1999 Daytona 500

that's the line it is [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] the roar of champions a sound that forever rumbles around the banked curves they call daytona [Music] one that all the drivers want [Music] and to win here they risk falling over rusty wallace consumed by the chase like so many veterans who have never won this race rookies young guns led by tony stewart fast fierce and in the front row jeff gordon has just become the youngest man ever to win [Music] still a youngster himself and considered the best jeff gordon owns the pole dale earnhardt rolling into the reigning champion dale earnhardt he beat the odds last year can he do it again today 43 men stopped cars finest in the great american race the daytona 500. [Music] [Applause] [Music] on this valentine's day 1999 welcome to daytona everyone and to cbs sports live live to flight coverage of the 41st annual daytona 500 the super bowl of nascar racing it is all of that and more a crowd three times larger than the super bowl has gathered for this running of nascar's premier event nearly 200 000 will be in attendance today many of them along what is called the super stretch here at daytona which alone is an area twice the size of texas stadium for auto racing fans the daytona 500 is the super bowl the world series and the kentucky derby all rolled into one it's true the 43 drivers for today's race have been getting ready in fact racing teams have been preparing for this race ever since the checkered flag fell on last year's daytona 500 technological advances philosophical strategy has been examined employed tested hashed and rehashed in an effort to arrive here today in peak performance mode for nascar's greatest challenge for its most prized trophy last year in his 20th try dale earnhardt finally won this event an event which had heartbreakingly eluded him for so long while the victory was caused for celebration for the seven time winston cup champion earnhardt lost something in the process you see when a driver wins the daytona 500 they're contractually obligated to have their winning car and all of its contents put on display for a full year at daytona usa the one item dale wanted most was a lucky penny he had taped to the dashboard of his car given him prior to last year's race by a little girl from kentucky who just wanted to meet her favorite driver how lucky was that penny to dale he didn't win a race the rest of the year but this morning as you saw earnhardt was finally permitted to retrieve his lucky one cent piece ral shaheen is standing by with the man they call the intimidator dale earnhardt well it took dale 20 tries to finally get that first daytona 500 victory you've had a whole year to relish that how hungry are you for number two well it's time it's been just 12 months and i'm ready to win again and uh you know the car's running great and uh all i can say is we just gotta be there 499 miles and be in position winning so work hard and uh stay in shape uh out of trouble good pit stops we'll be there well good luck to you today dale if he can do it he will be only the fourth man in the history of the race to win back to back now let's go to the front of the grid and the man who is the editor of stockholm racing magazine dick berger thanks ralph tony stewart is an indycar champion but here at the daytona 500 he's a rookie and the veterans don't like to draft with rookies but you need drafting help to stay up front tony stewart how do you fix that problem today well we may have to drop back at first but uh you know once we get back and find us the hole then i'm sure uh as we run this race hopefully we'll get some respect from these guys and you know the first half the race i run really smart and show these guys i'm not gonna do anything stupid hopefully we'll pick up some friends later on and the side of his dashboard says patience of that is exactly what he has to execute today starting on the pole is a man who is anything but a rookie here at daytona jeff gordon who's been winning races since he first came here in 1993. winning the poll is one thing but that's a very different setup than a race setup you had the fastest car for qualifying you got the fastest car in the race well we're going to find out and i don't know if the fastest car is always the one that wins here you know you have to have a good handling race car these cooler temperatures are going to help with that a little bit but there's a lot of guys that are very strong and it's all going to come down to a good pit stop and a good track position i hope i'm somewhere in that mix at the end of this race good luck to you jeff to bill stevens mark martin has had a sensational racing career but the sport's two biggest prizes have eluded him the winston cup championship and a victory here in daytona he won the butch butt shootout last week but mark this is the race you really want well this is it this is the great american race i tell you what we're all fired up about it the valvoline teams got this for us running well and we're just hoping to have a shot at this thing he's been here 15 times he has five top ten finishes to greg gumbel all right thank you bill and welcome to the culmination of daytona speed week the last of this millennium and the official start of nascar's next 50 years hi everyone i'm greg gumbel happy valentine's day to you and yours from all of us at cbs sports how this race has grown from its early days on the beach today the winner will take home 1.1 million dollars there's over 8 million dollars in prize money at stake this race has been won by the sport's greatest legends richard petty kale yarborough and bobby allison have become immortalized here but daytona is also the place where legends are born is this the breakthrough year for terry labonte mark martin or kenny schrader in about three and a half hours we'll find out joining me now is a man who has been to every daytona 500 since 1964 and whose name is synonymous with auto racing my colleague ken squire this is cbs's 20th year here at daytona that means 1979 was the first visit here for the network do you remember that year oh who could ever forget that race 1979 was a defining moment in american motorsport you know that was the year when a major network first stepped up and treated this event as they would a masters or the super bowl and they did it so well the coverage was fantastic that year and it changed america's perception about american stock car racing that's it today the man that is still the symbol of american motorsport he was a key factor i think along with the television coverage richard petty that man who represents best that whole sense of a common guy doing uncommon deeds when he won that six five hundred it helped so much to really put this racing game on the top of the heat just one question are you ready for today i'm always ready for this one this is a great coming up one of the greatest commands in all of sports when cbs sports live flag the flag coverage of the daytona 500 continues speedway everyone it will be a cold and windy day by florida standards for the race but there is no rain in the forecast although it is overcast at the moment the temperature is 53 degrees the temperature or humidity of 58 percent and a slight wind at this point although it was gustier earlier today the forecast is for partly sunny skies so we will keep an eye out for those the track temperature is at 77 and dick bergeron reports that the car temperatures are up already for the pre-race ceremonies let's go track side for the invocation and national anthem ladies and gentlemen will you please rise for the invocation by the reverend hal marchman and remain standing for the singing of our national anthem let us pray for the beauty of the earth and for the glory of the skies lord to thee our hearts arise bless all of us as we gather here for the exciting races on the in this beautiful place and help us to pause and to give thanks to you the god of all of your children shalom and amen and now to honor america the star-spangled banner by atlantic recording artist edwin mccain oh say can you see by the dawn's [Music] at the twilight's last leaving whose brought stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight for the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming and the rockets red black the bombs bursting [Music] that our flag was still there oh say does that star spangled [Music] for the land of the freest and the home the [Music] so [Music] wow [Music] and now for the most famous words in motorsports the grand marshal of the daytona 500 the honorable supreme court justice clarence thomas gentlemen start your engines [Music] so [Music] so when the pre-race festivities now under our belts let's take you upstairs to the gentleman who will call this 41st annual daytona 500 mike joy ned jarrett and buddy baker thanks greg and hello everyone nascar is the only major sport to start its season with its biggest and most important event the daytona 500 two-time national champion ned jarrett ran this race seven times ned this race 40 years only 26 different drivers have won it it's so big to win but it's so hard to win it is so hard to win mike and i'm sorry that i never did get to do it and the fact that richard petty won it seven times it's still hard to believe it just what's up how great of a race driver he really was now there are eight drivers in the field today who have had the experience of getting in victory lane here in the daytona 500 and i'll tell you there's nothing like it certainly those eight drivers would like to repeat here today and there's some great names who have not had that experience they want in there real bad guys like mark martin rusty wallace ricky rudd terry lavonny ken schrader the list goes on and on you can bet your bottom dollar they're going to be trying to get their name on that trouble if this race had been the daytona 450 buddy baker would have won it all about 11 times but in 18 years of trying finally you got to victory lane here what did it feel like that was the biggest day in buddy baker's grace in life i tell you i think back going around the racetrack in columbia south carolina a half mile dirk thinking someday i was going to win the daytona 500 and to have my dream come true and you know what when i give speeches at clubs around the country the first thing anybody asked me is a question about the daytona 500. it's special it's great and i want it yesterday you saw just how tough it is to run and win here at daytona in the napa 300 grand national race ron hornaday has missed the wreck he's down on the grass getting away until sliding off the bank comes phil parsons and jimmy kitchens pounds into the left side takes him out of contention how about 18 year old rookie casey atwood number 27 in second place one lap to go and he goes on a flyer atwood was okay but his dreams of winning here in daytona will have to wait another year randy lejoy won the grand national 300 yesterday they are rolling off for the first of pace laps here at daytona for the 41st annual 500. we'll be back with the starting lineup and the green flag for three months the teams have been preparing for the moment that's about to occur as they drop the green flag on the daytona 500. jeff gordon starts on the pole the 97 winner seven times this race has been won from the pole a rook rookie's never won it tony stewart will try today row two of the qualifying race winners bobby labonte last year's runner up at the 500 and dale earnhardt its defending champion row three jeff burton fifth year three years ago jeremy mayfield was third last year ken schrader the runner up in 89 and dale jarrett a two-time winner mark martin for the 15th time he's trying to win it rusty wallace 17th year in the 500 looking for win one jimmy spencer and mike skinner a couple of very aggressive drivers in row six row seven michael walter best four top ten finishes in this race and kevin lepage in his second 500. robert presley finished eighth on thursday had a strong run bobby hamilton is driving for a team that's won it a couple of times sterling marlin won back-to-back 500 ford burton finished eighth here two years ago terry lavonnie two-time winston cup champ trying to win here for the 21st time and derek kopp the upset winner in 1990 rick mast and rich bickel fill the eleventh row steve park a sophomore and kyle petty in row 12. jerry nadu second year driver and chad little row 13. ted musgrave from wisconsin and ricky craven from maine ricky right in his 22nd 500 with jeffrey bowdein the 86 winner ernie irvin and joe nemechek kenny wallace and wally dahlenbach dave marcus in his 32nd consecutive 500 and john andretti two-time winner bill elliott with rookie elliot sadler johnny benson and brent bodine last year's rookie of the year kenny irwin and mike wallace daryl waltrip completes the 43-car field [Music] there were 16 disappointed drivers who failed to qualify for the daytona 500. you can see the list there among them the green brothers david and jeff steve grissom didn't make it stanton barry andy hillenburg morgan shepard dick trickles not in this field today [Music] let's take a look at the different cars that are in the event today there are 21 fords 14 chevrolets and eight pontiacs their 43 cars starting this race they'll go for 200 laps at 500 miles per person over 8 million dollars they can go 50 to 60 laps on the tank of fuel level 22 gallons and the race record was set back in 1980 by our own buddy baker at over 177 miles an hour let's take a look at daytona international speedway down the front straightaway into turn one it's 31 degrees in that corner 3000 feet down the back straightaway let's take a look at that 31 degrees that's what it looks like a record number of in-car cameras on cbs today 11 cars 34 different views jeff gordon on the pole dale earnhardt has a cbs race cam on board today jeff burton the xi batteries four from roush racing he'll also ride with dale jarrett two-time winner of this race in the ford credit for quality care number 88 mark martin and the valvoline board from roush racing [Music] mike skinner a former pole sitter in the lowe's home improvement chevrolet you saw drivers with hands in the air because they have waved off the start that they anticipated this time they'll take one more face lap robert presley the jasper engines and transmission sport with these views you'll also arrive at the siemens in car camera in the bill davis pontiac for ward burton out of south boston virginia the hendrick budweiser chevrolet changes his number from 50 back to 25 and wally garlandback is the driver and a sentimental favorite nascar's most popular driver phil elliott the two-time winner of the 500 and the super 8 motels on board camera riding in his fort and finally kenny irwin jr last year's rookie of the year the texaco javelin 4. we'll all be carrying cbs onboard cameras today dave marcus number 71 that dark it's not black it's camouflage colored chevrolet he ties the record for most daytona 500 starts 32 with richard petty but all of marcus's starts have been consecutive he has never failed to qualify for the big dance [Music] you're looking at brett favre the honorary starter for the 500 next time by instead of a football he'll have a green flag in half five drivers have an added incentive here today that's the rj reynolds winston noble five program the first five finishers of talladega last october have a dayglow orange front spoiler rear spoiler and number on the roof and if one of those five wins the race it's an extra million dollars for the driver and an extra million dollars for a randomly selected fan paired up with each of those drivers [Music] a look at the drivers meeting reggie jackson is here alan jackson the singers here say that i'd like to have the guts and the ability to drive the way you all drive thank you all and good luck honorable associate justice of the u.s supreme court clarence thomas convinced these drivers he's a race fan he's got a zr1 core event likes to hot footed he told us at the grand marshals dinner last night was looking at his wife when he said he'd rather go visit an engine builders shop than an art gallery all right good for him it's