DAYTONA RACE REPORT

- by Stenzo

LATE CAUTION AND PIT STRATEGIES DETERMINE FINISH

Daytona International Speedway (2/25/00) -- The much anticipated SPEEDLAN 2000 season opener started off in grand fashion, with all four Team SPEEDLAN members racing for the lead. STENZO, who qualified 4th, took the lead early to lead lap 1, but 1998 SPEEDLAN champion, SPEED, who qualified 8th, quickly passed him on the backstretch to lead lap 2. 1999 SPEEDLAN Rookie-of-the-year, BOB, who qualified 5th, made his bid for the lead 2 laps later, passing STENZO in the short chute to lead lap 4. Meanwhile, 1999 SPEEDLAN champion, COYOTE, who qualified 11th, had worked his way up to the lead pack after making a daring pass through turns 3 and 4 to take over 4th position. One lap later, he battled past BOB, SPEED, and STENZO and led the field back to the line on lap 6. After each Team SPEEDLAN member had earned the prized 5 bonus points for leading a lap, STENZO reclaimed the point as he and his teammates formed a 4-car breakaway to put an almost 4 second lead on the rest of the field.

On lap 23, the first of two caution flags came out, and SPEED gave up 2nd position to lead almost the entire field onto pit road, while STENZO and COYOTE decided to stay out and pit the next time by. However, the track was cleared quickly and the race was set to restart, leaving STENZO and COYOTE to pit as the green flag came out. This allowed SPEED to resume the race lead on lap 25, with BOB close behind in 2nd. STENZO and COYOTE fell a half a lap behind the field but drafted well together in an effort to catch back up. As they approached the backmarkers, COYOTE brushed the wall in the trioval, damaging his fender and dropping him from contention. SPEED and BOB maintained 1st and 2nd, and worked through the lap traffic and pitting cars toward the final laps of the race. Meanwhile, STENZO was closing in on 5th position, when, with only 2 laps to go, the 2nd caution flag flew. Several cars had already pitted, but those who hadn't were dangerously low on fuel and were forced to make quick "splash-and-go" pitstops. SPEED, who has 3 wins in 4 career races at Daytona, earned an additional 5 bonus points for leading the most laps, and was the only Team SPEEDLAN member to make it back to pit road, but fell to 8th in the process. BOB ran out of gas and had to be towed back to the pits, dropping him from 2nd to 20th. STENZO ran out of fuel on the backstretch and attempted to coast back to the finish line, but came to a stop about 50 yards short, dropping him to 18th. COYOTE finished 21st, marking the worst finish of his career.