2014 Coke Zero 400

The 2014 Coke Zero 400 powered by Coca-Cola was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race that was scheduled to be held on July 5, 2014 but was pushed to July 6, 2014, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Contested over 112 laps, it was the 18th race of the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Aric Almirola was leading when the race was called for rain and scored his first career win and the No. 43's first win since the 1999 Goody's Body Pain 500. Brian Vickers was second, while Kurt Busch, Casey Mears, and top rookie Austin Dillon rounded out the top five. Behind Dillon, the top rookies of the race were Alex Bowman in 13th, and Michael Annett in 21st.

2014 Coke Zero 400

Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]
Race 18 of 36 in the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Date	July 6, 2014 (2014-07-06)
Official name	Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola at Daytona
Location	Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida
Course	Permanent racing facility 2.5 mi (4.02 km)
Distance	112 laps, 280 mi (450.62 km)
Scheduled Distance	160 laps, 400 mi (643.737 km)
Weather	Partly cloudy with temperatures up to 83 °F (28 °C); wind out of the south at 6 miles per hour (9.7 km/h)
Average speed	130.014 mph (209.237 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	David Gilliland	Front Row Motorsports
Time	45.153
Most laps led
Driver	Kurt Busch	Stewart-Haas Racing
Laps	36
Winner
No. 43	Aric Almirola	Richard Petty Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network	TNT & MRN
Announcers	Adam Alexander, Wally Dallenbach, Jr. and Kyle Petty (Television) Joe Moore and Barney Hall (Booth) Dave Moody (1 & 2), Mike Bagley (Backstretch) and Jeff Striegle (3 & 4) (Turns) (Radio)
Nielsen Ratings	2.4/5 4.0 Million viewers[9]

Previous week's race

In what was an absolutely dominating performance from Team Penske, Brad Keselowski led 199 of the 267 laps to win the Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway. He described his car as "awesome" and that his crew did a "great job".[10]

Report

Background

Daytona International Speedway, where the race was held.

Daytona International Speedway is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long.[11] The track's turns are banked at 31 degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at 18 degrees.[11] The backstretch, which has a length of 3,000 ft (910 m), has minimal banking that is used for drainage.[11] Jimmie Johnson was the defending race winner from the 2013 event.

Following the Daytona 500 in February, 2,400 ft (730 m) of additional SAFER barriers were added to the circuit, in order to improve safety. The additional barriers were added from the exit of turn four, through the tri-oval and to the entrance of turn one; this left only the super stretch outside walls with concrete barriers. "We're always looking at ways to enhance our safety and it is a priority for us," said Lenny Santiago, senior director of public relations for Daytona International Speedway. "Whenever we have an incident on track, we always take a look in consultation with NASCAR, the University of Nebraska and other experts that are a part of the Motorsports Technology Group and take their recommendations. In consultation with them, we made sure we added additional safer barriers to these areas."[12]

Prior to the start of the race, Barney Hall announced that this race would be his last in the booth for the Motor Racing Network. "The years have gone by so quick, it's just so hard to believe," Hall said with a smile during a break at Daytona International Speedway. "The voice of NASCAR is the voice of MRN and that's Barney Hall," said David Hyatt, president and executive producer of Motor Racing Network. "To have him still be a part of what we do in a way that highlights all the memories that he has, all the history he's brought to the sport, everything that he's done, not just for this MRN brand but for the NASCAR brand is an important part of this transition. MRN isn't MRN without Barney Hall."[13]

Entry list

The entry list for the Coke Zero 400 was released on Tuesday, July 1, 2014 at 11:40 a.m. Eastern time. Forty-four cars were entered for the race.