been a busy speed weeks here in daytona the rob dyson team led by butch lightsinger with o'reilly and scott chassis and ford engine won the rolex 24 hours mike skinner the buck shootout qualifying race mark martin's first ever daytona win came in last sunday's buck shootout pennsylvania and bobby gerhart won the ark of 200 the gatorade qualifying races for this 500 won by bobby labonte and dale earnhardt christian elder victorious in a crash mart nascar dash race on friday dale earnhardt made a last lap pass to win the international race of champions event and yesterday the fellow they call the old man former series champer andy lejoy won the napa 300 congratulations to all it has been a busy couple of weeks here at the daytona international speedway and the biggest one of all coming up if they come down for the green flag they'll be turning this two and a half mile racetrack in about 47 seconds under race conditions today the engines in these cars are restricted by nascar the amount of air that can flow through the engines are limited so it will take these cars more than a full lap to get up to full speed and drivers that gain momentum on the start will be looking to move up quickly before they come to 190 miles an hour the second time by pontiac grand prix face car dips to pit road jeff gordon youngest man to ever win the 500 and tony stewart irl champion and rookie bring them down rick bob waves the green flag and the season is on [Music] good clean 2x2 starch gordon has a little advantage in turn two normally the first couple of lamps the inside groove is the place to be especially when the tires are still new they get a lot of grip down there but tony stewart trying to change that as he goes down the back straight buddy yeah [Music] mike is right on his heels and here comes earnhardt the man in black in number three looks to split the two leaders not gonna get there jeff gordon's gonna haul him off the corner to complete lap one bobby labonte on the inside for second court drops down a lane right in front of the body to lead it through the trials over here that's 18 degrees of banking right there you can see the back of the car very unstable as they start off onto the flat part of the straightaway there which is six degrees of vacuum it's only the third time in the last seven years when the ball sitter has led the opening lap and jeff jordan was happy to do that because he gave him five bonus points and that's why we think up racing if you leave a left with five bonus points tony stewart climbs the hill a little bit there three deep bobby lobotti wants to get those fouls on this point he wants to leave earnhardt behind stewart not willing to take it three wide just on the second lap of the race tony stewart is showing up a lot of muscle there on the outside you see him still running with gordon side by side bobby lebron is loving it because that one car out there in front you don't have to worry as long as they run back by side he'll keep that lead bobby labonte to the front he pairs up with gordon on the inside lane tony stewart that orange pontiac leads the outside groove and this looks like a 190 mile an hour pace left it certainly does no one has been able to pull away or get an advantage they're still running side by side for every position accepting the first one tony stewart made a little bit of a rookie mistake just in the middle of that corner he went a little bit high but he got great momentum going down the back straightaway and they're still side by side mike the joe gibbs racing team knows that tony stewart's car is actually a little bit quicker than bobby lavonny's machine they want him to try to get up with bobby since he's a rookie they don't think too many people will want to run with him they want him to get up to bobby tuck on his rear bumper and follow him and begin the second daytona 500 bobby labonte has led in eight starts down to the inside gordon labonte just takes it one lane lower to hold him at bay jeff burton is up for third and that rounds number 99 ford purple and black machine fourth is kenny schroeder traitor has shown a willingness to take delay and others won't now he's in the middle as dropping down to the bottom comes one of those fast forward we were wondering how long it taken before they started running three by three back in that group and it didn't take them very long they get momentum coming off of the turn pick up the draft and we're able to move right back that was dale jarrett making the move three wide on the bottom on the upper left of your screen on our cbs scoreboard a driver displayed in green it's one that has moved up in the last lap and a driver displayed in red like kyle petty or ricky craven has lost a spot since the last time by tony stewart is in trouble right now he'll be dropping back he's counting the center part there where all the turbulence is on the draft off this card you know he'll probably lose eight ten maybe fifteen possessions yeah he needs to try to get himself in line if you possibly can because throwing three of brent for a full lap on this racetrack normally is not good as a rookie the establishments to come drivers have not yet learned to trust tony stewart on this two and a half mile super speedway so they may be a little reluctant to link up with him but he has a fast car some drivers will take that chance and try to work back to the front with stewart but right now he's in no man's land yeah that's a recipe for a wreck right there where he's at he has to be very very careful it's under the people around him [Music] buddy is he the nervous man in town right now [Music] much two by two through the mid pack well if you get to mike skinner then you wanted to move down on the inside [Music] two cars at the front single file and then ken schrader battles with dale earnhardt boy they've had their battles in the past and they're pretty good friends i think those are the two strongest cars after a long while there's earnhardt and kenny schrager he's shown a lot of muscle in every race and he's not afraid to go up and take a chance here come look on the outside here comes dale earnhardt we're riding with dale jarrett in the robert yates four jared in sixth place on that low side that's kenny straighter just in front of him that low side is gonna move up to challenge earnhardt once again in that 3 000 foot back straightaway it's overcast here today and it's cool the track is not as slick as it's been all week here it's been very hot here at daytona and the setups are maybe a little bit different certainly the cars are a lot tighter than they would have been here's arnold making the move dale earnhardt around the outside he's got help from jeff burton jeremy mayfield and russ t wallace [Music] and i've never seen a daytona 500 go this long without at least a small pack trying to break away but they are still this is nola's ark at 190 miles an hour yes nerve wracking here comes jared again down on the inside trying to make that three wide move and he does he gets up from the back bumper of jeff norton and the fella they stuck in the middle with schroeder and look at him back up in that green and white 33 mike every bit of the turbulence off these cars goes right down the middle of that group that's why they drop back when you get the middle there ride with jeff burton into the triangle start finish line company's inside there is jeff gordon now you see earnhardt pulling over towards that inside line you get a draft off of those we'll talk a lot today about team racing watch out two teammates have found each other already and their cars are similarly painted number 12. jeremy mayfield at 13 rusty wall or rather two rusty wallets those white and blue four they link up and they work well together and they'll do that all day let's go to dick bergeron many of the teams in today's race have selected brand new race cars such as the case with the number 24 of jeff gordon who is running in second bobby lavonny on the other hand your leader decided to run a year old car and why not the car that's in the lead right now last year won three it was talladega and it was second at both races here at daytona in 98. not only that but what is going on right now between bobby and dale earnhardt is a great morale boost for that jokes racing team only one time over the course of this whole week has bobby labonte gotten around dale earnhardt through all the practice all the times that he followed him only one time did he actually pass that three card so for him to be able to run alongside and feel just as competitive is going to be a great morale boost he's just got the lead background but now up to the high side 99 burke now they've got earnhardt as the meat in the sandwich earned half just behind him there if they start working together it will help her but right now it looks like mike skinner wants to save a score now will skinner letter and heart in line you're riding with mike skinner dale earnhardt's teammate and here he comes hey he's going to pass his teammate you're watching back from jeff gordon second place car looking back at that battle now burton moves over to the middle lane trying to break the draft on jeremy mayfield number 12. and lavoni and gordon will scoot away just a bit earnhardt is still the hot dog between two halves of the bun absolutely you hardly ever see dale earnhardt makes that mistake but he got in the center for it now he has the inside right and he'll start coming back up towards the front yeah there wasn't a whole lot he could do about it jeff burton just pulled up on the outside and coming off a turn four and hey there he was it wasn't a great deal that he could do about it dale earnhardt has a great car here so good they've only run 49 laps of practice all week with it plus 50 for the qualifying race and to the time trial otherwise it's been in the garage covered up we are 11 laps in the daytona 500. we'll be right back with you live on cbs team of 200 laps bobby labonte's pontiac leads the chevys of jeff gordon and mike skinner and the board of dale jarrett yesterday a really crash smart napa 300 most all the drivers watched it from atop their motor coaches or trailers dick berger and that made for a very serious and softer drivers meeting this morning it really did mike joy they were very concerned and very worried indeed this morning first thing in the garage crew chiefs were just saying i hope we don't have a repeat now we've got an awful lot of crashes here an awful lot of accidents so many that jeff hammond one of the crew chiefs went to david hoots who runs the drivers meeting and he said david i don't know what you've been telling these guys but this morning change it [Music] caution free so far [Music] motorsports number seven now he feels a challenge from earnhardt as bobby labonte slides up the racetrack and out of the lead jeff gordon takes over the lead and max keller follows him right along so does dale jarrett buddy what happened to bobby labonte well just what dad said if you get caught just a little bit out of position you get a nose up under them and they're on that outside and everybody drops to the bottom you have little to do with where you end up they just all start going by you front five or single file then it's two abreast from there on back three wide in turn one look at this robert presley 77 in the middle sterling marlin number 40 jeff burton 99. and there comes the 98 card rick mask having a great run here today in the ko yar for a car months ago that team had disbanded he'll put it back together they're here yeah he started 21st and he's already up to 12. that's a great run for rick matt back from jeff burton at two-time 500 winners sterling marlin and number 40. [Music] then jeremy mayfield pressure is still in the middle [Music] and now it's three wide even at sixth place look at that tony stewart is the man in the middle [Music] he didn't want again get back in that position but there he is and who rose yeah three wide right behind him so stuart will get a little help from robert presley there kevin lepage right in that middle excuse me make that little page rather than stewart [Music] those are the five cars that have dominated practice every one of those cars in the first [Music] jimmy spencer is caught up on the lead draft he's the sixth place car spencer [Music] mike they're thrilled with the performance of jimmy spencer's car all this week crew chief donnie wingo has been telling me they have not been able to get that car to move they've changed everything on it and it looks fine [Music] the biggest thing in that car right now is the man behind the wheel i'm gonna tell you he makes up about three tenths of a second just by being determined to move up in the field car backing up on the outside that would have been jeff burton number 99 appears to be yes way up to the outside there he is and he has lost about half a dozen positions on this left 99 burton is falling to the tail end of the field we have run 19 laps and they're still going by jeff burton and the field is still separated by just a little over four seconds from first to 43rd it's the trackside ken squire jeff burton broke a valve spring late in the happy hour yesterday and they were so concerned that they changed all seven cars and that includes the five team cars as well as the uh the wood brothers car that was another one they changed the valve springs on this morning jack roush was extremely concerned uh about the motor situation so they spent some extra time wondering about jeff burton now let's go to ralph shaheen well there's definitely a tire going down they're not sure which one yet the crew is waiting the arrival number 99 here on pit road they're radioing back and forth to jeff as he stays out on the racetrack trying to get him to decide if he can get a feel for which tire it is cars in the top lane have been dropping back a bit mike skinner continues to fight his way along next to dale jarrett on the outside though bernard also is dropping back and you're right mike what happens right now is mike skinner is fighting back without any great help all of a sudden dale sharron's with him as they head down into turn three here is connor there's bobby labonte with him gordon on the bottom now drifting back jimmy spencer comes up for third on the outside spinner made that move going into turn one trying to go to the outside jared didn't follow him decided to follow jeff gordon it was a mistake because skinner pulled him right on through on that high side effects of the beast 21 laps three different leaders three lead changes jeff gordon bobby labonte mike skinner is the most recent driver to lead the daytona 500. sterling marlin on the outside driving for felix savage trying to track down jimmy spencer in that high line well i was just thinking of jimmy spencer all the way up to third from 11th right now showing a lot of early muscle just behind him one of the fastest cars in all the practice here sterling marlin marlon his two-time winner of the daytona 500 certainly knows his way around this racetrack bobby labonte and dale earnhardt won the gatorade 125s earlier this week they know what it takes to race well here but we asked them how easy is it to pick out a partner to draft with you know that somebody might help you and they're going to try to help themselves to go with you because they know that if they help you they're going to pass the car off you know whether that's your teammate or your brother or who you know i think that's the cause they're going to make you and i can stay here all day long and talk about we'll work together we'll work together we'll do this man when there's 48 rare race cars out there and they get to move around you can't get in the line you want to get in you can't get with a guy you want to be with sounds like he was telling [Music] that's the us he's in earnhardt has been there right at the front but has not been able to get back up there he's been shuffled back but his teammate mike skinner is up there 23 laps caution three let's go to dick bergen the toolboxes are open in bobby labadie's pit he has just called in and said i have an engine skip he has changed his ignition system to the back up so far no word as to whether