Jeff Burton holds on for win

Dale Jarrett can't find a way past in the closing laps after Burton blocks him on a restart at the Pepsi 400.

By KEVIN KELLY

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 2, 2000

DAYTONA BEACH -- He blocked left. He blocked right.

In the end, Jeff Burton did just enough to hold off Dale Jarrett to win the Pepsi 400 on Saturday at Daytona International Speedway.

Burton, who started ninth in the No. 99 Ford, took the lead on Lap 121. He had to block Jarrett on a re-start with four laps remaining.

After successfully holding off the defending series champion and winner of two straight races at Daytona, Burton was never in danger of losing the lead in the final three laps and took the checkered flag for the first time at the 2.5-mile track.

It was his 13th career win and second this season.

Rusty Wallace finished third, Mark Martin fourth and Ricky Rudd rounded out the top five.

The race began to unfold with 20 laps remaining.

Burton was leading followed by Wallace, seven-time Winston Cup champion Dale Earnhardt and defending race winner Jarrett.

On Lap 141, Earnhardt, Jarrett and Martin teamed to draft past Wallace on the backstretch. Four laps later, Jarrett passed Earnhardt on the backstretch. Meanwhile, Burton pulled away but was quickly reeled in by Jarrett.

With 10 laps remaining, the top seven cars were in a single-file line with Burton leading followed by Jarrett, Earnhardt and Wallace. The top six cars began to pull away from the rest of the field before a wreck on Lap 154 involving Dave Blaney and Jimmy Spencer.

Burton took the lead on Lap 121, one lap after a restart for the fourth caution of the event. He passed Johnny Benson as the lead pack of cars exited the fourth turn.

Burton and Benson took advantage of the two previous cautions to move toward the front.

Burton had taken the lead from Bill Elliott after a two-tire pit stop during the third caution period, but was passed on Lap 110 by the sponsorless No. 10 Pontiac driven by Benson.

Benson, who was four laps away from winning the Daytona 500 in February, was still in first place when Elliott and two other cars got caught in a wreck in the third turn.

The accident started when Skinner nosed his car into the back of Elliott's No. 94 Ford.

Elliott, who started second and had one of the strongest cars most of the race, was sent head-on into the wall in Turn 3 and out of the race.

He was so angry that when the field circled around during the next caution lap, Elliott gestured angrily toward Skinner as he drove by in the No. 31 Chevrolet.

One lap after the restart, Burton passed Benson.

The third caution came on Lap 105 when Scott Pruett, whose car suffered damage in an earlier wreck, spun in Turn 1.

Elliott was in first followed by Burton, Stewart, Jarrett and Earnhardt. Burton came out in first. Benson was in second followed by Jeff Gordon.

Jarrett was in fourth at the time but left pit road in 29th after a problem with a lugnut.

Elliott had lost the lead momentarily after the second caution allowed everyone to make their second pit stops.

Ward Burton, who was in 12th place, took two tires and came off pit road in first followed by Elliott, Jeff Burton and Stewart.

It took Elliott just two laps to re-take the lead. Though it was the sixth lead change at the point, it was only the second that occurred on the track under the green flag.

The caution that allowed Ward Burton to gain the lead came just after the halfway point in the race.

On the 82nd lap, two-time Winston Cup champion Terry Labonte lost control of his No. 5 Chevrolet just past the start/finish line and hit the outside wall to bring out the second.

Trying to avoid Labonte, Michael Waltrip then began spinning and couldn't keep his car from swinging toward the inside of the track.

His car clipped the right rear quarterpanel of Scott Pruett's. Jeremy Mayfield, without any place to turn, then slammed into the side of Waltrip's car, sending the two spinning into the grass in the infield.

Jerry Nadeau also suffered some sheet metal damage.

Labonte lost consciousness for a moment as his car hugged the outside wall and was transported to Halifax Medical Center for a precautionary CAT-Scan. Mayfield was treated and released from the infield car center with a bruised right shoulder.

Up to that point, Elliott and Jarrett had dominated the race.

© St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.

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