No. Driver Team Manufacturer 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 2 Brad Keselowski (PC2) Team Penske Ford 3 Austin Dillon (R) Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 7 Michael Annett (R) Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 9 Marcos Ambrose Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 10 Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 13 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 14 Tony Stewart (PC3) Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 15 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 16 Greg Biffle Roush-Fenway Racing Ford 17 Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. Roush-Fenway Racing Ford 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 20 Matt Kenseth (PC5) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 21 Trevor Bayne (i) Wood Brothers Racing Ford 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 23 Alex Bowman (R) BK Racing Toyota 24 Jeff Gordon (PC6) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 26 Cole Whitt (R) BK Racing Toyota 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 29 Joe Nemechek RAB Racing Toyota 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 32 Terry Labonte (PC8) Go FAS Racing Ford 33 Bobby Labonte (PC7) Circle Sport Chevrolet 34 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 36 Reed Sorenson Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 38 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 40 Landon Cassill (i) Circle Sport Chevrolet 41 Kurt Busch (PC4) Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 42 Kyle Larson (R) Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 48 Jimmie Johnson (PC1) Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 51 Justin Allgaier (R) HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 55 Brian Vickers Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 66 Michael Waltrip Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 78 Martin Truex, Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 83 Ryan Truex (R) BK Racing Toyota 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 98 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Chevrolet 99 Carl Edwards Roush-Fenway Racing Ford Official entry list

Key Meaning (R) Rookie (i) Ineligible for points (PC#) Past champions provisional

Practice

Two practice sessions were scheduled for the Sprint Cup Series at Daytona. The first practice session was delayed an hour by weather and shortened to 45 minutes. Jamie McMurray was the fastest with a lap time of 44.565 and a speed of 201.952 mph (325.010 km/h). The final practice session was cancelled due to weather.[14]

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Time	Speed
1	1	Jamie McMurray	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	44.565	201.952
2	42	Kyle Larson (R)	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	44.579	201.889
3	15	Clint Bowyer	Michael Waltrip Racing	Toyota	44.590	201.839
Official practice results

Qualifying

David Gilliland won the pole with a lap time of 45.531 and a speed of 199.322 mph (320.778 km/h) after only one round of knockout qualifying was completed due to weather. Gilliland stated that his pole position would be a "morale booster" for his Front Row Motorsports team.[15] Joe Nemechek was the one driver that failed to qualify.

Qualifying results

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Lap Time
1	38	David Gilliland	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	45.153
2	36	Reed Sorenson	Tommy Baldwin Racing	Chevrolet	45.176
3	40	Landon Cassill	Hillman-Circle Sport LLC	Chevrolet	45.182
4	33	Bobby Labonte	Richard Childress Racing-Circle Sport	Chevrolet	45.233
5	48	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	45.274
6	20	Matt Kenseth	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	45.277
7	88	Dale Earnhardt, Jr.	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	45.295
8	34	David Ragan	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	45.298
9	24	Jeff Gordon	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	45.303
10	16	Greg Biffle	Roush-Fenway Racing	Ford	45.323
11	99	Carl Edwards	Roush-Fenway Racing	Ford	45.333
12	14	Tony Stewart	Stewart-Haas Racing	Chevrolet	45.346
13	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Chevrolet	45.347
14	5	Kasey Kahne	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	45.369
15	43	Aric Almirola	Richard Petty Motorsports	Ford	45.401
16	17	Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.	Roush-Fenway Racing	Ford	45.402
17	26	Cole Whitt (R)	BK Racing	Toyota	45.428
18	9	Marcos Ambrose	Richard Petty Motorsports	Chevrolet	45.431
19	78	Martin Truex, Jr.	Furniture Row Racing	Chevrolet	45.439
20	31	Ryan Newman	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	45.441
21	27	Paul Menard	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	45.442
22	13	Casey Mears	Germain Racing	Chevrolet	45.445
23	3	Austin Dillon (R)	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	45.447
24	47	A. J. Allmendinger	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	45.451
25	21	Trevor Bayne	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	45.456
26	2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	Ford	45.489
27	95	Michael McDowell	Leavine Family Racing	Ford	45.496
28	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	45.514
29	10	Danica Patrick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Chevrolet	45.518
30	55	Brian Vickers	Michael Waltrip Racing	Toyota	45.601
31	51	Justin Allgaier (R)	HScott Motorsports	Chevrolet	45.622
32	7	Michael Annett (R)	Tommy Baldwin Racing	Chevrolet	45.635
33	98	Josh Wise	Phil Parsons Racing	Ford	45.650
34	15	Clint Bowyer	Michael Waltrip Racing	Toyota	45.691
35	42	Kyle Larson (R)	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	45.757
36	1	Jamie McMurray	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	45.764
37	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	45.902
38	32	Terry Labonte	Go FAS Racing	Ford	45.923
39	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	45.925
40	41	Kurt Busch	Stewart-Haas Racing	Chevrolet	45.971
41	66	Michael Waltrip	Identity Ventures Racing	Toyota	46.066
42	83	Ryan Truex (R)[N 1]	BK Racing	Toyota	46.588
43	23	Alex Bowman (R)	BK Racing	Toyota	46.636
Did not qualify
44	29	Joe Nemechek	RAB Racing	Toyota	45.974
Official qualifying results

