2010 Coke Zero 400

The 2010 Coke Zero 400 was a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series automobile race that was held on July 3, 2010 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It was the eighteenth race – and the official halfway point – of the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, and was scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. US EDT, but because of a rain delay the race began at 9:24 US EDT. It was telecast on TNT. The race was also broadcast on the radio by Motor Racing Network (terrestrial) and Sirius XM Radio (satellite) at 6:30 p.m. EDT.^[1]

The race, contested over 166 laps, was won by Kevin Harvick, who started in the pole position. Chevrolet Impala driver Jeff Gordon finished second, and Kurt Busch, who started sixth, finished third in a Dodge Charger. It had a total of nine cautions and forty-seven lead changes among eighteen different drivers.

This was also the final race at Daytona on the pavement surface used since 1979. Re-paving the track was moved up two years due to pothole problems in the 2010 Daytona 500. Several preventative repairs were made between practice and qualifying sessions, but there were no delays at anytime through the weekend because of potholes. Repaving began almost immediately after the race.

Broadcasting

For the fourth consecutive year, the race was broadcast in TNT's Wide Open Coverage format. The format was similar to the Side-by-Side format used in Indy Racing League broadcasts, limiting commercial breaks to only those required by their cable and satellite partners. For the second consecutive year, no green flag racing was missed. A 3-D telecast was available in the United States on Comcast, Bright House Networks and Time Warner cable systems as well as NASCAR.com and DirecTV, marking a historic first in NASCAR racing.^[4][5]

Report

Background

Prior to the race, Richard Childress Racing driver Kevin Harvick led the Drivers' Championship with 2,489 points, and Hendrick Motorsports driver Jimmie Johnson was second with 2,384 points.^[6] Behind them in the Drivers' Championship, Kyle Busch was third with 2,328 points in a Toyota, and Kyle Busch's team mate Denny Hamlin was fourth with 2,304 points.^[6] Jeff Gordon was fifth with 2,302 points.^[6] In the Manufacturers' Championship, Chevrolet was leading with 121 points, fourteen points ahead of their rival Toyota.^[7] In the battle for third place, Dodge had 74 points, two points ahead of Ford.^[7]

Practice and qualifying

Two practice sessions were held on Thursday before the Saturday race. The first session lasted 80 minutes, and the Thursday evening session lasted 85 minutes.^[2] During the first practice session, Kyle Busch and David Ragan collided to bring out the caution flag^[8] as Joey Logano was quickest.^[9] Clint Bowyer was in the second position, ahead of Ryan Newman and Matt Kenseth, while Tony Stewart was scored fifth.^[9] In the evening session, Robby Gordon was quickest, after Logano spun sideways.^[10][11] There was another caution later in the session, involving Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Stewart, and Reed Sorenson.^[12] Greg Biffle was scored in second, ahead of Marcos Ambrose and Kasey Kahne in third and fourth.^[10] A. J. Allmendinger ended up fifth quickest.^[10]

During qualifying, forty-five cars were entered, but only forty-three was able to race because of NASCAR's qualifying procedure.^[13] Only twelve cars were able to qualify because of wet conditions. Kevin Harvick earned the pole position, because of being the points leader.^[14] He was joined on the front row of the grid by Jimmie Johnson, who was second in the point standings.^[14] Kyle Busch was third, as his teammate Hamlin was supposed to start in fourth, but had to go to the rear of the grid because of switching to a back-up car.^[14] Jeff Gordon started fourth, after being eighth in the second practice session.^[14] Kurt Busch, Kenseth, Jeff Burton, Stewart, Biffle, and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. rounded off the top ten.^[14] The two drivers that did not qualify were Michael McDowell and Todd Bodine.^[14]

Race summary

In comparison to Friday's wet qualifying session, frequent showers soaked the track on Saturday evening, making racing slippery and potentially hazardous which delayed the start of the race until 9:24 US EDT. However, pre-race ceremonies continued, as Pastor Corwin Lasenby, Sr., from New Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church delivered the invocation. Then, Darius Rucker performed the United States National Anthem. By 8:13, forty-three minutes after the scheduled start time, the showers had moved away, and dryers started to dry the track. Forty-three minutes later, crew members and the drivers were called to pit road. Bobby Labonte ended pre-race ceremonies with the command "Gentlemen, Start your engines!"^[15]

Kevin Harvick and Jimmie Johnson stayed side-by-side going through the first turn, but Johnson maintained a steady pace and passed Harvick. Jeff Gordon moved into third, after starting in the fifth position. Johnson's vacated second position, was filled by Kyle Busch, as Jeff Burton moved into the eighth position. On lap 5, Kevin Harvick passed Johnson to begin leading the race. By lap 7, Johnson had fallen three positions, as his teammate Gordon moved into the third position. Three laps later, Gordon claimed the lead, as Harvick battles him for the lead. Gordon fell to thirteenth on the grid after two laps since he claimed the lead. Greg Biffle, now second, passed Harvick for the first position on the grid by lap 14. One lap later, Kyle Busch claimed the lead, as the competition caution, decided by NASCAR officials, was displayed. While under caution, Max Papis and Dave Blaney exited the track to go to their garage stall because of vibration and transmission problems.^[15]

