon. It's good to see Clint Boyer able to run. It's a big impact. They stopped doing it. They hit very hard. He sure did it. Harvick also acknowledged the crowd. Two teammates are going to talk about it. Teammates. Two great friends find out right there how that started and how it happened. Know? They're talking about it, normally they would take an ambulance ride back to the field care center, they didn't want to wait for that, they decided they would make the trip themselves and we'll still have another extra time ahead of us.

Truex Jr and Eric Jones will now not have teammates to help them because they will be together at the front, watch another replay of this and junior, you are right, it is that moment in a race that you are going to push. and right there you see bubbles pushing on the 14 and the 14 is moving to the left and when it did now it's pushing on the right rear of the bumper and just like the accident we saw earlier in the race it just turns the car straight to head. on the wall and you know when you're pushing someone how you're pushing them is so important that you have to have everyone everyone has to be aligned and the most effective way is on the back right, but if you get out of alignment just a touch boom, that's what What happens just pushes it to the right, do you ever paint with a fan to remember that these cars are going over one hundred and eighty miles an hour, they hit the wall hard, yeah guys, they just mentioned, that's how it starts, the 14 turns into a big shock, but look Jimmy Johnson walks in, he's at the top of the screen, he hits the wall, then he runs into Clint Boyer and starts turning left, he basically has to come right at me, we talk that the pit box would be in the center of the action when this happens. another shot at the 48 at this point, he's just following the path, but you see, why doesn't NASCAR use these last three pit stalls anymore?

This is basically a pit stall: I'm one pit stall to your left in the NBC box. So, you see, I mean, you see how close it is, now you see how NASCAR makes the decision about which pit stalls are no longer used for pit crews and people may wonder why Jimmie Johnson wasn't on the brakes, but when the cars start moving. He damaged that Rick valley, wrecks things and the brakes don't work anymore. There are times when you just don't have any brakes and you see fluid that was on the race track as well, so if Jimmie Johnson was trying to get on the track. brakes there was probably fluid on the track in front of him, let's do a replay here with Ricky Stenhouse Ascari's roof slow and with a lot of debris, these cars are sliding everywhere, there's nowhere I can go, I can't slow down of the car.

You're going really fast so that's something that's going to help you get in, plus you talked about the fluids and debris on the track, you lock up the front tires and it takes you right into that accident, check this out right here, these guys knew what they were doing, look. what it says seconds of logs on the back of the log knew what was coming, are they working with a knife? They haven't reached the checkers, yes, but we will give the tenth warning, now there is a red flag since the field in which it is left is parked. the backstretch Energy Cup

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coke zero sugar 400 from a Daytona International Speedway I want to listen to a little radio from '78 and the team 20 is exciting.

I see we always made it, so congratulations to Erik Jones in terms of pushing the 78. put him in front and how close they came to getting that white flag, oh, that white flag means Martin Chuzzlewit, they all didn't make it, so that now he has to make a difficult decision because he doesn't have Erik Jones behind him, now the guy who did a great job will have to choose he has Chris Buescher he was a guy who could choose I don't know, I don't know what his choice will be or Kasey Kahne normally that's how it works so if you're the leader and you're going to give a hand signal to the car behind you, you're going to signal for him to speed up, not you, and when he speeds up, that's a air current sure to happen and as soon as you move forward, it will wave. for him to accelerate, then you accelerate like you're split, then you say that guarantees you'll lock the bumpers and then he can push you out and take him out, and so wait to give that signal.

I want to be inside and not show it, you know, no. I show my hand to the guys if I'm on the outside line and you guys brought the control car that does that first which is now a smart truck tractor whatever lane I choose so I'm going inside and you must have too discipline if he is. it is not locked on your bumper you have to press the brake you have toget away from you it's very hard to take off the throttle I don't even care if that's probably what I'm supposed to do it's hard to live that's what's going to help you Alright, crew chief, be it the cockpit, what's going on in the cockpit? last Exit?

Listen. I'm going to choose the background just because I think the background is the place to be. I think the cars in the background are forced to stay there for one and two. They don't jump out of the line, the guys on the outside row third fourth fifth and position they can jump they can move to a lane at the bottom I think the push stays more consistent until the exit ooh now you come out of turn two it's game on gear I'm not sure what happens down the stretch, but if you can get that first mile of this track going, I think you have the best chance of winning, so the crew chief says get that first pile going, well , we saw them achieve.