Race

First half

Start

The race was scheduled to start at 7:45 p.m. Eastern time on Saturday evening, but the start was delayed by rain and finally pushed to the next day at 11:13 a.m.[16] The start was pushed a pace lap due to light sprinkles in turns one and two and then another lap. After a total of seven pace laps, David Gilliland finally led the field to the green at 11:21 a.m. Matt Kenseth took the lead from Gilliland on lap five, before the first caution of the race flew for rain on lap 6, which ultimately led to a 26-minute delay under red flag conditions.

The Big One

The race restarted on lap 13, before Tony Stewart took the lead on lap 17. A competition caution was planned upon the completion of lap 20, but the second caution of the race flew on lap 20 for a multi-car wreck in the tri-oval. A total of 16 cars were involved, including points leader Jeff Gordon, defending race winner Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt, Jr., the Daytona 500 winner. Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. – who was also involved in the incident – stated that he had been "heading straight...had it saved and had it straight again and got caught in the left rear."[17] Only Johnson and A. J. Allmendinger were eliminated from the race due to the pileup.

The race restarted on lap 29, before Reed Sorenson, Landon Cassill, David Gilliland and Jamie McMurray took turns at the head of the race, prior to the third caution of the race, on lap 41, due to debris in turn 1. The race restarted on lap 45 with McMurray leading the way. Greg Biffle took the lead on lap 52, while Kurt Busch took the lead on lap 60. Biffle retook the lead on lap 86, before the start of the pit cycle, coming under green flag conditions. Gordon took the lead before it cycled back to Kurt Busch on lap 89. Debris on the backstretch brought out the caution for the fourth time on lap 94.

Second half

The Huge One

The race restarted on lap 98 and the fifth caution flew for another multi-car wreck on the back straightaway, in which Kyle Busch's car ended upside down. The red flag was displayed for the second time, as 26 cars were collected in the wreck. Gilliland described the incident as "all heck broke loose all at once", while Kyle Busch had driven through the grass before his car dug in and sent him back towards traffic; he described his roll as "real slow", After 4 minutes and 48 seconds, the red flag was lifted and the field continued under caution.[18]

Mother Nature finally wins

The race restarted on lap 105, and it remained green for 5 laps, The sixth caution of the race flew on lap 109 again for rain, The cars were brought back down pit road as the race was red flagged for the third time. Eventually, NASCAR called the race and Almirola scored his first career win. Almirola's victory was the first for a car numbered 43, since John Andretti did so in the 1999 Goody's Body Pain 500 at Martinsville Speedway.[19] For the first time since the 2007 UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400, all top ten starting drivers failed to finish within the top ten positions.

