Parks Pit Report: Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola

It was 2:42 a.m. Monday morning when the checkered flag waved at Daytona.  Yes, you actually read that right.  Rain at the track made it a late night, with the green flag not even waving until after 11 p.m. Sunday night.

But, if you look at the introductory photo, it’s not of Dale Earnhardt Jr. in victory lane celebrating.

Instead, this is the lasting image of the Coke Zero 400 for 2015.  It’s a destroyed, ripped, and violent picture of what was Austin Dillon’s No. 3 NRA Chevrolet SS.  After the checkered flag waved, a massive wreck in the mirror of Junior was highlighted with this car getting airborne, launching into the catch fence.

The impact was so violent it ripped part of it down, and saw him slide to a stop right past the exit of pit road.

The No. 88 team, which initially was leaping for joy in victory, instead leaped into action, running over to the shredded machine to help get Dillon out.  The team of Casey Mears arrived as well, moments before the ambulance.

Dillon got out, waved to the crowd, and got in the ambulance.  His injuries:  a bruised tailbone and forearm.

He escaped the biggest wreck of the season with minor battle scars, but it goes to show both that this sport has advanced so much in safety, but at the same time this style of racing will forever bring fear to those that compete.  I have long said that racing at Daytona and Talladega absolutely makes me scared to death.  In this case, fans also got some injuries, but nothing like what was seen in years past, such as last February when Kyle Larson hit the fence in the same area in the then-Nationwide Series season opening event.  Nearly 30 fans were hurt, but also it dampened the mood of Tony Stewart who won the race, but didn’t care to be celebrating.

Daytona has made safety improvements to the track since the injury to Kyle Busch in February.  But, it goes to show that no matter what, this sport will always have risks.

The track also is making improvements to the grandstands, moving them back from the track, and also the lowest level of seating is elevated, much like Homestead-Miami Speedway.  The seating capacity will go down, but experience goes up, as does the safety level for those that come down.

NASCAR is never slow at making improvements after a major incident, and are already looking into what can be done following what happened Monday morning.

Still, no matter what is done, this type of racing will always be risky, dangerous, and fearful.

There is one guarantee out of this, however; I think that wrecked car could end up in the “Race Car Graveyard” of Earnhardt Jr.  He won the race, but I think that car is the ultimate trophy.

RESULTS:  1-Earnhardt Jr.  2-Johnson  3-Hamlin  4-Harvick  5-Kurt Busch  6-Gordon  7-Dillon  8-Newman  9-Bayne  10-Bowyer

NOTABLE FINISHES:  17-Kyle Busch  22-Logano  23-Kenseth  29-Keselowski  38-Truex Jr.  41-Edwards

CAUTIONS:  9 for 43 laps.  Laps: 4-8 (#38, 22, 26, 32, 10, 46, 15, 9, 16 Accident-FS); 27-30 (Competition); 54-57 (#19 Accident-T4); 60-63
(#38 Spin-T4); 87-92 (#2, 19, 42, 33, 17, 3, 23 Accident-T2); 106-114 (#43, 42, 78, 5, 20, 1, 2, 22, 9, 55, 6 Accident-T4); 129-132
(#10 Accident-T2); 149-151 (#55 Spin-BS); 156-159 (#9, 1 Accident-BS).

LEAD CHANGES:  22 among 12 drivers.  D. Earnhardt Jr. POLE; A. Dillon 1-8; D. Earnhardt Jr. 9-26; C. Bowyer 27; R. Newman 28; J. Johnson 29; D. Earnhardt Jr. 30-32; J. Johnson 33-54; D. Hamlin 55; J. Yeley(i) 56; D. Earnhardt Jr. 57-75; J. Johnson 76-78; M. Kenseth 79; J. Johnson 80-86; M. DiBenedetto # 87; J. Wise 88; K. Kahne 89-93; D. Hamlin 94-102; D. Earnhardt Jr. 103-111; B. Moffitt # 112; D. Earnhardt Jr. 113-114; J. Johnson 115-116; D. Earnhardt Jr. 117-161.

TIME OF RACE:  2 Hrs, 58 Mins, 58 Secs.

AVERAGE SPEED:  134.941 MPH

MARGIN OF VICTORY:  0.122 Seconds

CHASE GRID:  1. Johnson-589 (points), 4 Wins; 2. Harvick-656, 2 wins; 3. Earnhardt Jr-593, 2 wins; 4. Kurt Busch-508, 2 wins; 5. Logano-581, 1 win; 6. Truex Jr-569, 1 win; 7. Keselowski-520, 1 win; 8. Kenseth-501, 1 win; 9. Hamlin-480, 1 win; 10. Edwards-408, 1 win; 11. McMurray, -130 (from 1st); 12. Gordon, -156; 13. Kahne, -160; 14. Menard, -176; 15. Newman, -184; 16. Bowyer, -191.