Almost two and a half miles were completed before chaos ensued at the test. I'm not saying the outside line can't do it, he's seen it, but if you get a good start, give it a good push into turn one and then you'll have the shortest distance it just seems like the best option with Matt DiBenedetto Chris Buescher running fifth and fourth, two names you don't normally see there, remember when I said Allmendinger was one of two drivers to have three consecutive top 10 finishes. On restrictor plate tracks, guess what he's in the top six and he's back in eighth place.

DJ Kenta saw him turning back immediately. The other thing we've seen in these restarts is that cars that are in the third lane can also play a role. So you know, we're talking about saying that 37 pushes 20, but also that 47 can push 37, that's very important and they're teammates, so if 47 can do a good job pushing 37, then that causes the 20 to be pushed too, so what I'm looking at right now is a 32 car, how can it push compared to the 47? There were three rows back, but it will influence how this restart will be done. I see that Benedetto has problems, yes, he has damage to his car.

So I don't think Lane is going to be able to push as well as the 47. Yeah, they came out of turn two. The leaders are still happy with the outside and then it becomes probably the most competitive lane. The yellow lights return to the safety car. meaning they will turn around one more time if the outside is organized after turn two and they are still next to the leader, they definitely have momentum in the opportunity to clear the backstretch, so if Truex can clear, he If T-Rex is going to take the initiative, it will have to be clear, there is no need to leave to resort.

I'm someone who listens, I've been paying attention down here, they had me at the bottom, now they have me at the top. Great arguments, but you've had great arguments for both lanes. Now I'm confused about where I think I want to be. I don't like the top. I'm just saying if you don't get over the top in 1 and 2. They're going to be a handful on the backstretch because they're going to get organized hey Steve I'm just throwing something at you the last time Martin Truex Jr was in the pits was on the lap 120, it's been 45 laps, no fuel problems, right?

I mean, we would. I have no problem with running out of fuel, well you know they're only five laps away, in theory how far they could go, but look 21 of those laps weren't too yellow, I probably have basically half a tank of fuel. There is gas left, there is so much in yellow, so I don't think that is a concern, now everything will depend on what the two drivers have said, the team leaders are out of this, everyone is out of this, now it's a matter of who up the gears. and who has more help, yeah, I think that's the key, but that's why I know on the last restart Kevin Harvick picked his teammate and picked the line that he protected, but his teammate He couldn't push it.

Boyer wasn't with him in the off lane they were all they were all hooked up and they passed him because it was a more organized push and I'm just looking at the 32 DiBenedetto car it looks like it's damaged to me the front of the car looks damaged The 47 car looks clean in the front, so I think that outside lane may have better pushers. I like the race track at the bottom, but I like the outside lane. Jeff yesterday we saw the pass from the second row coming out of the turn. four with less cars that changes the dynamic 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 destroyed, you don't have fingers on some of them, the fans know that. which is about to go crazy again because everyone has stood up once again, it will be two turns in time for the second time, returning 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 side panel, but there's a big gap between him and Chris Buescher and it tells him that he should take the lead easily, without any help. for Erik Jones on the back of that restart Martin Truex Jr way up front now all he has to do is block but here comes Casey Kahne on the high side the trader wants to take the lead away as they go down the stretch big move now Kenny punting Jets, are you trying to slow down?

The outside line got it outside. The boys come booing outside. Erik Jones is going for Kasey Kahne Erik Jones metrics jr. place next to take the lead How so? Lynch is more organized, only two cars really down on the inside and they go back to the white flag if they get it, the race is official. It's two and a half miles to Daytona with only two cars down there. The grass will sink, but she won't get much help from Kasey Kahne. Your outside lane 47 will push you to 37. That will take you to 20. Possibly here it comes, it comes outside.