Post-race infractions

On the Tuesday following the race, Kurt Busch was penalized 10 points for a technical infraction following post-race inspection.[20] The infraction was a P2 level penalty and a violation of section 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing) and 20–12 (l) (for events at Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway, at all times, the Delta (or difference) of the Z-height measurement between the center of the panhard bar mounting bolt located at the left truck trailing arm and the center of the panhard bar mounting bolt, located at the right rear sub-frame mounting bracket, must not exceed three inches) of the 2014 NASCAR rule book.[21]

Race results

Pos	Grid	No.	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Laps	Points
1	15	43	Aric Almirola	Richard Petty Motorsports	Ford	112	47
2	30	55	Brian Vickers	Michael Waltrip Racing	Toyota	112	42
3	40	41	Kurt Busch	Stewart-Haas Racing	Chevrolet	112	33[N 2]
4	22	13	Casey Mears	Germain Racing	Chevrolet	112	41
5	23	3	Austin Dillon (R)	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	112	39
6	37	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	112	38
7	27	95	Michael McDowell	Leavine Family Racing	Ford	112	37
8	29	10	Danica Patrick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Chevrolet	112	36
9	34	15	Clint Bowyer	Michael Waltrip Racing	Toyota	112	36
10	18	9	Marcos Ambrose	Richard Petty Motorsports	Ford	112	34
11	38	32	Terry Labonte	Go FAS Racing	Ford	112	33
12	9	24	Jeff Gordon	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	112	33
13	43	23	Alex Bowman (R)	BK Racing	Toyota	112	31
14	7	88	Dale Earnhardt, Jr.	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	112	30
15	19	78	Martin Truex, Jr.	Furniture Row Racing	Chevrolet	112	29
16	21	27	Paul Menard	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	112	28
17	28	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	112	27
18	26	2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	Ford	111	26
19	41	66	Michael Waltrip	Identity Ventures Racing	Toyota	111	25
20	6	20	Matt Kenseth	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	111	25
21	32	7	Michael Annett (R)	Tommy Baldwin Racing	Chevrolet	104	24
22	8	34	David Ragan	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	102	23
23	33	98	Josh Wise	Phil Parsons Racing	Ford	101	21
24	20	31	Ryan Newman	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	100	20
25	31	51	Justin Allgaier (R)	HScott Motorsports	Chevrolet	98	19
26	4	33	Bobby Labonte	Richard Childress Racing-Circle Sport	Chevrolet	98	18
27	14	5	Kasey Kahne	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	97	17
28	39	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	97	16
29	10	16	Greg Biffle	Roush-Fenway Racing	Ford	97	16
30	36	1	Jamie McMurray	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	97	15
31	3	40	Landon Cassill	Hillman-Circle Sport LLC	Chevrolet	97	0
32	42	83	Ryan Truex (R)	BK Racing	Toyota	97	12
33	2	36	Reed Sorenson	Tommy Baldwin Racing	Chevrolet	97	12
34	17	26	Cole Whitt (R)	BK Racing	Toyota	97	10
35	1	38	David Gilliland	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	97	10
36	35	42	Kyle Larson (R)	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	69	8
37	11	99	Carl Edwards	Roush-Fenway Racing	Ford	66	7
38	25	21	Trevor Bayne	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	46	0
39	13	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Chevrolet	46	5
40	12	14	Tony Stewart	Stewart-Haas Racing	Chevrolet	45	5
41	16	17	Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.	Roush-Fenway Racing	Ford	37	3
42	5	48	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	20	2
43	24	47	A. J. Allmendinger	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	19	1

Race summary

• Lead changes: 21 among different drivers
• Cautions/Laps: 6 for 29
• Red flags: 3 for 1 hour, 30 minutes and 31 seconds
• Time of race: 2 hours, 9 minutes and 13 seconds
• Average speed: 130.014 miles per hour (209.237 km/h)

Media

Television

TNT Sports
Booth announcers	Pit reporters
Lap-by-lap: Adam Alexander Color-commentator: Wally Dallenbach, Jr. Color commentator: Kyle Petty	Matt Yocum Marty Snider Chris Neville Ralph Sheheen