that's working or not route the funnel crew down here at roush racing for the 99 of jeff burton he is radioed back to the crew as of now he does not think it is a tire the car is vibrating in fact at one point he even radiated he had some smoke inside the cockpit of the car but they keep asking him questions do you think it's a shock do you think it's in the engine and he just can't figure it out yet that's like calling your doctor on the phone and asking what's wrong with me all he can do is get the input he gets from you and guess look at this three of rest and jeff gordon is the man in the middle between mark martin and the 16 of kevin lepage he finds a place in line and they are still 2x2 all the way back through the field of the daytona 500 24 laps complete mike skinner leads bobby labonte [Music] her former paul sitter has been pulling this 40 car train bobby lavonny's pontiac in second dale jarrett's forward in third rusty wallets and a four number two in fourth tony stewart there's the outside pull center the rookie in that orange pontiac number 20. and jeremy may feel the number 12-4 they've gained a little distance on the field stewart has worked his way back he dropped back to about 12th place when he got in the middle there a while back but he's been able to work his way back up there now in single file running along there in sixth and fifth place mike will rule out the garage area just a while back we were told that tony stewart and jeremy mayfield hooked up in practice they found the combination they're going to work together and for the richard petty and john andretti fans the stp pontiac is being pushed behind the wall apparently something went wrong with the engine ken squire yeah that's a tough one for them they've had some motor problems they got caught in the 125 in the first lap incident number 33 came out for this race sporting all petty blue for the first time since 1971 thought it might change their life back to when andy granitelli first joined the group and put one sticker on the car but apparently luck wasn't a factor today engine trouble they're now showing four laps down looks like their day may be over those petty blue cars have won nine daytona 500 richard penny won seven lee petty won the first one pete hamilton in 1970 won it and number 40 petty blue plymouth super how about mike skinner first champion of the nascar craftsman truck series up for his second try at winston cup racing in his career the susanville california driver his teammate to dale earnhardt for richard childress racing you know he's never won a point to race and what's to come car but he has one twice in japan in this particular type car so uh he knows how to drive and he has a great picture and i think right now you know the same guy that set up earnhardt's car last year for the 500 here that would be larry mcreynolds a member of the alabama peach fuzz gang that included davey allison came out of the birmingham short track and rose to prominence here in winston cup they're 13 cars now mike you can see that train right there coming by they're pulled away you see the distance back there to that second group ken schrader hits them up in 12th place but that front group up there running single foul beginning to pull away well as long as this group's ned runs double file the law of the draft proves that a single file group of cars will be faster than cars racing side by side that's why this group can pull away here's mcreynolds is the critchy for mike skinner and larry you're the man the true chief dale earnhardt to his first daytona 500 victory do you have mike on the same strategy that you ran with dale yesterday or last year well you know we're just we're trying to just stay up front you know we watched the bush race yesterday obviously that's the best place to be the way things have been going all week but we just want to be smart we want to be at the end of this thing be in position and hopefully not get shuffled like i told the guys this morning whatever happens this lowe's team i'm proud to be with this group uh it's an awesome great thing that ready winston little cooler out here today has it affected your setup yeah you know we was able to put a little tape on the front end the biggest burden was on the engine tuner this morning you know to figure about every eight or ten degrees you gotta add some jets for these things so he's the one that had the most sleepless night last night and of course mike that will affect their fuel mileage cold air can make more horsepower but it needs a carburetor adjustment to do so there's john andretti and richard penny's car being pushed back to the garage 32 laps complete out front is mike skinner's chevy bobby labonte's pontiac dale jarrett's ford boy tony stewart caught on the outside again he drifted high a little bit and of course they can't wait on him even if you're working with somebody you have to go when the chance comes you see earnhardt going by sterling all these guys are bypassing because he's on that outside by himself stewart just got as they sing in nascar parlez hung out to drive or clothesline he got out of the line and everybody else went the best thing you can do right now is falling behind that six car mark martin and just follow them along drafts along because that's the second group catch up with them if they start racing side by side and folks it's not that he doesn't have the power that's one of the fastest cars here but when the lead car in that group is pushing the wind aside the best place you can be is right behind it dick bertrand well it may be tough to find a mechanic on a sunday afternoon for folks home watching television but if you happen to be running well in the daytona 500 as bobby labonte is it's pretty easy to find one his crew however has been worrying and talking over where that skip is from i think it's possibly a loose wire because it's intermittent it comes and goes meanwhile dale jarrett in the 88 car has a bit of a heating problem his water has gotten up to 220 degrees oiled to 230. that's not good they told him turn the fan on cool that engine down you ride with dale jarrett behind bobby lovani's pontiac bill stevens i'm with john andretti john there was a report smoke from the car what happened i'm not sure we got a problem in the motor department i guess um start ran fine i was just uh waiting for it to thin out a little bit so we could get moving forward with uh with the scp car but unfortunately um it wasn't our day so i'm trying to get the petty blue car in victory lane sometime this year second year in a row tough break for the 43 card john andretti one here fourth of july 1997 driving for kale yarborough [Music] a pontiac a chevy and a four lead the daytona 500 those are the three competing makes but it's two fours lined up behind that third place car of dale jarrett let's see if they can make a move when we come back to the daytona 534 that's complete [Music] daytona after 36 laps we have had three different leaders and three different lead changes the speed is up there 187 miles an hour plus no caution flags as yet in the war of attrition that was the napa auto parts 300 yesterday has not been nearly so brutal today only john andretti with a bad engine is out on lap 25 but the day is young mike joy [Music] baker your record of the fastest 500 ever may be in jeopardy mike skinner's crew looking on they want to see how that car is running every team has tv sets in their pit and satellite dishes for 39 laps into the daytona 500 mike troy with buddy baker and matt jarrett there to the inside comes one of those pesky cranifice cars jeremy mayfield number 12 with his teammate rusty wallace yeah they're working very well together but just a second ago you see your second place car there dale jarrett he went by four cars on the back straightaway no help whatsoever he's got a lot of muscle three wide sixth place something here has got to give 24 inch gordon two with wallace six is mark martin i don't think anybody's telling the drivers that there's still three wires they head over to turn one and rusty says i don't want to be here that's the car number two right here how about that 22 that black and yellow machine of ward burton he's right up into the lead pack he's been as high as fifth today for bill and gail davis yeah he's starting at 18 and you're on board his car with our siemens race camp looking after mike skinner you see jeremy mayfield and under 12. going under him there and his teammate rusty wallace ryan toad where you see one of them today you'll see the other wallace and mayfield running as teammates and seeking each other out on the racetrack bobby lobotti's pontiac the green car hauling that blue red and white board of dale jarrett two-time winner of the 500 skinner looks inside lines back up on jarrett looks outside single file once again [Music] up in that pack kenny irwin is in that pack he started 41st he's up to 15. he had a fast car yesterday in practice ken when he didn't have a good qualifying run but they certainly got that forward worked out good he is coming towards the front he's climbing the ladder that's uh erwin number 28 and he has caught that second pack and alongside the 97 of chad little trying to work his way up through you know that 13 car breakaway that we had has changed here comes jared for the lead at the line boy and he's got everybody behind him but when you make a pass like he made the wall to do it right by yourself everybody goes whoa wait a minute maybe we have to get with him and go bobby labonte looks in his rear view mirror and sees the next worst thing after dale earnhardt which is nobody let's go on board with mike skinner and our circuit city onboard telemetry well he's turning about 6 700 down the back straight away there about 190 miles an hour down going into turn three you can see the cars moving up and down this racetrack is a little bit bumpy i'll turn four down a little short shoot here and you'll see the car rock over to the left that's through the triangle here start finishing live right there now another little short shoot heading in turn one they'll run right along the wall and then just dive right down to the white line on the bottom you see the car kind of wiggling right there it's bumpy right there you see it jump again now he's coming off towards the back straightaway he'll go out against the wall and that's what it's like to go around daytona with a fast car that beautiful mechanical bumps out there you see that rpm they're a little less than 7000 rpms and you say well i thought these winston kept cars turned 8 500 9000 they do on all the tracks except from the restrictor plate tracks but not where their engines are restricted and ricky craven unscheduled pit stop here in car number 58 bad vibration for craven he is in about oh 15 laps before he would like to make a pit stop this will cost him one lap to the field and take him out of sequence dale jarrett is your leader it's the first time a ford has led today and no ford led a lap in the qualifying races on thursday we're 44 laps into the daytona 500 caution free thus far cbs sports coverage continues after this message and a word from your local station ford leads the chevy of mike skinner in the forward of jeremy mayfield 1990 daytona 500 champion derek coat just made an early pit stop he had cut a right front tire came in to get his right sides changed so he and ricky craven are out of the pit stop sequence we expect regular green flag laps beginning in about eight laps or so green flag pit stops coming up here before too long some of these cars ned appear to have lost the handle 23 jimmy spencer was up in that lead pack now he's drifted back into this pack and continues to run high on the racetrack i don't think capital had a lot to do with it i think with that 88 car got no leads up there he pulled them away from that second group kenny wallace in his first drive for andy petry racing crew chief jimmy ellis his team going to work this is a little early for scheduled pit stops because of the 55 mile an hour speed limit on pit road under the green flag if teams take a pit stop they will lose one lap to the leader even if they make a 17 second pit stop and it takes 47 or 48 seconds to go around here your slow down speed and getting back up to speed really cost you a lot of time we have been under the green flag since we started the daytona 500 buddy baker's record for the fastest 500 ever 177 miles an hour may be in jeopardy here's your top five dale jarrett in a ford mike skinner's chevy jeremy mayfield and rusty wallace in fourth jeff gordon number 24 there's 22. that's a pontiac in sixth mark martin is seven michael walter bernie irvin backpack back through eighth and ninth place number three dale earnhardt in 10th kenny irwin in 11th robert presley chad little bobby labonte is back to 14th place there's the body's car on the right side of your screen that green and black number 18. he's racing with chad little then it's bobby hamilton kenny schroeder and jimmy spencer sterling and terry lemony complete the top 20. there are 36 cars still running on the lead lap mike here jack we're looking at jimmy spencer there at 23. he got as high as third place but he's dropped him back right now i think that when he gets tired his car is not sticking just the way wisconsin driver rick spickel makes a pit stop and so does the number 90 of mike wallace who replaced rookie mike harmon for judy dunlevy in midweek here riding with kenny irwin what a climb he's had last year's rookie of the year started 41st and irwin is up to 11th place and i've noticed jeff gordon here looks like he's dropped off of that lead pack there just a little bit he's not totally out of the draft yet but see he has dropped back about five or six car lanes there's gordon and you see the front four there beginning to pull away a little bit from here i just wonder maybe this might be cool if they didn't put a little too much tape on from these cars and we're getting water temperature built up or something well buddy they also have been concerned about tire wear this track is it's been a while since it's been paved and it's getting abrasive and the cooler weather today would help to increase the tire wear because if the track wouldn't be quite as slick you'd think that if if it slipped it'd slide around more and grind off more rubber but to get traction that's when you wear off the rubber and maybe a little bit concerned about that or maybe the tires are wearing down a little bit for you you saw cars battling to stay on the lead lap joe nemer checked rookie elegance sadler and brett baldine riding with jeff gordon looking ahead at that lead pack of four cars garrett skinner mayfield and wally jeff burton comes on to pit row frank stoddart from new hampshire the crew chief will get a chance to look and see what problems befell the number 99 of burton who dropped from the lead back to the backpack ralph jackman chuck white goes over to get to the right side of the car to get it up in the air it should take just one push down on that jack to get the car up in the air they go to work remember they've had this vibration they're trying to figure out where it's from problem with the right front kirk chief frank sideree is also the front tire changer slow getting around to the left side now they get those tires off and on a little bit smoother on this side of the pump with the left front as well now he's down and away and stalls the car fires it back up and away he goes dave marcus coasting in getting tires car weaved a bit coming in might have had a tire cut down might have had trouble with fuel pickup and bill elliot hitting right behind him and johnny benson jerry nader these are all scheduled green flag pit stops coming at lap 53 dick bergeron dale earnhardt's crew member bobby hutchins has just been down to bobby labonte's pit and asked if they could fit together they have agreed to do exactly that earnhardt finding a push with his race car he is not at all happy with the handling of that automobile jarrod is going to come in and try to change his handling just a little bit as well his temperature has stabilized teammates mayfield and rusty wallace peel off the track together as expected