1999 Daytona 500

The 1999 Daytona 500, the 41st running of the event, was held February 14, 1999, at Daytona International Speedway. Jeff Gordon won the pole and won the race, making him the first Daytona 500 pole sitter to win the race since Bill Elliott in 1987.

1999 Daytona 500
Race details
Race 1 of 34 in the 1999 NASCAR Winston Cup Series
Track map of Daytona International Speedway showing mainly the speedway.
Date February 14, 1999 (1999-02-14)
Location Daytona International Speedway
Daytona Beach, Florida, US
Course Permanent racing facility
2.5 mi (4.02336 km)
Distance 200 laps, 500 mi (804.672 km)
Weather Temperatures reaching up to 64.9 °F (18.3 °C); wind speeds approaching 15.9 miles per hour (25.6 km/h)[1]
Average speed 161.551 miles per hour (259.991 km/h)
Pole position
Driver
Hendrick Motorsports
Qualifying race winners
Duel 1 Winner Bobby Labonte Joe Gibbs Racing
Duel 2 Winner Dale Earnhardt Richard Childress Racing
Most laps led
Driver Rusty Wallace Penske Racing
Laps 104
Winner
No. 24 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network CBS
Announcers Mike Joy, Buddy Baker, and Ned Jarrett
Nielsen Ratings 9.6/25
(12.9 million viewers)

Silly season

The start of the 1999 season was marked by three owners (Andy Petree, Travis Carter, and Joe Gibbs) expanding to 2 full-time teams for the first time in their careers. Their drivers were Kenny Wallace (Petree), Darrell Waltrip (Carter), and rookie Tony Stewart (JGR). Several new teams debuted, including Joe Bessey's new #60 and the #58 Ford owned by Scott Barbour. Speedweeks would also be marked by controversy involving Junie Donlavey's #90 Ford. Rookie driver Mike Harmon was dismissed from his team just before the Gatorade 125 qualifying races after reports surfaced that Harmon's sponsor, Big Daddy's Barbecue Sauce, was not living up to its contract obligations, as well as the team wanting a veteran driver to find more speed on the track; Donlavey's team wound up signing Mike Wallace, who'd driven for the team in the 1994-96 period.[2]

Qualifying and Gatorade 125s
Further information: 1999 NASCAR Winston Cup Series § Gatorade 125s

Jeff Gordon won the pole for the race with a speed of just over 195 mph, and would start alongside former Indy Racing League champion Tony Stewart, who was making his Winston Cup debut. A total of 59 drivers would make an attempt to qualify for the 1999 Daytona 500. Bobby Labonte would win the first Gatorade 125 qualifying race after taking the lead from Gordon on lap 39. A lap 1 incident, the only caution of the First Duel, ended Dan Pardus and Jeff Green's chances at making the Daytona 500. Dale Earnhardt won the 2nd Gatorade duel after taking the lead from Stewart on lap 8. The second duel was marred by two caution periods that ended Dick Trickle, Glen Morgan, and David Green's chances at qualifying for the race. This would be Earnhardt's final win at Daytona.

Drivers qualified for the Daytona 500 either by finishing in the top 16 in their qualifying race, through a 2-lap qualifying run, or a provisional starting spot based on owner points from the 1999 season. They had three chances to make a 2-lap time trial run that would be fast enough to make the Daytona 500.

Race summary

This race was known for Jeff Gordon's daring three-wide pass on Rusty Wallace and Mike Skinner. He passed Wallace after ducking to the apron, nearly plowing into the damaged car of Ricky Rudd. Skinner jumped to the outside and they raced three-wide for three laps until Dale Earnhardt (the defending Daytona 500 winner) gave Gordon the needed push. The race was also known for a determined Earnhardt repeatedly trying to pass Gordon for the lead on the final lap, only for Gordon to beat him to the finish. The race had a 13-car pileup on lap 135, in which eventual series champion Dale Jarrett flipped over twice but however, he was uninjured. This was also the first Winston No Bull 5 race of the season.