Kevin Harvick led on the restart, from entering the track from pit road in first. Brad Keselowski climbed to third a lap after starting twenty-sixth, as Elliott Sadler moved to the third position. Harvick's vacated first position was filled by Sadler, as Kyle Busch improved his position to second on the grid. Four laps later, Kyle Busch became the leader, but Sadler would reclaim the lead during lap 29 when Kyle Busch had to make a pit stop. On lap 30, Kyle's brother Kurt Busch became the leader, as Sam Hornish, Jr. moved into second. Harvick reclaimed the lead on lap 32, but Kurt Busch maintained a good speed to become the leader. Harvick dropped to seventh two laps later. Johnson moved to fourth, after passing Hornish. Soon after, Sadler reclaimed the second position, as David Reutimann followed. On lap 41, Sadler became the leader. Seven laps later, Johnson pitted because of a tire problem, and Hornish became the leader on lap 50.^[15]

On lap 52, Matt Kenseth drove to pit road for a pit stop, as Kurt Busch passed Sadler for second. Sadler fell to fourth on the next lap while Gordon and Juan Pablo Montoya moved into the fifth and second positions. On lap 56, Montoya became the leader, and J.J. Yeley had a flat tire, as drivers began to pit. As Montoya pitted, debris from Yeley's race car caused a caution on the next lap. The green flag returned on lap 63, as Gordon passed Montoya for first. On the following lap, A. J. Allmendinger collided with Kyle Busch, turned backwards, and collided with the wall. Gordon led the driver to the green flag on lap 69, but Keselowski led lap 70 after passing Gordon. Gordon reclaimed the lead after passing Keselowski. Then, Montoya reclaimed the lead from Gordon on lap 74.^[15]

Montoya led two laps before he was passed by Denny Hamlin. After three laps of leading, Hamlin was passed by Hornish on lap 79. Jamie McMurray moved into the fourth position on lap 85, after passing Montoya. With some help from Johnson, Kyle Busch claimed the lead one lap later. On lap 93, Burton passed Montoya for the third position, the he passed Johnson one lap afterward. On lap 99, there were several pit stops that included Hornish, Keselowski, Kurt Busch, Reutimann, Gordon, and Sadler. Four laps later, Montoya and Kyle Busch collided, Kyle Busch turned sideways and collided with the wall to bring out the fourth caution. Since Kyle Busch was the leader, Jeff Burton filled his vacated first position. Mark Martin led the drivers to the green flag on lap 110, but Montoya passed him one lap later.^[15]

On lap 116, the fifth yellow flag was given. David Ragan, McMurray, and Martin Truex, Jr. collided with the wall, because Ragan turned sideways. Tony Stewart led the field of drivers to green flag conditions on lap 121. During laps 126 through 134, there were several lead changes; the leaders were Burton, Clint Bowyer, and Harvick, then Burton claimed the lead. On lap 136, the sixth caution came out because Robert Richardson, Jr. and David Stremme collided and turned sideways. Kurt Busch led the drivers to green, but Mark Martin and Matt Kenseth collided with the wall to bring out the seventh caution. Kevin Harvick led the drivers to the green flag on lap 145, but he couldn't keep Bowyer behind him. Two laps later, the red flag was given because of an accident involving twenty-one cars, the largest since 2005.^[16][17] While crews finish cleaning up the accident, Clint Boywer stayed out of pit road to lead the drivers to the green flag on lap 152.^[15]

Two laps later, Jeff Gordon climbed into the second position, as Kevin Harvick followed. On lap 157, Jeff Gordon claimed the lead. Two laps later, Bowyer reclaimed the lead, as the ninth caution was given because Kurt Busch, Hornish, and Sadler collided. Four laps after the scheduled distance the green flag waved, as Bowyer led. On the last lap, Harvick passed Bowyer and crossed the finish line first to win his second race in the 2010 season. Kasey Kahne finished second, ahead of Gordon in third.^[15] Kurt Busch finished seventh after three accidents in the last twelve laps.

Post-Race

Kevin Harvick appeared in victory lane after his victory lap to start celebrating his fourth win. In the subsequent press conference, Harvick said, "We're in a fortunate position with the start to our season, and we need to keep trying to make things better, you've just got to make it happen at the right time."^[18]

Harvick expressed his enjoyment of winning the race, but he also stated:

Daytona has been one of those magical places for us since we started coming here, I don’t really care about the trophy. I want some of that pavement from the start/finish line out there. This is pretty cool.^[19]

“I got behind Harvick and I thought that would be the spot, I was watching Jeff (Gordon) because I knew he would be coming and would be quick. It would have been nice to get our Budweiser Ford in Victory Lane," said Kasey Kahne following his second place finish.^[19] The race result left Kevin Harvick leading the Driver's Championship with 2,684 points.^[20] Jeff Gordon was second with 2,472, thirteen points ahead of Jimmie Johnson and thirty-three ahead of Kurt Busch.^[20] Denny Hamlin was fifth with 2,400 points.^[20] In the Manufacturers' Championship, Chevrolet maintained their lead with 130 points.^[20] Toyota remained second with 110 points.^[20] Dodge followed with 78 points, even with Ford in fourth.^[20]

Results

References