to make stop here comes wally dolla back bobby hamilton terry lavonny and outside bowl sitter tony stewart bill wallace and mayfield into the pit just a moment ago the crew chief jeremy mayfield paul andrews got together with robert pemberton the crew chief of rusty wallace that said watch the tires when you take them off the cars yesterday submitted it to the bush race cost a couple of drivers some positions they're just taking on four tires full load of fuel and no other adjustments and knows the tail they want to get them out they feel slightly slower [Music] tony stewart is just leaving the pit and that is a brand new team that is the very first pit stop that they have ever executed they did a good job 19.41 four tires two cans of fuel they did it right mike jeffrey beaudine has been in also the 75 of ted musgrave the leader dale jarrett will hit in two laps tony stewart coming back out gonna take a lap or so to build speed to get back up to speed and merge with traffic daryl waltrip ernie irvin is in the 98 is in that's rick mast steve park ricky rudd rookie elliot sadler and brett baudein all making fit stops we expect to stop to the last 55 to 60 range and that's just about where they're coming there's a look at rick mast ernie irvin with a brand new paint job it's a favorite of all the kids his helmet looks just like the race car here's kyle panty going out of the pits after getting his service leaders come by one more time in that front pack following dale jarrett is 31 mike skinner there's ricky rudd the orange number 10 steve park completing service white car in park whose rookie season cut short by a bad crash in atlanta but he's back healthy ready to race this time around we should see the leaders number 88 jared the fourth there's rusty wallace running right behind him he has made his pit stop but he is one left down but he might be the leader after all of these pit stops are completed because he made a good pit stop and here we do see jared and skinner coming into the pits they had a good move for them to fit together since they were running together yeah i think so because they drafted together well gordon is coming in a lot of other cars coming in as well they drafted together well at talladega last october and they're racing down pit road there jared to get to his pits first the hope of all these cars is they can get out of the pits with the drivers that were leading and draft along with them jeff gordon's in mark martin's in here's robert skinner's crew goes to work on the car they'll take four tires of fuel they're not going to make any changes from this car weren't completed on the right side they're going to work as the first can of fuel comes flying over the wall tires are off and on just in front of him robert presley's crew completes his work a great stop for skinner he wanted a pit with jared he'll go right back down with him jeff gordon leaves as well and did change air pressures there to build stephen dale earnhardt finishes his pit stop he took four tires in a load of fuel and it's back out again about a 21 second pit stop for the number three car the drivers that stopped in this sequence include earnhardt pulling away now let's go back to dale jarrett had a great pit stop he just ripped off a 16.65 other than putting four tires two cans of gas they changed a tire pressure one pound and that believe it or not will make that car run better mike drivers that stopped on this lap include earnhardt number three jimmy spencer dale jarrett bobby labonte came in so did the 77 of robert presley sterling marlon ward burton kenny irwin and the 16 of kevin lepage so did michael walter they all stopped on the same lap now here's rusty wallace getting around dale jarrett we said that rescue walls would probably be the leader after this round of pit stops sure enough he is even though jared might have made a half a second faster pit stop than he did rusty got in and out if it's good got back out there ran two or three laps on those french towers allowed him to run a little bit faster than he'd been running on the old tires and so let's put him in the lead let's reset the order for you after pit stops there is your leader rusty wallace who was trying to win the daytona 500 for his first time dale jarrett is second mike skinner is third jeremy mayfield fourth jeff gordon's fifth kenny schroeder sixth seventh is mark martin eight good stop for bill elliot mike is chad little test the rookie tony stewart 11 is bobby labonte 12th bobby hamilton then it's ernie irving terry lobotti kenny irwin michael washer robert presley kyle petty wally dalloback and dale earnhardt the top 20. and fourth better get in here because those are two lightning fast cars right there mike skinner and jeremy mayfield are coming around derrick coke right now trying to get in that little draft today's two cars get hooked up and they happen to get away into some lap traffic they're in trouble here's the battle for third place you see number 12 jeremy mayfield battling along with derrick colts and that's really hurt coach he's got a little bit loose coming off of that corner there had to back off momentarily and see he has almost lost the draft of skinner as kenner tries to catch up to that twosome up front of rusty wallace and dale jerry colt is one of two drivers that did not catch back up onto the lead lap with pit stops the other is dave marcus watch number four bobby hamilton on the inside of tony stewart and here's your pit summary showing the total time on pip roll that's where you see the tenths of a second really count dale jarrett was the quickest to vote and he's now back up at the front with rusty wallace and you saw that jeff gordon took a little bit longer on hit road he is now four and three-quarters of a second behind the leader 60 laps in the daytona 500 running at a record pace caution free we'll be right back at 64 laps rusty wallace is the leader and nascar's most popular driver bill elliott as you watch from our super 8 root cam elliott has climbed to eighth place he started 37th [Music] a today further back terry labonte leads a pack around labonte is the 11th place car number five strong shot to win today that's with your watch up here he's clocking all these cars who's the quickest car out there jeff gordon is quickest car right now we said a moment ago that he was four and three-quarter seconds behind the leader rusty wallace now he has cut it down to three and three tenths of a second so he's definitely gaining on average speed thus far and a half miles an hour no daytona 500 has been run caution free since 1962. last year we had a shot at it didn't see the first yellow flag to lap 126 up 200. there's gordon look at that graphic man he's more than a mile an hour faster than the race leader and he's pulling kenny schroeder in 33 and mark martin's number six right along with him he's chasing this pack yes he's pulling a long string of cards back there jeremy mayfield dropped out of that front group and you see that right now jeff gordon and him are getting a little bit of uh toe from him because he's in between the two packs that'll help them catch that much three-car break away then mayfield all by himself and then this train of 11 cars trying to run them down mike this is what a brand new goodyear eagle racing car looks like that they're utilizing here today here's the step that just came off my skinner's car now the one that's under the tarp back here that all the goodyear officials are looking at with mike skinner's crew is coming apart right here in the middle of the tire larry mcreynolds a crew chief thinks it didn't happen until when he slipped to his stock because he didn't complain of any problems they're going to have goodyear take a look at that tire and i'm down to bobby levine's pit we've had goodyear people down here as well phil homer said he thinks that the only problem is that with the colder temperatures that some of the crews have taken what he calls a very aggressive suspension setup to bill stevens well the mcdonald's drive-through crew for bill elliot has certainly had a busy week they have had not one not two not three but eleven engines in that car at one time or another ernie elliott keeps building him they keep changing them they're happy with the one that's in there now and they only made a two tire stop and that last pit stop to maintain track position let's update you on two drivers that were in the top 10 before pit stops but are no longer dale earnhardt has dropped to 20th position jimmy spencer has dropped out of that lead group to 24. mike's coming out turn four there jeff gordon you can see right jeremy mayfield down just in front of them that's the first three possessions up there they'll catch this bunch in a hurry they have the draft off the front but and now jeremy mayfield one of the fastest cars out there has some help gordon chevrolet lined up on mayfield sport mayfield has lost his teammate rusty wallace who is up leading this race right here with dale jarrett mike skinner now look at the interval from this group of three it's about a dozen 15 car lengths to the next pack but this train is coming it is coming it's coming much faster than those front three are running uh rusty wallace his lap times now are about 47 90 to 48 seconds flat when dale jared was leading before they made the pit stop he was running about 47 60 to 47 70. so they're running about three tenths of a second slower than they were at that time but the judgments might have made the difference bill elliot drops to the back of this pack behind bobby hamilton rusty wallace told me this morning after the drivers meeting i've got a great car here look at that sandwich draft we're up there on that hood then you think it didn't get a workout when he went through the drive through they just uh left a little sandwich wrapper there this is what i'm talking about right there that thing's really getting a workout that's uh that's a hot dog wrapper at 200 miles an hour amazing that stays on that lawn well you said goodbye bobby labonte just ahead of bill elliot let's go to ken square this is the 17th try for rusty wallace to win the 500. he came here in 1984 in the 125 mile qualifier once signed oversight a dozen times off turn two it was replicated in 1993 many have felt that wallace was gun-shy about this track but he certainly doesn't look gun shy today mike nelson he's left 13 laps today in his previous 16 appearances of the daytona 500 he had let only a total of 11 left so wallace he does have a stronghold today mike what we were talking about look at this yes he is very strong but look at this brought him down way back they were two three hundred yards back just a couple of racks back now it's a big train again and now they don't want to ride in line that group wants to race they want a race they want to get up there and leave this daytona pass heavy here comes mayfield he's trying to make a run on jared but no room there [Music] where that white line is at the bottom of the racetrack it goes from 18 degrees to flat here in the tri-oval at 31 degrees to flat up here in the backing at the west side of the speedway do not dip your tires below that white line i'm watching jeremy mayfield and the 12 there he's looking on the inside of dale jared down the front straightaway he knows [Music] number two on the left side of your screen is the leader rusty wallace 88 dale jarrett number 12 jeremy mayfield 24 jeff gordon 33 kenny schroeder right back in it with a six of mark martin we are 71 laps into the 41st daytona 500 live on cbs we'll be right back ted coverage from a thousand feet above daytona international speedway from the goodyear blimp stars and stripes a continuing tradition that began in 1960 here on cbs at the orange bowl 75 laps complete as you watch from the goodyear blimp rusty wallace leads jarrett and mayfield three forwards at the front and we have a six-car pull-away right now mike mentioned a little bit earlier that when dale jarrett was leaving earlier that he was running like 47.60 once jeff gordon and these other cards caught up to them this rusty wallace has picked up the pace so i think that six cars can run faster than three cars because he's running 47 50 to seven sixty now in the laptop buddy is that a surprise yeah no not really because the longer the train the less turbulence you have in between cars so the longer train you have the quicker that lead car can break through the air dale earnhardt has drifted way back in this race he is the 20th place car after starting fourth and winning his qualifying race on thursday here's ken squire keep your eye on the pontiac number 36 of ernie irvin who started 31st today and recall that this is his first time back since that serious crash at talladega alabama where he reactivated some of those injuries sustained back in 94 in michigan and right now ernie irvin has pulled himself up into the eighth position he's having a ride michael and that pontiac that yellow pontiac is a quick one cat and urban feels he can do it today you know if you were just talking about erner he's almost a half a lap down right now to the leaders you're right buddy he's 17 seconds behind the lead card you're watching for mike skinner skinner is now the seventh place card that richard childress chevrolet looking back at ernie irvin dick bergman what's wrong with dale earnhardt well how about if we ask you screw chief we're so used to seeing you guys in the league seeing you way back is so strange what's wrong well we had a little miscue on that pit stop we lost the pack of cars we were running with uh we desperately need a caution right now so we can catch back up they kind of got running by himself and just got stuck in the back they say the car's okay terrell where was crew chief robin pemberton for rusty wallace robin you seem to run better with the bigger pack of cars is it better for the car to have six behind you like that yeah it takes about it takes a good four or five cars to get a good draft you know when it was just the three of them up front they're about 47 80s or 90s now their 50s or 60s so you three cars don't cut it you got to have at least four to bill stevens kenny schroeder having a great run but you wouldn't believe that if you saw the speed he was running at happy hour yesterday he was at the bottom of the page the reason well they didn't stay out too long a little apprehension with this team crew chief stanley johns told me discretion the better part of valor they wanted to park that car it was running so well they didn't want to risk having an accident in that last practice a car that is wrecked in practice and the team has to go to a backup car they have to go to the back of the starting grid that's the reason there if there was an incident on track that required the use of the caution flag and to slow the field behind the base car that would allow those cars that are running well behind the leader to catch up in that line when they slow under caution that's what earnhardt is looking for to try to get back with a pack to draft with back up front right now earnhardt is running 18 seconds behind the leader that's uh not quite a half a left but it's a long way rusty wallace hold for 16 of the daytona 500 he has taken some wild tumbles here set a goal two years ago to just finish this race and then has worked his way up into contention both last year and this to win the 500 his 17th try to win the great race mike at the end of this line right here of the very very k2 driver and he won his first race ever at daytona this past week mark mark was just sitting there next car driving along in that front draft and this is the best effort he's ever had at daytona what this lead pack is trying to do right now is draft away from the rest of the field that's why you're not seeing them passing each of these drivers is a proven commodity they are all past winston cup race winners and they know that to put themselves and keep themselves in a position to win by staying in that front pack amongst proven drivers that they can trust at 190 miles an hour is their best chance to be up front at the end of the day the least number that you can have up there the better chances you have at the end even