Results
Pos Grid Car Driver Team Make Laps Laps led Status
1 124Jeff Gordon (W)Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet20017Running
2 43Dale Earnhardt (W)Richard Childress RacingChevrolet2000Running
3 4128Kenny Irwin, Jr.Robert Yates RacingFord2000Running
4 1231Mike SkinnerRichard Childress RacingChevrolet20031Running
5 137Michael WaltripMattei MotorsportsChevrolet2000Running
6 733Ken SchraderAndy Petree RacingChevrolet2000Running
7 2444Kyle PettyPetty EnterprisesPontiac2000Running
8 102Rusty WallacePenske RacingFord200104Running
9 2697Chad LittleRoush RacingFord2000Running
10 2198Rick MastYarborough Burdette MotorsportsFord2000Running
11 259Jerry NadeauMelling RacingFord2000Running
12 3425Wally Dallenbach, Jr.Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet2000Running
13 1416Kevin LepageRoush RacingFord2000Running
14 3136Ernie Irvan (W)MB2 MotorsportsPontiac2000Running
15 2775Ted MusgraveButch Mock MotorsportsFord2000Running
16 3571Dave MarcisMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet1990Flagged
17 3926Johnny BensonRoush RacingFord1990Flagged
18 2030Derrike Cope (W)Bahari RacingPontiac1990Flagged
19 1577Robert PressleyJasper MotorsportsFord1990Flagged
20 612Jeremy MayfieldPenske RacingFord1997Flagged
21 4366Darrell Waltrip (W)Haas-Carter MotorsportsFord1990Flagged
22 4011Brett BodineBrett Bodine RacingFord1990Flagged
23 4290Mike WallaceDonlavey RacingFord1990Flagged
24 1822Ward BurtonBill Davis RacingPontiac1990Flagged
25 318Bobby LabonteJoe Gibbs RacingPontiac19820Flagged
26 2858Ricky CravenSBIII MotorsportsFord1970Flagged
27 3794Bill Elliott (W)Bill Elliott RacingFord1947Contact
28 220Tony Stewart (R)Joe Gibbs RacingPontiac1810Flagged
29 164Bobby HamiltonMorgan-McClure MotorsportsChevrolet1740Contact BS
30 2910Ricky RuddRudd Performance MotorsportsFord1680Flagged
31 96Mark MartinRoush RacingFord1470Contact T3
32 1740Sterling Marlin (W)SABCO RacingChevrolet1440Contact T3
33 2245Rich BickleTyler Jet MotorsportsPontiac1420Contact T3
34 231Steve ParkDale Earnhardt, Inc.Chevrolet1390Contact T3
35 599Jeff BurtonRoush RacingFord1380Contact T3
36 3242Joe NemechekSABCO RacingChevrolet1370Contact T3
37 888Dale Jarrett (W)Robert Yates RacingFord13414Contact T3
38 195Terry LabonteHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet1340Contact T3
39 3060Geoffrey Bodine (W)Joe Bessey MotorsportsChevrolet1340Contact T3
40 3821Elliott Sadler (R)Wood Brothers RacingFord1320Contact T3
41 1123Jimmy SpencerHaas-Carter MotorsportsFord1210Contact T2
42 3355Kenny WallaceAndy Petree RacingChevrolet920Engine
43 3643John AndrettiPetty EnterprisesPontiac250Engine
Failed to Qualify
84Stanton Barrett (R)PBH MotorsportsChevrolet
80Andy HillenburgHover MotorsportsFord
81Morgan ShepherdPinnacle MotorsportsFord
91Steve GrissomLJ RacingChevrolet
00Buckshot Jones (R)Buckshot RacingPontiac
78Gary Bradberry (R)Triad MotorsportsFord
47Billy StandridgeStandridge Auto RacingFord
73Ken BouchardBarkdoll RacingChevrolet
59Mark Gibson (R)CSG MotorsportsFord
72Jim SauterMarcis Auto RacingChevrolet
79Norm Benning (R)T.R.I.X. RacingChevrolet
13Dick TrickleBill Elliott RacingFord
15Jeff Green (R)Bud Moore EngineeringFord
48Glen Morgan (R)Glen Morgan RacingChevrolet
50Dan Pardus (R)Midwest Transit RacingChevrolet
41David Green (R)Larry Hedrick MotorsportsChevrolet
90Mike Harmon (R)2Donlavey RacingFord
"1999 Daytona 500 – Racing-Reference.info". Archived from the original on 2012-02-19. Retrieved 2013-06-21.
Notes:
  1. After David Green failed to qualify for the Daytona 500, his sponsor Kodiak signed an agreement to sponsor Mike Wallace's entry for the Daytona 500.
  2. Mike Harmon was originally scheduled to drive the #90 on a full-time basis in 1999. He participated in time trials but was replaced before the qualifying races by Mike Wallace, due to difficulties between the 90 team and Harmon's sponsor.
gollark: Fact: abs are 103% three letters of the English alphabet.
gollark: How surprising.
gollark: Why?
gollark: I'd just parent them well instead of badly.
gollark: Only if I was negligent toward them.

References
  1. "Weather of the 1999 Daytona 500". The Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2013-06-19.
  2. http://media.ford.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=861%5B%5D
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.