Dale Earnhardt Jr. started on the pole position in the Coke Zero 400, but it was another Jr. that grabbed the NASCAR win at Daytona International Speedway.
The Earnhardt name is synonyms with winning at Daytona and it looked as though Dale Jr. could be set for another day in the spotlight at the track when he won the pole for his final full-time season as a driver at the track. However, he had an issue early in the race that put him two laps down.
Dale Jr.’s team repaired the car and he worked his way back on the lead lap and up to sixth spot when he was caught up in one of a few “Big One” wrecks that ended his chance of capturing another win at Daytona for the Earnhardt name.
The 14th and final caution put the Coke Zero 400 in NASCAR’s overtime known as the “Green, White, Checkered Finish.”
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was one of 16 drivers that exchanged the lead 33 times during the race. Brad Keselowski won stage one of the race while Matt Kenseth was the leader at the end of stage two. However, Stenhouse Jr. was able to get out front on the final re-start of the race and hold the lead to capture his first win in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series at Daytona. The win was not only his second of the 2017 NASCAR season following his Talladega win, but also his second career win in NASCAR’s top division.
Clint Bowyer captured a second place finish with Paul Menard crossing the finish line in third place. Michael McDowell finished in fourth place and Ryan Newman rounded out the top five. See the complete race results for the Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola here.
Following the Daytona race Kyle Larson is the point leader with Martin Truex Jr. in second place. Kyle Busch sits in third place with Kevin Harvick in fourth. Bard Keselowski is in fifth place in the standings, See the complete Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series point standings here.
The NASCAR Cup Series has another Saturday night race this week as the teams head to Kentucky Speedway for the Quaker State 400 July 8th.
By: Buck Stevens
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