though that six car pack is running some of the better laps that we've seen here today they would like to get thrown away from the other one driver moving up is wally dahlenbach he's new with rick hendrick motorsports as a full-time driver this year as you watch from our budweiser camp now if louie and frank were stuck to that hood tim now let's not go there i didn't have that fox could talk till i saw her last commercial while he's moving up he started 34th and now he's running in 19th place the former scca road racing trans am champion pulling alongside derrick cope and running right behind kyle petty kyle had a big grin on his face he was a cameraman yesterday out on the pits his son adam a fourth generation petty racing here at daytona and kyle was a proud dad he was snapping pictures of everything boy it was a talent too i mean he throws the wheels off that car all day long finished in the top 10 six i think it was just a great day for him now that lead draft may get a little longer once again the second pack is closing in on the six front runner exactly the minute they quit trying to pass each other back here and start closing back in on that truck dude side by side don't get it if you're trying to catch them mike skinner is the guy who is pulling that second pack he has a very fast race car we saw him lead this race for a while a little bit earlier and he hasn't lost any of that speed he just got shuffled out of the draft there but there's some racing going on back there bill elliot is up high that's the number 94 and chad little 97 as they race teammates bobby lavonny and tony stewart the green and orange pontiac and a brother just in front of me up there the number five terry mabani pulling bobby labani and teammate there as you said that battle is for tenth place there is kenny earl at black and orange number 28 from robert gates racing teammate to dale jarrett the former usac open wheel champion last year's rookie of the year on the winston county circuit here's bill stevens penny erwin has sliced through the field from 41st up to 10th i just spoke to his crew chief doug richard i said what's kenny saying to you he says he's not saying much doing that well you don't say anything good ride for irwin not much for the fans in the stands with those programmable scatters to listen to on that channel kenny feels that he has something to prove this year his rookie year last year was not what he expected that number 28 car is a very high profile car and maybe he put too much pressure on himself maybe other people expected too much off because it's tough for a rookie to come in this series do regardless of how good of a race car you got and win week in and week out and he wants to show people that he can drive one of these things and he can he's a very good caliber that he had very little full-fendered race car experience before he came to winston cop he spent a year in the nascar crafts and truck series did very well there but everything else that he had driven had been open-wheel lightweight race cars we had a good run in the nascar craftsman truck series for a year and then moved into winston cup and boy that was a big jump 84 laps are complete we're closing in on halfway as you ride with robert presley chasing michael waltrip in the 41st annual daytona 500. we'll be right back activities of nascar bill france jr remains chief executive officer and president yeah mike elton's a nice guy you see rusty wallace right now he is flying around this racetrack this front group they're closing in on some pretty good race cars daryl waltrip is in jeopardy and going and lapped down in just a second justin tries several good race cars in front of him well there's speed has picked up since he's picked up the drafter those cards are coming up the left he's running about 47.50 now and he has slowed down to about 47 75 to 80 but he's picking up the draft of those cars and the closer they get the faster they'll go fellas i can't i can't put a finger on it as to why this is going on but can you imagine we're halfway i just that the driving is so excellent this year here we are 185 mile an hour average we had not one caution when buddy baker set that record uh back in 1980 at 177 miles an hour we had five cautions 15 laps under yellow hasn't been one today the execution of these guys amazing with these restrictor plate engines buddy that your record could be challenged out here you know what i'm going to have a good safe race in the keeper record so this is a great race right now they're getting around here and in the meeting this morning in the driver's meeting they said okay you guys are the greatest drivers in the world act like it let's go to ralph shaheen mike rusty wallace has won plenty of races over his career but the other night at dinner he told me the story about the first race he ever won it was a heat race in a late model stock car he said you know i was so excited i was transferring on to the main event i got the car into the main event we started the race i forgot to gas the thing up and i run out of fuel just a few laps in something tells me he won't have that problem today there's wallace's number two beginning to lap his brother mike wallace and some of these other cars that is one great thing about the heroes of nascar none of them came out of high school to full scholarships none of them came out of college to a million-dollar signing bonus every one of these drivers started out as a quarter-mile track running saturday night somewhere via caribou maine or el cajon california or anywhere in between there are thousands of short tracks to race every weekend and if you're having fun today folks get out and see one of them this summer because that's where the future stars of this circuit will come from and every fan and that's grandstand that's where they started out also that's where your fan base come from to make this great event the daytona 500. there's a racetrack in every statement rhode island and they've got a pretty good one right next door to massachusetts the winston racing series the bash car runs on those short tracks all summer long uh [Music] this summer kenny wallace is down on the track apron as they come through the tri-oval here and he is off the base he is definitely off the face looks like smoke coming from underneath the car and also the atlas sadler car number 21 is in the pits ned he has drifted way up high on the racetrack one lap ago and the rookie driver driving for the wood brothers who have won this race five times has an early stop yeah and that was right in front of the leaders when he went up higher you could see how fast the leaders were going by there kenny wallace has lost apparently the engine no oil pressure he radioed to his crew and i doubt if he'll be able to coast back around to the pits it'll be interesting to see will they get the car off the racetrack somewhere where they won't need to throw a caution or will they just stop out there somewhere i'm gonna make a little bet here i bet he does not let his brother have to have a caution right now he's gonna probably pull that car somewhere out of the way the drivers were advised in the driver's meeting this morning that there are several locations on the back stretch where they can turn in out of harm's way we'll see if wallace chooses to do so or try to get to the pits and see if they can make repairs we've been caution free here so far and we're six slaps from halfway he's still out there just on the edge of the racetrack and there's a ten thousand dollar bonus for the halfway and they see that jeremy mayfield has taken over second from dale jarrett got up there with his teammate boy along the racetrack reports on some of the in-car radios so they will come to the caution flag for the first time today they'll race back to the constant flag some of those drivers about to go a lap down and steve park is one of them he will stay on the lead left but jeff burton was not so lucky he just had gone a lap down as well with carol washington the other guys that is really bad racing luck when you get caught in the cabin yeah first caution of the day and we were coming up anyway on the second round of green flag pit stop so dick berger and pit road will be a busy place maybe rusty wallace didn't want to see this caution flag but dale jarrett sure did he ran over some debris on the racetrack about a half or three laps three quarters of a lap ago he didn't know if he'd cut a tire down or not right now that's all going to be academic because he will be coming in as will everybody else for four tires you can see that kenny had pulled off the racetrack but the oil is a reason for the caution last year the first caution flag of the race didn't occur until lap 126 we are 95 laps into the daytona 500 five laps from halfway [Music] there are still 31 cars on the lead left and all of those will be coming into the pits when they open pit road to the competitors only those cars on the lead lap will be allowed to pit cars that are one or more laps down have to wait until the second time by before they can come in and get their service on pit road whether it's under the green flag or under caution the cars are limited to 55 miles an hour in the interest of safety for the pit crews seven men are allowed to jump over the wall and service the race cars kenny wallace getting a push from one of the wreckers to come back around either to pit road or the garage area as they line up and peel off all the lead lap cars this time should come to pit road ricky rudd is one of those who had just gone a lap down so he'll have to stay out there left we're watching first second and third place top to bottom on the left side of your screen [Music] dick dale jarrod in the pits right now he's the one that was lucky to catch that caution flag robbie hancock's gonna do the front tires brad parrott's on the back steve allen's on the gas mike ford on the jack gonna make a full tire change here get round rusty wallace's crew going to work bill wilburn changing the front tires mark offshore working on the rears they made no changes to the car he had a great stop he gets out just in front of dale jarrett that's right where they wanted him he is in great shape they are really pumped down here to bilsteiner mike skinner just completed his stuff two kids to fuel four tires he was out in 18 seconds to find stuff for the lowe's crew so coming off rusty wallace leads dale jarrett once again jeremy mayfield is about three spots further back after pit stop and the hood is up on bobby labonte's car that is not a good sign we had heard earlier that he that the engine had a little bit of a skip in it they're probably looking at wires and things to see if they can find it dick bargain well dale jarrett's also got a problem he's apparently picked up some sort of a hole in the front fender and they are going to bring that car back in again on pit road you saw the problems that happen when there are troubles on pip road with a green flag racing guy gets out of the lead pack and he is really in trouble meanwhile the 18th bobby lobani still on pit road they are trying to find that skip they have tried to figure it out all day this time they're taking no chances look at this we've got one two three four mechanics under the hood simultaneously five of them all trying to find it and you heard it that engine is not running sweet right now it has decidedly got to skip tough day for labonte they have run so well early on now nick they have the luxury of time with the field running behind the pace car under caution it gives the body about two minutes and 30 seconds to service that car he will still be on the lead lap when he comes around we're under caution at last 96 cbs coverage continues after this message and a word from your local station 500 is sponsored by under caution flag as we approach the halfway point of the race greg gumble along with ken squire we've talked about the cars that are running strong what about the ones that are surprising you today i'll tell you one that's really surprising me now is chad little the number 97 car no one's giving him too much of a call and he's worked his way up to seven spot he's one of the leading cars that is running for the jack roush team at the present time look for that number 97 in the second half of this race he could pull a real surprise he came from dead last and one out here four years ago in the 300 on saturday talk about three hours of intensity we've sure got it here today why the big difference ken in yesterday's race in today's with all the incidents as compared to relatively few mishaps out there today most competitive automobile race in the world these are the world's best we're under caution of last 96 cbs coverage continues after this message and a word from your local station 500 is sponsored by under caution flag as we approach the halfway point of the race greg gumbel along with ken squire we've talked about the cars that are running strong what about the ones that are surprising you today well i'll tell you one that's really surprising me now is chad little the number 97 car no one's giving him too much of a call and he's worked his way up to seven spot he's one of the leading cars that is running for the jack roush team at the present time look for that number 97 in the second half of this race he could pull a real surprise he came from dead last and one out here four years ago in the 300 on saturday talk about three hours of intensity we've sure got it here today why the big difference ken in yesterday's race in today's with all the incidents as compared to uh relatively few mishaps out there today most competitive automobile racing the world these are the world's best these are the top 43 seats and they're certainly proving it with the exhibition they've given us thus far all right ken mike joy thanks greg what a competitive race so far but ned jarrett what a safe race so far and just a lot of working together giving a little room taking a little room but a lot of drivers working together out there not being overly aggressive yeah it's been there has been a lot of give and take out there and and i think after we saw what had happened in the days leading up to this race today sometimes that's the wake up call for the drivers and i'm glad to see it that they're able just to get out there and race give the other guy a little bit of ground when he needs it and then when you get down near the end of this thing that's the time to really go for it buddy when you won this race you had unrestricted engines you had the power to pull out and pass it's a whole different game now well it is and and everybody finds somebody they're comfortable running with and about the time they think everything's great somebody will jump on the outside and they say i gotta go with him hank with this teammate or whatever i gotta go let's go to dick bergeron well this is the tire that was on the front of dale jarrett's car he did run over a piece of debris look at this that thing is almost cut all the way through he got really lucky and there indeed is a hole in the front grill area of that car jarrett just radioed and asked jeff gordon take a look at that thing they have decided that even though they've got the hole they're just going to leave it alone just going to leave it alone meanwhile bobby labonte has been back in and they've changed plug wires on that car cars lining up for the restart let's try to get a word with sophomore driver steve park stevie got a great break there at the caution hanging out on to the lead lap what kind of race are you having there today i'll tell you guys we had a little bit of a goof up in the pits i slid through the pitch made a little bit of a rookie mistake my guys on the pennzoil team did a good job of coming back from that and we just had to drive our butts off and get on the lead left but i got to go back to work guys thanks steve park is on the lead lap running in 28th position thanks to racing electronics who provide our communication with the drivers and our fit scanners bobby labotti is back in [Music] having another look under the hood and this will cost them a bit now here is dale jarrett's nose of this car now they said there was a hole