Unlucky 13 and a job left half done for Stewart

By BRANT JAMES
Published February 21, 2005

[Times photo: James Borchuck] Jeff Gordon is waved on to his third career Daytona 500 victory Sunday.
DAYTONA 500
Last man standing John Romano: Tony tames temper - too bad No smoke and mirrors in Fox's HDTV telecast Unlucky 13 and a job left half done for Stewart Duo not ready to say goodbye just yet Junior picks up where Waltrip leaves off
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DAYTONA BEACH - You can make it 13 in a row. That's how many times the driver leading the Daytona 500 at the midway point has failed to lead when the checkered flag flew.

Sunday's victim: Tony Stewart .

Stewart had what appeared to be the strongest car the majority of the day, leading 107 of 203 laps. Leading, it turned out, wound up being Stewart's problem. While he was busy punching a hole in the wind for the 12 cars drafting behind him, the rest of the pack was lining up, waiting for the right time to shuffle him back.

The right time was Lap 194. That was when Dale Earnhardt Jr . pulled up high to pass Stewart, setting off a chain reaction pass-fest that didn't end until Jeff Gordon won in a green-white-checkered finish. Stewart was seventh. And steaming.

After the finish he rammed into Jimmie Johnson 's No.48 Chevrolet, a payback for what he felt was a cheap block by Johnson on the final lap. That led to a shouting match with Johnson's crew chief, Chad Knaus , in the pits. That led to a meeting in the NASCAR hauler with the two drivers and their crew chiefs.

Stewart and Johnson downplayed the incident, saying NASCAR was "just making sure it was something that wasn't going to linger." Lost in the scuffle, however, was that Stewart seems to be warming up to a track that left him in the cold early in his career.

"I think we ran about as good a race as we possibly could have run," said Stewart, who finished second in the 500 last year after a string that saw him record an average finish of 26th his first five years. "It's hard leading like that sometimes. It was an awesome race car."

Daytona hasn't always been this nice to Stewart. In his first four appearances at the season opener, his highest finish was 17th. The lowlight was 2002 when he completed two laps before his engine died. His past three finishes in the 500 are seventh, second and seventh.

For Stewart, it's an important start to a long season.

"I'm just happy these guys did a great job over the winter getting this thing ready for the 500," Stewart said. "We got a good start to the season. I'm ready to go."

LEARNING AS HE GOES: Scott Riggs got a year's worth of lessons in the final 30 laps. The result was his Nextel Cup career-best fourth place and a couple of wide eyes.

Riggs started 12th and ran with the lead pack much of the day, trading positions with veterans such as Stewart, Johnson and Michael Waltrip . For a guy who was driving on the trucks circuit four years ago and won Busch Series rookie of the year in 2002, Sunday was a kind of baptism by fire.

Sure, Riggs drove in the 500 last year but he finished 34th after completing 109 of 200 laps in his debut. Sunday was the best lesson he has had.

"I was trying to figure out who to work with and who not to," said Riggs, who posted two top 10s last season. "Man, it was chaos. We had a run, and I was just going to try to hit who was in front of me."

SPEED TRAP: NASCAR said it is using electronic timing devices on pit road to regulate the speed limit it implements before every race. The new timers will allow NASCAR to clock every car that pits under green-flag conditions and allow officials to assess penalties to speeders.

Sunday was a test day for the system and officials were still using stop watches to catch drivers going faster than 55 mph. But there was still a long line of offenders.

Eleven drivers were assessed pass-through penalties during the first green-flag stop. The only other stop under green netted three drivers, including Dave Blaney and Jeremy Mayfield , the race's only multiple offenders.

VETERANS BEWARE: Daytona is thought of as a place you need to have experience with to do well. Tell that to Bobby Labonte . And Matt Kenseth . And Ricky Rudd .

Those three, who have combined to start 48 Daytona 500s and win two Cup titles, had a short day at NASCAR's premier race.

It started on Lap 14 when Labonte's engine blew. His hauler was loaded up and out of the track before the race ended, a 43rd-place finish in hand.

Thirteen laps later Rudd lost a tire on the bottom of the track and started a six-car wreck that ended Mike Wallace 's day. Rudd never contended, finishing a lap down in 24th.

Kenseth, the 2003 series champion, lost his engine on Lap 34. His 42nd place snapped a streak of 71 races in which he was in the top 10 in points. Waltrip, a two-time 500 winner, also had engine trouble and dropped out on Lap 161 to finish 37th.

DOWN AND BACK: Dale Jarrett put his No.88 Ford on the pole but quickly fell to the back of the pack. His car was so hard to drive at the start that Jarrett was forced to back off the gas heading into the corners as the rest of the field kept the throttle wide open.

After Earnhardt bumped him on Lap 4, Jarrett plummeted from third place to 40th in four laps. A couple of early cautions allowed his team to adjust the spring rubbers, add some wedge, play with the tape on the nose and make track bar adjustments.

Jarrett slowly made his way back through the field and into the top 10 before he finished 15th.

"We finally got it to where it would drive, but it was so frustrating because it wouldn't go," Jarrett said. "It could have been a lot worse. We could have been in the middle of those wrecks."

DUDE, WHERE'S MY NASCAR?: Actor Ashton Kutcher , the honorary starter, jokingly said he worked out extensively in preparation for his job Sunday.

"I've been putting myself through a regiment to get ready for this," said Kutcher, who includes Dude, Where's My Car? in his film credits. "I've been stretching my wrist, because it's all in the wrist. About a week ago I started thinking about it, and I started to get really peeved that I wasn't asked to wave the checkered flag, though. That seems like it would be more entertaining and fun."

Kutcher said he was also taken aback about being asked by track officials to wear khakis, especially since NASCAR is a "redneck sport."

"There are a lot of people here and they told me I couldn't wear blue jeans," said Kutcher, a native of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, who called himself a redneck. "I never watched a race in khaki pants before."

SPARK PLUGS: Kurt Busch (second) tied his best finish at Daytona. ... Earnhardt (third) scored his fourth straight top 10 at the track. ... Johnson (fifth) recorded his third straight top five at Daytona. ... ARCA Series driver Billy Venturini , who fractured his neck Feb.12 during the Advance Discount 200, was released from Carolina Medical Center on Saturday afternoon. ... Gordon's team owner Rick Hendrick has at least one race win each of the past 20 years. ... Of the two rookies in the race, Travis Kvapil finished 19th and Kyle Busch 38th. ... Matt Kenseth 's No.17 Ford was taken behind the wall after suffering a broken rod on Lap 36. One of his Roush Racing engines also blew during qualifying. ... Bobby Labonte 's bid for a first win at Daytona exploded with the engine of the his No.18 Chevrolet on Lap 14. Labonte's 43rd-place finish was the sixth time he has finished 40th or worse in a Nextel Cup race. Three of those have come at Daytona. ... Six went to the rear of the field to start: Joe Nemechek , Dave Blaney , Rusty Wallace , Kasey Kahne , Kevin Harvick (backup cars) and Bobby Hamilton Jr . (transmission change).

[Last modified February 21, 2005, 04:45:04]