Aric Almirola Wins Rain Shortened Coke Zero 400 at Daytona for First Series Win

DAYTONA BEACH, FL – RIS – With a little help from Mother Nature, Aric Almirola took the No. 43 Ford Fusion of Richard Petty Motorsports back to victory lane for the first time since 1999.  Rain that just wouldn’t go away ended the Coke Zero 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup race after 112 of the scheduled 160 laps.  It was a well deserved win for Almirola who has come so close over the last two seasons.

The 30-year-old Almirola, a Florida native, got his first win on the 30th anniversary of team owner Richard Petty's 200th career win as a driver. Petty's monumental win was also at Daytona.

“I just can’t believe I just took the No. 43 car to victory lane at Daytona,” Almirola said.  “This is amazing.

I grew up two hours away from here in Tampa and I grew up in those stands watching Daytona 500s and Firecracker 400s and grew up dreaming about what it would be like to win here.”

Brian Vickers, Kurt Busch, Casey Mears and rookie Austin Dillon also finished in the top five on Sunday.

Two major crashes -- one involving 16 cars and another collecting 26 -- contributed to six DNFs. Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick and Tony Stewart were among those who didn't finish.

Sunday's race was originally scheduled for Saturday night but persistent rain forced an overnight postponement.

It was the 30th anniversary of team owner Richard Petty’s victory in the 1984 Firecracker 400 at Daytona, the 200th and final triumph of his career that was witnessed by President Ronald Reagan.

The race was marred by two huge accidents, the first claiming 16 cars on Lap 21, the other collecting 26 cars on Lap 98.

The race was also red-flagged for 25 minutes on Lap 10 because of rain. But when the rain returned on Lap 112, the race was eventually called at 2:55 p.m.

The victory assures Almirola a spot in the 16-driver Chase for the Sprint Cup. Points leader Jeff Gordon finished 12th.

Petty was not at the track to see his car win, but joined the post-race press conference by telephone. He quipped he was at home reading the funny papers during the race.

When asked about his 200th win 30 years ago at Daytona, the answer was typical Petty.

“Thirty years ago is the past.  Today is the future.”

The Petty family has owned the No. 43 since almost the first time Richard ran in the Sprint Cup Series.  In that time, those driving the number have won 11 times and 10 of those from Richard Petty.   

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series moves to New Hampshire Motor Speedway next Sunday starting at 1 p.m. ET on TNT.

Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Pts Bns Driver Rating Winnings Status Tms Laps
1 15 43 Aric Almirola United States Air Force Ford 112 47 4 111.4 $377,176 Running 2 14
2 30 55 Brian Vickers Aaron's/FSU National Championship Toyota 112 42 74.6 $237,655 Running
3 40 41 Kurt Busch Haas Automation Chevrolet 112 43 2 120.8 $187,680 Running 3 36
4 22 13 Casey Mears GEICO Chevrolet 112 41 1 88.5 $172,113 Running 1 1
5 23 3 Austin Dillon # Bass Pro Shops/NRA Museum Chevrolet 112 39 84.1 $179,916 Running
6 37 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Ground Toyota 112 38 101.8 $135,370 Running
7 27 95 Michael McDowell JPO Absorbents Ford 112 37 77.0 $122,770 Running
8 29 10 Danica Patrick Florida Lottery/GoDaddy Chevrolet 112 36 86.8 $127,045 Running
9 34 15 Clint Bowyer RK Motors Charlotte Toyota 112 36 1 87.2 $150,536 Running 1 1
10 18 9 Marcos Ambrose DeWalt/Wounded Warrior Project Ford 112 34 76.4 $140,565 Running
11 38 32 Terry Labonte C&J Energy Services Ford 112 33 56.5 $128,643 Running
12 9 24 Jeff Gordon Pepsi Real Sugar Chevrolet 112 33 1 69.8 $154,696 Running 1 2
13 43 23 Alex Bowman # Dr. Pepper Toyota 112 31 60.2 $124,843 Running
14 7 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. National Guard Chevrolet 112 30 56.9 $117,785 Running
15 19 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Chevrolet 112 29 63.0 $136,843 Running
16 21 27 Paul Menard Splash/Menards Chevrolet 112 28 74.1 $136,574 Running
17 28 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford 112 27 95.4 $144,501 Running
18 26 2 Brad Keselowski Alliance Truck Parts Ford 111 26 54.8 $149,093 Running
19 41 66 Michael Waltrip RoyalTeakCollection.com Toyota 111 25 40.6 $113,735 Running
20 6 20 Matt Kenseth Home Depot Husky Toyota 111 25 1 67.0 $152,021 Running 1 12
21 32 7 Michael Annett # Pilot/Flying J Chevrolet 104 24 1 65.0 $115,793 Running 1 2
22 8 34 David Ragan Farm Rich Ford 102 23 1 86.5 $120,957 Accident 2 7
23 33 98 Josh Wise Curb Records/Lee Brice Ford 101 21 58.7 $102,635 Running
24 20 31 Ryan Newman WIX Filters Chevrolet 100 20 59.2 $110,010 Running
25 31 51 Justin Allgaier # AccuDoc Solutions Chevrolet 98 19 72.5 $109,460 Accident
26 4 33 Bobby Labonte Thunder Coal Chevrolet 98 18 67.1 $97,710 Accident
27 14 5 Kasey Kahne Farmers Insurance Chevrolet 97 17 96.9 $116,460 Accident
28 39 18 Kyle Busch Interstate Batteries Toyota 97 16 79.3 $149,676 Accident
29 10 16 Greg Biffle 3M Stars & Stripes Ford 97 16 1 108.0 $140,785 Accident 2 9
30 36 1 Jamie McMurray Cessna Chevrolet 97 15 1 88.7 $134,749 Accident 2 11
31 3 40 Landon Cassill(i) Newtown Building Supplies Chevrolet 97 0 88.5 $96,810 Accident 2 5
32 42 83 Ryan Truex # VooDoo BBQ/Armed Forces Motorsports Toyota 97 12 63.4 $95,735 Accident
33 2 36 Reed Sorenson Golden Corral Chevrolet 97 12 1 74.3 $96,635 Accident 1 4
34 17 26 Cole Whitt # Al's Liner/Scorpion Window Film Toyota 97 10 59.7 $95,460 Accident
35 1 38 David Gilliland Love's Travel Stops Ford 97 10 1 90.2 $111,285 Accident 2 5
36 35 42 Kyle Larson # Target Chevrolet 69 8 27.4 $121,480 Running
37 11 99 Carl Edwards Subway Ford 66 7 36.4 $113,948 Running
38 25 21 Trevor Bayne(i) Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford 46 0 33.8 $89,240 Running
39 13 4 Kevin Harvick Budweiser Folds of Honor Chevrolet 46 5 32.0 $126,273 Running
40 12 14 Tony Stewart Bass Pro Shops/Ducks Unlimited Chevrolet 45 5 1 47.7 $115,398 Running 1 3
41 16 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Cargill/Winn-Dixie Ford 37 3 34.1 $113,065 Running
42 5 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe's Patriotic Chevrolet 20 2 48.3 $127,176 Accident
43 24 47 AJ Allmendinger Scott Products Chevrolet 19 1 29.4 $69,740 Accident 

Ron Fleshman

RIS NASCAR Editor.  Has been with RIS since the midle 90's. Writes on each of the three main series of NASCAR.

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Volume 2014, Issue 7, Posted 5:00 PM, 07.06.2014