in the fender a little bit of aerodynamic upset to that ford taurus well and uh it looks like it's right in this area bye they've got it pretty well taped up so hopefully that won't be a consequence to jarrod as we get ready to go back to 190 miles an hour mike any anything that you have happened to the leading edge of a race car is important because it's like the leading edge of a wing on an airplane you don't want any depth you want it very smooth but the reason they didn't come in and fix that is because they didn't want to give up the track position there's still 31 cars on the lead left that's where he would have restarted this race green flag at halfway in the daytona 500. bobby labonte comes out of the pits and he will go a lap down perhaps as this field comes to speed let me add to that as they go through the corner here two by two he might have a little dent there but as long as he's tucked right up under another car it don't even address the air one thing that we can watch for here fellas we got the halfway mark but there's ten thousand dollars for leading the up to speed as the pack catches him so the 125 mile qualifying winner will drop one lap off the leader [Music] jeff gordon is back up in contention here comes his number 24 steaming along up the outside and pulling a train with him as they chase rusty wallace well he made a move on dale jerry got up beside him on the last lap coming off the turn four but that didn't work for him mike and he slid him back a little bit nobody went with him up there and uh so now he's got some help there from the number 28 car maybe can help pull him back up through there two fords and a chevrolet have this field rusty wallace dale jarrett mike skinner jeff gordon jeremy mayfield and mark martin you're watching from jeff burton's car at number 28 kenny irwin kenny irwin right now he's running an 8 spot you're looking back right now as he comes up three wide into the tri-oval bobby labonte trying to get back up the challenge and come back up on the lead lap is that green car on the inside of course what he has to do he has to pass the leader and then hope for a caution play 102 laps complete in the daytona 500 mike troy with buddy baker and ned jarrett topside rusty wallace trying to win his first 500 dale jarrett trying to win his third they lead mike skinner jeremy mayfield jeff gordon kenny irwin in sixth mark martin chad little ernie irvin and bobby hamilton 10th bill elliott kenny schroeder terry lavonny warren burton and sterling marlon 15th then dale earnhardt kyle petty jimmy spencer michael walker and joe nemechek 20th rick mask outside bowl suiter tony stewart kevin lopez robert presley pickle musgrave nedu park dallinbach and jeffrey bodine are the cars on the lead left 29 of them 30 of them rather ned was just talking about these guys going for that ten thousand dollars they're halfway daryl walter tells a funny story about that he said he was running as hard as he could in eighth place and junior dropping said the money locks coming up go up there and get it all right beats up for the eighth place car in this race to go up there and get it it's gonna be tough for the second place car to go get it eighth place car is chad little number 97. ken square pointed out he's having a great run here chad little always seems to run this racetrack so well he won a bush race here several years ago when he was running in that series now i've got to ask you okay ten thousand dollars for the halfway lap that's nice but did you ever meet a race driver who's thought about money when he was out there yeah okay we're talking to one right yeah exactly i think to say it [Music] you know you don't read and see what everything pays but your crew does and they go okay ten thousand dollars come on buddy didn't you want to win more than you wanted to get paid oh yeah for sure you know that but i got paid but when not when that money's up there for grabs they want to try to get it jeff burton looking back at chad little kyle petty bill elliott in the middle of that pack here's bill stevens chad little with the fastest speed and happy hour yesterday is very happy about that car i spoke with him and his crew chief jeff hammond this morning the thing that they were thrilled about was yesterday at happy hour they could keep up with all of the faster cars ford earnhardt wallace they knew that they'd have a shot at this race today based on yesterday it is getting dicey out there yeah as we were watching just now kyle petty made contact with ricky rudd two great drivers that's why we don't have another caution right now kyle penny his 18th try to win the daytona 500 ricky rudd trying for the 22nd time to win this race here comes skinner 31 mike skinner gotta run on dale jerry here comes jared with jeff gordon behind him on the outside [Music] buddy when they run like this is it exciting or frustrating out there no that's exciting let me tell you if you don't like the heat you shouldn't get in the kitchen right there you have to want to do this rusty wallace may got a little nudge there and here comes jared around the outside i'm pretty sure it picked up the halfway bonus for ten thousand dollars because he's been out there long enough i think correct yeah but we're talking about the daytona 500 look at these guys [Music] rusty wallace has 48 winston cup wins 21 on super speedways 21 on short tracks and six road race wins but in these restrictor plate races where the engines are restricted at the world's two fastest tracks daytona and talladega he is looking for his first victory i think i'm a quit worrying about dale jarrett and that front end on that car he pulled out there he hadn't lost the nets to anybody he is flying around this racetrack he and rusty wallace side by side down the front straight away jeff gordon on the outside looking high there gordon trying to push jerry don't buy and then hope that he can make a run on him but they slowed down about a second that last lap buddy running side by side yeah anytime you do that you're cutting a hole in the air there's it's almost half the track wide riding with mark martin roof cam on the valvoline ford there's where mark has been today as high as sixth back in the pack as well gordon drifts a little bit high irwin sees a little room and here comes ernie irvin now him moving up like that hurt the 88 car chances are staying right up there side by side you could see it it was almost like he was pulling him backwards the two fastest boards here rusty wallace and dale jarrett pulled the train around here on two tracks you think kenny ernie irvin there got caught in the middle they were three wide there almost an accident costing down the back stretch ricky craven out of power i believe he'll make it to pit road he is going into turn three right now where the leaders are about to come in there but he's down on the apron out of their way boy i always loved it when they were running side by side with me and me leaving i would get over straight away and just give them each a half a card and draft stone i wouldn't let them have to advantage of being able to draft on the whole car ward burton our siemens in car camera for bill and gayle davis race team ork's having a great day he's been with the lead pack all day long dinner on the outside right now looking over rusty wallace trying to take the lead that car has amazing power to me trying to put a chevrolet back in the front of the daytona 500 is mike skinner that's who's number 31. but here comes rusty's teammate up there the car number 12 of jeremy mayfield going to push rexy right on back up there they started darting around there i thought i was watching the last lap of 1979 again with kale and donnie yeah one thing you know you talk about cars feel stable they're not stable at close to 200 miles an hour that's that's a lot of air going around these race cars a little vacuum like when you pass a big truck on the highway your car will it back and forth that's what those drivers are feeling mike skinner has left 17 laps today but he did not leave that one wallace remains out front here's dick bergeron and as we watch those two cars up front you can certainly see one of the wonderful advantages of a two-car team but there's a downside as well when something goes wrong with one car he can go wrong with the other as well the 20 car tony stewart who started on the outside pole his engine is skipping just like bobby labonte the team car both joe gives cars engines skipping they don't know what's wrong with either one of them mike bobby hamilton may have brushed the wall the poor car was in the middle of that second pack and has now drifted back and may lose touch with the draft kenny schrader kenny irwin a couple of xu sac open wheeler side by side the green 33 the black 28 there bill stevens just spoke to the crew for bobby hamilton charlie presley on that last pit stop they started playing with the tape on the front of the car they tried to get the front end of the car to play more maybe you guys in the booth can explain what he was talking about [Music] well they used tape to to either make the car tighter or looser to put more tape on the car loosen these up a little bit make it run faster down the straightaway of course if they want to make it a little bit tighter they'll take tape off well the other thing when you put a lot of tape on the front you get more downpours it gets more grip on the front left tape makes the back a little bit uh more secure there you look at those cars coming through the tri-oval once again 112 laps complete they put tape across the grill to prevent too much air from going through the radiator that would slow the car's speed 112 laps rusty wallace is the leader his teammate young kentucky driver jeremy mayfield lined up right on his back bumper right where he wants to be we'll be back to daytona live on cbs after this 13 of 200 laps we have had five leaders the current leader rusty wallace an average speed now of just over 174 miles an hour just the one caution and of the 43 starters just two cars are out john andretti kenny wallace both with engine problems let's go to dick berger tony stewart has pulled into pit road where they're going to try to do a quick diagnosis and see if they can figure out what's wrong with the electrical system of his car if they can't fix it quickly here on pit road he will go behind the wall pull the valve cover and lose many laps at any rate he has no chance to win the daytona 500 it is rookie start mike the farmer indy racing league champion was the second fastest driver in qualifying started here on the outside four bernie irving working wall on the racetrack trying to pick up spots as things get racy in that lead pack right behind jeff gordon there's urban inside terry labonte he's up about as high as terry has run today in that red number five right there next to urban well i'll tell you what jeff gordon hasn't got many friends out there today they're ganging up on him every time he gets a good run he'll move the line out on you buddy one of the racing papers did a survey what was the best what was the worst race of the year number one answer one out of five responses any race jeff gordon won he is good he wins a lot some people love that some folks don't on the upper left of our screen like robert presley there displayed in green that means he's gained a spot in the last flap mark martin you see displayed in red that means he is dropping back yeah mark was in eighth place about two laps ago but he's in a big pack of cards so it's not hard to lose seven or eight positions ralph shaheen well let's find out from crew chief jimmy femik what the story is with mark martin he's been watching him all day long here he comes jimmy you guys won the shootout but struggling today what's the problem i don't seem like nobody wants to work with us so well let's see if we can get some friends out there mike we were listening in on the scanner and mark has been screaming to his spotters make me some friends a lot of deals can be made on the roof up above you two floors up above us on the roof every car has a spotter in radio contact kind of like mission control with the astronaut they tell the driver when he's clear going into the corner when there's no cars in his blind spot and the spotters talk to each other trying to link cars that are running together like elliot sadler in the 21 just ahead of mark martin trying to get the car and make deals to go together to move up yeah natalia traveler is the lap down but you can see he's running just as fast as the league group right now so mark's kind of caught up there and he needs somebody that is on the lead left that's running as fast as these guys leaving i'm with tony stewart who's just pulled his helmet off tony what is going on with the two cars i don't know we're both jinxed today that's for sure i guess uh i brought all my real luck over here now every time i ram anything it seems like a fair motor up so uh what's the racetrack like tony the wind's pretty tough right now i mean a lot of guys are out there and uh a lot a lot of us are having trouble off the turn too with the cars pushing so uh you know these guys done a great job we keep making adjustments and the car kept getting better we just can't get the motor to run in is it blowing you around yeah the wind's pretty strong right now it's you know after you get about eight or ten laps on the tires it's making the cars push really hard off to him too all right they're gonna try to at least find out what's wrong with this one if they can they can maybe make an adjustment to bobby levante's car and get him to run better mike tony stewart in the indy racing league would either win it seems or blow up and sometimes blow up leading on the way to a win but he has a lot of talent he'll hear a lot from him this year i'm sure of that i'll tell you one thing jeff gordon can get shuffled back date 10th place and all of a sudden he just comes right back up on the lead group he's gone but it looks like there might be some hot dog wrappers some what is that white's paper plate yep it looks like a paper plate right on rusty wallets and grill for more on that here's ralph well robin pemberton you got a plate in front of your grill on the left side of the car is that going to affect the temperatures of rusty's machine no it's not blocking anything where we've got an air intake or anything for the radios we've been watching still about 190 degrees it's okay are you happy with the way the car is performing is it good enough to stay up front i only heard are you happy about the car and who wouldn't be right now this morning i stood behind mike health and the david hoots as they ran the drivers meeting and i looked at drivers faces there were a lot of premises and grim countenances and the most relaxed fella in the whole meeting was rusty wallace sitting relaxed joking with folks waltz arnicky next to it for penske caution caution is on the speedway slow car in the back stretch has hit the wall coming out of turn number two jimmy spencer jimmy spencer look at the damage to the right front corner of that car that's the reason for the caution here they come to the line and it will be jeremy mayfield leading the daytona 500 for the first time today we're picking up picking up five season bonus points yeah it's nice to have a teammate that'll let you have those five points like that you wonder if spencer might have had a tire problem on that right front and when it came apart it did all that damage of course it's completely down on the pavement now and that now there are only four drivers on the track eligible for that million dollar bonus spencer was one of the noble five so that leads dale jarrett and jeff gordon terry labonte and jeremy mayfield you can see the right front is not turning right now is pushed all the way back into the firewall there i don't look for him to return to this race that's a tough break for jimmy he came here with very high hopes thinking he had a shot at winning that million dollar boss so travis carter's ford will be headed back to the garage and on to the trailer and they'll break out a new piece for rockingham next sunday race two on the winston cup series caution is