Truex Jr. beats Harvick in the Winn-Dixie 250
Saturday, July 2, 2005
Martin Truex Jr. was welcomed with a firework celebration into Gatorade Victory Lane at Daytona International Speedway late Friday night as the winner of the NASCAR Busch series Winn-Dixie 250 race. Truex Jr. lead for most of the race, first taking the lead position at lap 21.
Four fighter jets from the Connecticut Air National Guard flew over the track after the national anthem, a NASCAR tradition for races.
The race got off to a rocky start for some, such as the #64 car driven by Jeremy Mayfield pit early twice, once on lap four and another one lap after. On lap 13, the #60 car driven by Carl Edwards spun through the grass near Turns 1 and 2 after being hit by Truex Jr, sending the race into a caution.
Truex Jr. fought for the lead on lap 21 with his car owner Dale Earnhardt Jr., where Truex passed Earnhardt on the high end of Turn 4. Earnhardt would later slip back to the third position two laps later.
Lap 37 started with a smoking run into the pits by Kyle Krisiloff and his #5 car after a break malfunction, which led to him exceeding the speed limit placed by NASCAR on pit road. Seven laps later, JJ Yaley's #18 car stalled on the track and coasted into the garage.
Nextel cup veteran driver Sterling Marlin's front right tire gave out on lap 56, sending the race into yet another caution for the night. The race was then silent until lap 78, when Earnhardt came into contact with driver Paul Menard of the #11 car coming off turn 4, causing Earnhardt to spin. Earnhardt did not return to the race after the incident, believed to be the cause of a broken transmission from the spin. A caution was issued.
It would be 10 laps until another caution would be issued, this time for the rookie Michel Jourdain Jr. in his #10 car, after he spins after coming in contact with two other cars. After the caution, a three-car leadership of Greg Biffle, Kevin Harvick and Truex Jr. would lead the remainder of the race, with each of them taking a turn leading.
A major crash caused by #34, driven by Randy LaJoie, resulted in an 8-car pileup along the backstretch on lap 97, sending the race into its final caution of the night. A red flag was issued on lap 99, freezing the field of any movement or alterations with the cars. The race finally resumed almost 20 minutes later, with a green-white-checkered finish led by Truex Jr.
| Unofficial Top-10 Results of the Winn-Dixie 250 |
|---|
| Position | Car # | Driver |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 | Martin Truex, Jr. |
| 2 | 21 | Kevin Harvick |
| 3 | 66 | Greg Biffle |
| 4 | 22 | Kenny Wallace |
| 5 | 2 | Clint Bowyer |
| 6 | 11 | Paul Menard |
| 7 | 87 | Joe Nemecheck |
| 8 | 6 | Mike Wallace |
| 9 | 32 | Jason Leffler |
| 10 | 33 | Tony Raines |
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