Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, FL (3/2/2001)   ---   In an impressive display of power, patience, and perseverance, newcomer Jay created quite a stir in his SPEEDLAN debut, by winning the race in arguably one of the best races SPEEDLAN has ever hosted!   The lead changed hands several times throughout the event, with all 5 Team Speedlan members eventually taking their turns at the point to lead at least one lap, while Speed captured the bonus points by leading 38.   However, only the defending champion Speed and series "rookie" Jay remained up front most of the afternoon, with the 1999 champ Coyote joining in the fray late in the race in what became a door-to-door battle right down to the wire!   Watch out race fans, the newest member of Team Speedlan looks to be a driving force for the championship this year!

On lap 18, the 8 car got loose in turn one and hit the outside wall, but did not bring out a yellow flag.   On lap 45, leaders Jay, Stenzo, and Speed hit the pits with Speed getting out first.   On lap 46, Bob and Coyote pitted.   Then on lap 59, as Stenzo and Bob finally caught and passed Speed to reclaim the lead, Bob got into Stenzo's rear quarter panel in turn one, causing both cars to wreck, with Speed just barely able to squeeze past the spinning Bob as the first yellow of the day came out.   Everyone hit the pits on lap 60, while Bob's car was towed back to the pits.   Bob's team tried to repair the damage, and he came back out to run a couple of laps, but was never really able to ever get the car back up to speed on the track, so they called it a day.   Meanwhile, Stenzo repaired the damage to his car and returned to the track, but was off the pace and fell 2 laps down.   On lap 68, Coyote got into the 99 car, bumping him into the outside wall, but no yellow flag came out.   Then on the last lap of the race, in turn four, Speed was low on the inside, Jay was high on the outside, and Coyote was right behind them, when Speed rocked off the apron and slightly nudged the left quarter panel of Jay's car causing them both to slide sideways up the track (see photo above).   Coyote had no time to brake and hit Speed, and both of them slid down into the inside wall, while Jay managed to save his car on the outside wall to scrape and scrub his way to win in his first-ever SPEEDLAN start!   Stenzo and Bob both ended up with career-low 27th and 30th place finishes respectively.