out again this is only the second one of the day at lap 122 for jimmy spencer crashing coming out of turn number three now pit stops would have been due at lap 150 if the team stopped now they cannot go all the way to the finish so do you come in or do you stay out i i believe they'll come in look at that right front and not turning and on the door there those door bars almost come through the sheet metal there you can see right along in that area right there where it hits so hard the door bars try to wear through to the sheet metal there can't get the jack under it they'll have to lift the car by hand to prop it up and pip road is open here come all the cars on the lead lap all 28 of them for service led by jeremy mayfield and rusty wallace and jeff gordon left side of your screen first second and third place cars as they came in ralph mine they wanted jeremy mayfield to stop a little bit short so they can get rusty and cleanly earl harvey has a car up in the air with the jack they come around to the left side robin pemberton said that this stop will take them within about 15 to 18 laps on the finish of this race they're in great shape i gotta tell you i've never heard rusty so calm on the radio he's talking so smooth and easy he's as confident as you can get [Music] 123 laps into the daytona 500 a crash on pit road two cars collide trying to miss a tire that rolled out from one of the pits ernie irving's yellow number 36 and the blue number six of mark martin were the cars that tried to avoid that tire that got kicked out from one of the pit stalls as the cars accelerated away we'll sort that one out when we come back to daytona international speedway you're watching the 41st annual daytona 500 live on cbs sports [Music] international speedway from the goodyear blitz stars and stripes based in pompano beach pilot dan thomas and cameraman bob rosedale giving you these views [Music] let's show you what happened jimmy spencer crashed in turn two to bring out the caution and on pit road a tire has rolled out looks like it might have come off with joe nemechek's car you see all these cars going out they dodge you but ernie irving comes to the right mark martin has to come square to the right you want to know how good mark martin is that would have been a big crash if he hadn't reacted jerk that car onto the grass and around that uh ernie urban car as he was going off pit road what a heads up run watch him right here he turns it hard right right out into the grass and that could have been about a three-car pile up there looks like ernie might hit the tire just a little bit probably no damage done from that if you're mark martin steaming down pit road here's what you've got to do slide through the grass kick it left and get going again see kenny irwin pulls out that tire's already out there he just ducks inside it doesn't appear to be any harm done no aerodynamic damage to those cars bill elliot has taken the lead i think he only changed two towers mike he was out of the piece very quickly and so ellie wanted to get those five bonus points for leading he earlier in the race he only changed two tires and was running able to run pretty competitively so it did it again there you see where the leaders came out of pitt road bill stevens well if you had surmised ned it was joe nima checks tire that mark martin cracked as he was leaving pit road so bill elliott is the leader there's a look at joe nemechek he is on the lead lapping 22nd place rusty wallace is second and mike skinner is third jeff gordon fourth jeremy mayfield who was the leader coming into the pits is the fifth place car dale jarrett is six terry lobotti seventh chad little kenny irwin and michael waltrip are the top ten and we're ready to go racing ernie irving's 11th kenny schrader mark martin ward burton robert presley the top 15. [Music] 73 laps to go now here are some cars that feel this might be their best shot to get a lap back with the car out there that only changed two tires that being bill elliot leading the race so they say well maybe we'll be just a little bit faster with four tires so they're gonna make a run for it there's jeff burton right here down on the inside trying to make it three deep he wants to catch bill elliot this is the 11th daytona 500 that bill elliot has led in 21 starts somebody better tell bill he's running pretty darn good i was just watching the two car there russ joella's he fled much of the train he didn't gain much on bill down the back straightaway kind of funny thursday in the qualifying race no forward little lap look at this no chevrolet or pontiac has been able to get for the front since early stages of this race okay as they rescue all their tongue out the driver has a very fast race car this is him right there in the blue and yellow number 31 gordon down on the inside rusty wallace in the blue and white number two forward up on the outside but skinner's one that wants to challenge bill elliott before today ruxy wallace has only led 11 laps in the daytona 500 in all the times he's been here and just today he's climbed to 27th in the all-time leader rankings wow look at this terry labonte caught megan the sandwich there as they come off the corner he'll rectify that he'll try to get back down on the inside if you possibly can and it looks like he will but he's behind his teammate jeff gordon [Laughter] he's trying to dash back up from the midst to that lead back up to the front he's since the early going he's had a tough day you're exactly right in track position means everything here the two teammates try to work together there mike skinner on the outside as they go down the back straightaway side by side jeff gordon leading that inside line off into turn three left car of derek cope the 1990 winner just behind him then ricky rowe here's right to make matters worse for dale earnhardt he's had to switch over to his backup ignition box so things are not all well the number three car you're riding with the uh number three car dale earnhardt as you see him right in front of him there that's michael walter looking to the inside of kenny irvine as they head down into turn one the chat little cars running like a freight train they were going to make an adjustment to it earlier but crew chief jeff hammond said the track has come to him also he says that he would love to run with terry labonte yesterday in happy hour they were running their fastest speeds with the number five car look at this new tire suddenly everybody's superman oh yeah yeah but just give them about 10 laps and you'll see the better handling race cars back at the front again tough drive to get there for some of these ricky rudd stuck in the middle he is one lap down rusty wants to look on the inside but no room there as we see all that racing back in the pack oh boy i tell you one thing anybody who remembers a few years back [Music] he's running about 47.5 seconds we've talked about you know those seconds how long it takes to get around here and that's right in there with some of the best laps we've seen turned here this afternoon 70 laps to go before bill elliot rusty wallace jeremy mayfield and dale jarrett lead the chevrolet of jeff gordon in the 41st annual daytona 500 lead change rusty wallace back to the front here comes his teammate jerry mayfield number 12 right with him and dale jarrett tony stewart is back in the race after a stay behind pitt wall and one four-car single file double file behind and bill elliott loses the lead and a couple of spots more 29 laps to go here at daytona will rather 69 left to go we'll be right back back there's dale jarrett one of them mark martin is in it elliott sadler the rookie and cars spin terry romani steve park is in in there 99 jeff yeah joe nemechek 42 sterling marlin number 40. jeffrey bodine former winner ward burton heavy damage on his pontiac those cars were all running so close together and dale jarrett trying to win his third daytona 500 will not today there's sterling marlin in the 40 right there joe nemechek in the 42 i saw him here come jared out of the car that's great to see wow a grinding crash entering turn three at lap 135 has brought out this third caution of the day and jared who had a chance to win over two million dollars today and terry lovatti also had that same chance and he's out of it mark martin tremendous amount of damage to his car get you a good deal out of ford taurus only driven 300 miles no right you see he's been around backwards you see the cockpit is all intact mark is okay trying to see if that car will steer there is rich bickel the wisconsin driver steve park in the yellow fire suit all discussing what happened to start that melee that is jeffrey bodine driving for joe and nancy bessie the 86 winner and look at the litter in turn three that is a miss ten race cars wreckers and support vehicles there's dale jarrett you can see he's not hurt he's not happy a little aggravated but i tell you you can tell he's walking no lamps he's doing what happened elliot stadler has been helped from his car he's walking along to the ambulance that's terry labonte inside the ambulance sitting that dale jarrett's in conversation with any time there's an accident on a major super speedway the drivers are required to climb into the ambulance and take the ride to the care center to be checked over let's see if we can see what happened entering turn three [Music] well there's dale jarrett right there as they head off in the corner he goes down on the flat part of the racetrack he might have had a little bit of a bump from the 28 car his teammate as they went in there at 190 miles an hour it's almost impossible for the brakes to slow the car to miss the incident you steer for the hole and hope it's still there when you get there before that track closed up in a hurry when when one car spun as close as they were running together they had to get a lot of other cars involved and ricky run right there at the start of that replay was there contact between jarrett and the 28th and it looked like there was just light contact just enough to turn him down on flat and shoot him right back up in front of oncoming traffic [Music] another angle the cars are watching up jared's already gone at that point and just shoots back up across the racetrack right into terry lobotti and then other cars there's mark martin and six car there comes ward burton number 22. jeffrey beaudine he was next to him there robert presley someone's upside down there that was bodine i believe that went on his roof let's show you dale jarrod's view well that showed you which car was upside down bro there from mark martin's roof cam [Music] from ward burke [Music] and from the goodyear blimp well this will tell the story right here okay there's the 28 down on the inside of the 88 just a little bit as you start into that corner and i believe they made a little bit of contact [Music] and i think maybe what happened is jeff gordon had just gone by jared going down the back stretch and kenny irving was going to follow jeff gordon into that turn and uh dale didn't know he was there and when he went into the corner you could go down a little bit let's watch it right here here we go [Music] is there contact right there from this angle it didn't look like it it looked like maybe the air was disturbed on the rear spoiler there and it just jumped off the ground and down on the flat part of the racetrack and from there you're you're just a passenger well let's ride with kenny irwin and see if his car nudges from contact with dale jarrett yeah yeah yes sir that looks like contact to me folks if you could ride on a skateboard behind one of these cars 190 miles an hour and just touch the bumper you could spin it around they're that close to the edge of control ralph the key on this stop mike is going to be the gas man bob tracy for rusty wallace maybe they can get enough fuel in to get them all the way they're going to put on tires they're not making any changes they left themselves plenty of room with jeremy mayfield first ones in first ones out that's exactly what they were hoping for problems with mayfield stop a little bit slower dale earnhardt does get away quicker than mayfield to nick bergeron the 31 card mike skinner took just two tires on the outside and these guys are all high-fiving themselves they have done a terrific pit stop less than 17 seconds for mike skinner's crew and they're rewarded dick by being the first team off pit road mike skinner will have the lead in this race when we go back to green 138 laps complete 62 to go daytona 500 coverage continues after this message and a word from your local station 139 laps teammates joe nemechek and sterling marlon discuss the aftermath of dale jarrett's spin next to their wrecked race cars from dale jarrett's car let's ride along as a two-time daytona 500 winner headed for turn three [Applause] [Music] wow once again from mark park and from kenny irwin's car [Music] [Music] we remain under caution with 60 laps to go [Music] we'll come back and give you a rundown on the cars involved in the incident and whether or not they're able to get back into the daytona 500 right after this [Music] flapping will go back to green 18 cars on the lead lap jeremy mayfield was up front but look on this pit stop he comes out of the pits in eighth place and the crew very disheartened over that stop yeah they knew it they knew it was not a real good pit stop dick well robert gates owns both kenny irwin's car and dale jarrett's car that were involved in that incident what did it look like to you you've been watching the replays well i i've seen one replay and uh you know i don't just have to wait and see what what really happened i didn't see it close enough to comment on it okay no comment from robert gates very diplomatic car owner at the moment on the replay from kenny irwin's car you could hear the engine decelerate down the back straight away as he tried to give dale jarrett room to get in line that was what irwin told his crew chief over the radio i tried to give him room to get in let's see what bill elliot saw through all this elliot now the 17th place car [Music] look to the left side of the screen right there did they touch that we're back under green 12 involved in that accident only one ward burton has come in and out of the pips [Music] 20 cars on the lead lap led by mike skinner in the chevrolet rusty wallets in the second dale earnhardt skinner's teammate is in third place trying to get up and draft with his richard childress stablemate and michael waldrop in fourth place having a great run here today in the car number seven the fight and blue carpet ernie irving six kenny irwin here's erwin on the inside seven michael walker to the high side in number seven [Music] hmm 57 laps to go george made a great move down the inside dale earnhardt going into turnwood able to make that pass i didn't know if he was going to make it or not you know i i really believe right now that jeff gordon may have the fastest car on the speedway and earnhardt knows that his car is not quite as quick and like you get once you move like that you have to build momentum back up again and you see how far back they'll a while ago earnhardt restarted 16th and climbed his way quickly to sixth now dick bergeron they had an ignition problem they diagnosed earlier and then what happened to repair it and what was the effect on earnhardt speed well they just changed ignition boxes which is something the driver could do right in the car he flipped a couple of switches and he's onto a backup ignition system and what happened is earnhardt had lost 200 rpm the engine has simply slowed down and that of course slows the race car down as well since they run wide open all the way around he says his problems today for sure a bad pit stop ignition problem but don't pout dale earnhardt out this is daytona after all some heavy racing back there in the pack three wide we've seen it several times that's wally dollar back in the red car down on the inside ricky right in the middle dave marcus up there on the outside that's kevin lepage in the 16 there he's right in the uh it's these cars are painted so much alike it looks like ricky rose you're right kevin lepage who's having a