Leads to 20 in the final stretch. Go Erik Jones. at 20 it's close he got a big push from butcher's 37 here comes the 78 once again Jones this number one in the Monster Energy covered easily blocked Martin Truex Jr's 78 has never won on a restrictor plate track arriving at the tri-oval for last time Erik Jones is what came up a Daytona and just took a shot, pushed, passed Martin Truex Jr's race to find a night for that kid, his first win and the date they told him and how excited Erik Jones has to be . The first victory in the Cup Series his father is not with him.

He lost his father two years ago to compete. Erik Jones' father sold his prized possession Corvette so Erik Jones could race well. Erik Jones after coming to the Cup Series bought that Corvette. And now he can celebrate at Daytona, the biggest race track, NASCAR is going to put a smile on Joe Gibbs' face. Joe has been very public and has said how bad he feels for Erik Jones because they have been running well and things just haven't worked out. and he kept saying man, he's doing a good job of not making the finals, so tonight was a night where he avoided problems, he did what he had to do in the end, he got this moment presented by Sunoco, which boosted the victories throughout the season and fueled the biggest victory, Erik.

Jones' life, the crowd here on this 4th of July weekend, they got to see some incredible racing in the Xfinity Series last night and now Erik Jones got his first career win in the Monster Energy Cup Series, teammates of Martin Truex junior last year, we wonder what this is. moving to Joe Gibbs Racing was going to be good for Erik, expect something big for him this year and realizing his potential with Isis, let's go to Rutledge Wood Rick, it's all smiles for Mayor Jones here, taking his first Series win of the Cup at Daytona Eric. How do you feel friend?

You did it, congratulations race boys and girls, what's that? It was something else, man, I thought, I thought we were out of this and then all of a sudden we're back in this and we take the Lee that he did, he got away. but wow, what an amazing race by Toyota, come here and my first Cup win, my first Daytona win, my first Super Speedway win, what an amazing day, man, I'm out of breath, too much smoke in the car due To that exhaustion, I can barely. breathe through an incredible ending Erik, the years of hard work you put down, got that checkered flag, all these fans standing up, what do you want to tell them?

Thank you thank you very much. It was a great job being here. man, I was thinking I sing about my mom and dad right after the lady, my mom stayed home during this one, she's going to have to mix in my first Cup win, so hey mom and dad, he would have been very proud of the work we did. comes here, it's just an incredible same strength, congratulations friend, thank you. I, Terry Jones, your first winner tonight. Rick said he was out of breath but he can run for the checkered flags won by Erik Jones, 22, of Byron Michigan. the biggest stage in Daytona, very joyous, I believe we are here with you and the post-race coverage will continue on NBCSN as the trip to the most coveted terrain in all of Daytona Beach Victory Lane and Jr.

I talked about this, I mean, this It's a race that this young man will remember for the rest of his life, it's true, I mean, he participated in what I told you today, NASCAR's biggest stage, this is this race track, it's kind of the foundation of our sport and he can drive on very, very sacred grounds, you know, and he knows it, you know, he's a racer and a purist at heart, he knows how important and how big this is to him, it's a bit of a long journey, so you get that anticipation when you get there you get a great image link you make it turn right and there you can see the crew these guys start showing their excitement, enthusiasm, happiness for you and he's the real deal that's what better. place to park after a race The Barker boys were here in victory lane Erik Jones is going to get out of the car here Daytona pile of confetti Gatorade the thrill of the first way Eric I know how much you wanted this first witness to tell Me , which means, you, they're going to be in Daytona, they're going to make it and they're going to get stuck in the playoffs for the first time in your career, oh man, what a day, what a day.

I didn't think we were going to have a chance to win. They are halfway there. and we were back in contention, the guys did a great job fixing this and getting there by the Toyota communication camera to Victory Lane. I mean, I've never been that good at super speed tracks and I never thought this was our chance to win, but we got here tonight. It's quite incredible, it's a first victory and there is none. How much better has it felt than this, what a thrill, Rick, you don't even care about the confetti in your face. More live coverage from Daytona below on NBCSN and the post-race show below on NBC.

You're late to the local news, except in The West Coast has more first-time winners than any other racetrack at Daytona and that young Erik Jones happens to win at Daytona. This copyrighted telecast may not be reproduced, retransmitted or used in any manner without the authorized written consent of the NASCAR broadcast. NASCAR I would like to thank all of our fans for their support and we hope you enjoyed today's broadcast.