Radio

MRN Radio
Booth announcers	Turn announcers	Pit reporters
Lead announcer: Joe Moore Announcer: Barney Hall Announcer: Jeff Striegle	Turns 1 & 2: Dave Moody Backstretch: Mike Bagley Turns 3 & 4: Kurt Becker	Winston Kelly Steve Post Alex Hayden Woody Cain

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Jeff Gordon 651 1 2 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. 624 (−27) 1 3 Jimmie Johnson 596 (−55) 4 Brad Keselowski 586 (−65) 5 Matt Kenseth 580 (−71) 1 6 Joey Logano 546 (−105) 1 7 Carl Edwards 543 (−108) 8 Ryan Newman 534 (−117) 1 9 Kyle Busch 524 (−127) 1 10 Paul Menard 516 (−135) 2 11 Kevin Harvick 514 (−137) 2 12 Clint Bowyer 509 (−142) 5 13 Austin Dillon (R) 494 (−157) 3 14 Denny Hamlin 493 (−158) 2 15 Greg Biffle 490 (−161) 3 16 Brian Vickers 484 (−167)

Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Chevrolet 806 2 Ford 786 (−20) 3 Toyota 723 (−83) Note: Only the first sixteen positions are included for the driver standings.

Notes

1. Ryan Truex started last for unapproved changes post-qualifying.
2. Kurt Busch was penalized 10 points for a technical infraction following post-race inspection.[20]

References

1. "2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved June 26, 2014.
2. "Daytona International Speedway". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. January 3, 2013. Retrieved June 29, 2014.
3. "Entry List". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. June 30, 2014. Retrieved July 1, 2014.
4. "First Practice Results". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. July 3, 2014. Retrieved July 3, 2014.
5. "Qualifying Results". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. July 4, 2014. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 5, 2014.
6. "Coke Zero 400 Results". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. July 6, 2014. Retrieved July 7, 2014.
7. "Points Standings". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. July 6, 2014. Retrieved July 7, 2014.
8. "Manufacturer Standings". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. July 6, 2014. Retrieved July 7, 2014.
9. Paulsen (July 10, 2014). "Sprint Cup TV Ratings: Postponed Daytona Race Low, But Not That Bad". SportsMediaWatch.com. Sports Media Watch. Retrieved July 11, 2014.
10. Knight, Chris (June 28, 2014). "Keselowski conquers Kentucky again". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Wire Service. Retrieved June 29, 2014.
11. "Daytona International Speedway Track Facts". Daytona International Speedway. Retrieved July 1, 2013.
12. Long, Dustin (July 2, 2014). "Daytona Adds More SAFER Barriers". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 3, 2014.
13. Long, Dustin (July 5, 2014). "Hall's Role Changing at MRN". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. Archived from the original on July 7, 2014. Retrieved July 5, 2014.
14. Report, Staff (July 3, 2014). "Recapping Thursday's practices at Daytona". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC. Retrieved July 3, 2014.
15. Long, Dustin (July 4, 2014). "Gilliland Grabs Daytona Pole". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 4, 2014.
16. Long, Dustin (July 5, 2014). "Daytona Race Postponed". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. Archived from the original on July 9, 2014. Retrieved July 5, 2014.
17. Long, Dustin (July 6, 2014). "Early Crash Collects Contenders". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. Archived from the original on July 12, 2014. Retrieved July 6, 2014.
18. Long, Dustin (July 6, 2014). "Busch Goes on 'Slow Carnival Ride'". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. Archived from the original on July 12, 2014. Retrieved July 6, 2014.
19. Long, Dustin (July 6, 2014). "Almirola Scores First Win". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. Archived from the original on July 12, 2014. Retrieved July 6, 2014.
20. "No. 41 team penalized for Daytona infraction". NASCAR.com. Official NASCAR release. July 8, 2014. Retrieved July 8, 2014.
21. Long, Dustin (July 8, 2014). "NASCAR Penalizes Kurt Busch And Team". MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. Archived from the original on July 12, 2014. Retrieved July 8, 2014.

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Sprint Cup Series 2014 season

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