good run here today you don't have both lepage and dollar back we haven't talked about much today but that dark red number 25 of dollar back and that day glow machine number 16 of lepage are right up in this lead pack 11th and 12th place yeah ricky rudd let's say that he's behind the wall he's having a race right now his board drivers involved in that crash out of the race dale jarrett jeffrey beaudine terry labonte mark martin's car still being worked on on fifth road joe nima checks out steven park sterling marlin jeff burton rich bickel elliott sadler and repairs being made to ricky rutzcar 12 cars in all involved at lap 135 [Music] mike skinner first rusty wallace second 1984. mike stringer was on rusty wallace pitt crew he's a tire changer and he remembers thinking every time rusty came on pit road i should be in that seat he got ready to quit daryl bryant the crew chief then said what would it take to have you stay with us mike skinner he said rusty c he's got his own seat today he's got a pretty good view right now first place skinner ogre wallace mike joy that's a great story kim mike skinner came down here and for a while i think he even swept the floors over at richard petty's shop trying to make the move from california short tracks in the winston cup racing you know when skinner went with uh childress to run the truck division everybody says i don't understand that richard childress saw something in this guy that he thought he would be a winner and he was the champion in that division and that speaks highly of the trump races also because right now he's leading the biggest race in in all of what took us richard childress had watched little mike skinner an engine for a race kept an eye on him and he said i saw what i liked and never forgot that ralph shaheen mike this piece here in my hand is what is going to make the difference in this race here today these are the jets the one who jet gets right on the jet is the one who's gonna get the best fuel mileage today remember that weather changed dramatically here this morning and you had to adjust these jets these cars will average about six miles to the gallon the right jet gets you the most that gets you to the victory way i just talked to kevin hamlin crew keeper dale earnhardt jeremy mayfield's crew chief paul andrews and rusty wallace's crew chief robin pemberton right now they're all very much up in the air as to how much fuel they're going to have left as this race winds down mike when they talk about jet let's explain what that is that's where the fuel goes down into the carburetor the bigger the jet the more fuel goes down through it the smaller the jet less fuel the problem with leaning them out too much and making that jet too small it'll burn a hole in the top of the piston so it's highly of a balance pack to get these cars to get good mounted 52 laps to go bill stevens with sterling marlin took a pretty good look you okay yeah i'm fine it's uh the cooler's like he's not too good but uh it looked like 28 popped 88 turned him around and uh just he's right the only one know where to go and uh we piled everybody up then he'd give someone a plate or something i mean you just get all bunched up there's nowhere to go and uh this will power two-time winner won't make it number three this year that restrictor plate sits beneath the carburetor on top of the intake manifold he said earlier this week it takes the volume of air the size of a grapefruit trying to float through that engine and restricts it down to four holes each the size of a grape the engine can't get enough air for the drivers to have enough power to pull out and pass nick bergeron mark martin is getting ready to finally leave his pit area after an extended stay this poor guy's got no luck here he's dropped out of this race with a crash engine failure overheating he's run out of gas last year was a ring and pinion here he goes again with another crash problem tough luck for mark martin today he had a great car nascar said at the drivers meeting they'll have one chance to get broken repaired cars back up to an acceptable speed on the racetrack then they would have to go to the garage 40 50 laps to go in daytona [Music] the way through the 41st running of the daytona 500 and seven leaders 12 lead changes in all the average speed now drops just over 160 miles an hour we've had three caution flags and 12 cars are now out of the race and including on that last incident burton park terry labonte will not return today mike joy thanks craig there is still quite a battle for the lead in this race 20 cars are still running on the lead lap and another 16 cars are running laps down lead change rusty wallace now at the front with dale earnhardt here's how he overhauled mike skinner looks to the inside going down into turn three he has help from earnhardt to say motorbike teammates don't mean much right now they're they're trying to make moves here here comes gordon and that's how they run right now now kenny irwin is the driver up on the high side of the board and can hear and then a lot of trouble right now he talked out there by itself because you can see the faster line on the bottom here comes skinner by him there'll be about five or six cars goodbye [Music] back to the front he's led more laps in this daytona 500 than in all the 16 he's run before dale jarrett two-time winner of this race in the garage with bill stevens dale jarrett obviously an unhappy way to end the day not what we had planned for sure but uh had a good race car uh it's just unfortunate you know but uh get cars bunched up like that and uh things are gonna happen uh i had to check up a little bit over and two and uh the guys went to the inside of me and i just tried to hold my line but got tapped a little bit getting into three and uh you know a lot of things are going to happen when that starts you know that the 28 was right up on you at that point i wasn't sure who was there you know i knew that there were cars there and i just tried to give them room you know do you get down there everybody's got to get back in line and you run in on the apron but uh you know things are going to happen and uh you know it's just the way it goes some days [Music] that's a very gracious deal [Music] has to be very disappointed because uh you know like many of these came here with thoughts of winning the daytona 500 but there's a lot of guys here going out still and now dale earnhardt threw the block on jeff gordon right there he wants to stay right behind russ too often yeah you got pour it against three chevrolets right now and you can see jeff gordon's getting in the rumble on the inside there here comes gordon down to the inside into the tri-oval he takes second from earnhardt skinner is going to repay the favor his teammate put on him two laps ago pass by earnhardt now come up and draft with him now that's the last card there the 30 there derrick he got in the middle of this thing though well he'd like to get up there and get in front of the leader rusty wallace and then have a caution come back and he'd get back in the fifth of this thing he's turned to running in the 21st position one lap down was that a bump in the back straightaway between cut and the car on the outside dale earnhardt or either the 31 car i'm not sure which one he touched mike but it looked like they got awfully close together i think we're about to see the second part of this these guys are racing right now and trying to get that great track position you see some of rusty's crew there looking this arm checking every lap well this race could come down to the final pit stop and every second you gain in the pits that's 300 feet out on the racetrack now bill elliot kyle petty rick mast and robert presley all fitted at lap 141 under yellow they may not have to stop again here's another look yup yup it was skinner skinner gets sideways you see just behind him there dale arnold watch them as they start down through here right there they come together and here goes gordon trying to move around once again skinner trying to find him on the outside mike skinner trying to come back on the outside with [Music] a waving you saw skinner on the outside waving to erwin come on help me push let's pedal hard and rusty's looking in the mirror hey i think y'all just keep it up oh yeah he's loving that and they're right back there running side to side it just sets him free up front he can't pull away from him but at least he's running in good clean free air and irwin has a tremendously fast car he dropped back to about nine he thought his way back up there look at him look to the outside here down the back straight away almost yes they are three of rest in here way up the racetrack and skinner right in the middle let's go back to the garage phil stevens with joe nemechek first half of the race no problems then bombs away yeah it was pretty clean the first half but uh you know they have those restarts everybody gets kind of anxious and everybody's battling for that spot and uh i don't know someone got turned sideways it's a shame for uh you know this whole belt south loosing technology chevy guys worked real hard had our best qualifying run over here at daytona for the 500 and end up tore up in the garage again but i'm all right front row joe's still happy to ralph ray everhan the crew chief and jeff gordon ray are you in a good position out here right where you need to be well not really like to be out front but the car is just just a little bit off rusty's got an awful fast car so we're going to need some help as we're going to get out from where do you think you'll get that from anybody in particular you run better with it doesn't seem like we've got any so far today so i don't know where it's going to come from it's going to have to wait till everybody gets greedy at the end and hope the parts fall where they may how about fuel are you okay there yeah we should just make it we should make it by point six of the laps [Music] three wide racing continues here on the daytona 500 winding down 39 laps to go rusty wallace trying to win his first 500 continues to leave 1997 race champion jeff gordon last to go up front rusty wallace trying to win his first daytona 517 years of trying second jeff gordon the 97 winner third number three dale earnhardt last year's winner mike jeremy mayfield number 12 who got his breakthrough first win last season and i'm watching michael waltrip in that seventh car he has driven the wheels off that car today ned he really has he he has a good fast race car and he has moved around on the racetrack he made a move while go out there it's really uh it was a good one took my positions yeah 20 cars on the lead lap just two seconds apart will there be a final pit stop dick bergeron well we've been taking a little vote here we've taken some polls in the pit area larry mcreynolds who is crew chief for mike skinner very confidently says we're okay so i came down and asked his teammate kevin hamlin who's crew chief for dale earnhardt can you make it he said we'll see i said what does that mean he said we're going to try bill in decision all along pit road spoke to jeff hammond after chad little's last pit stop i asked him another pit stop he said splash and go route i've spoken to crew chief robin pemberton of our lead car rusty wallace he says we're going for it they can make it with not much left but they can make it and i've spoken to ray everham crew chief of the second place car now dropping back to third and fourth jeff jordan they think they can barely make it as well mike wallace the leader mayfield tries to go to the low side to get with his teammates and all those piles into earnhardt i'll tell you what it's cool out there today and if earnhardt gets to the front these fans will be jumping up and down they are getting wild out on that racetrack they are flat and doing some racing well what happened there is the three car earnhardt he looked in the mirror and said you know what you're not going to do that to me he just checked up and pulled hard left on jeremy mayfield he's the black chevrolet in the midst of that ford sandwich [Music] probably dale earnhardt knows best how rusty wallace feels right now it's wallace of 17500 until dirt 20 years to win this race rusty's still trying rusty wallace in the lead earnhardt right behind classic 42nd annual daytona 500. rusty wallace is set bravery is not what wins races a smart race car driver wins races you've got to be aggressive but you can't be aggressive and stupid at the same time so far that latter category has not been in that rusty wireless vocabulary he has been a smart race driver all afternoon let's see if it can stand up ken i just can't reiterate enough how calm and loose he was in the driver's meeting and he said i've got a great car today and he's proved it all day long you know i worked with him one a couple of years ago on a test program and that first thing i told him about daytona i said you have to learn to love this place as long as you feel family about this place you'll never win it and he told me the other day he said you know what it's valentine's day jordan's down on the inside he's just he's having a tough time getting back up there and crew watching on here i wonder if that is because that car sat on the pole here it is so good oh wally donna back the red 25 made contact with mike skinner and all that'll do is make skinner mad he's looking to the outside right now but that's not the place to go you can get in the middle he won't get on the impact and look like a little nose right back there gave wally a little wake up there [Music] okay that was me i didn't like it here he goes to the bottom again and dollar back comes down to hold the low line if you don't do it do it in a straight line don't do it going in the corner speed 188 miles an hour on our circuit city onboard telemetry with mike skinner 190 right down the back straightaway there it's only 50 foot wide you can imagine why these guys get caught up so much the racetrack is only 50 feet wide you've turned two cars sideways you pretty much covered the racetrack jeff gordon has fallen back to seventh place i say is it because everybody knows that car is so fast nobody wants to help him to the front well i think what you're seeing right now you're seeing people just go up there give him a little try it in the last 10 laps yet no it's 30 laps to go he's got his team mate donald back right on his back bumper now and skinner's been shoved back there as well yes and all of them have fast race cars rusty wallace is the leader dale earnhardt's number three is second wallace's teammate 29 year old jeremy mayfield from kentucky is third number 12. michael waltrip is fourth and ernie irvin has climbed to fifth we'll be back today tonight after this hamilton i believe the number four for morgan mcclure racing and everybody tries to get five they do caution is out caution flag fourth one of the day they'll run back to the flag rusty wallace leads them down to the caution ahead of bernhardt and mayfield and all the speculation of gas mileage need be no more ned i think he'll have to come in now or take all that you know maybe our right side tires trying to get that great track position and just take on fuel well you can see a lot of damage to the front end on bobby hamilton's car and it looks like he was moving around a little bit in there yeah i could see it moving around the roof flaps did deploy there where when he got around backwards it didn't just start flipping wildly down the back straightaway the frames of these cars are constructed so that there is a lot of sheet metal and structure up there in the front of the car to help absorb an impact such as this transmit as little of it to the driver as possible once again it's so hard to pass out on the racetrack it'll be the pit crew's turn to try to gain their driver some speed i wonder if we'll see some gas only pit stops or some two tire pit stops this time it'll be interesting to see let's see what happens here okay this is uh bobby hamilton right there turn sideways there all of a sudden there was smoke from the right rear as he started around here the car is getting by as he spins and he's climbed out of his car ned bobby is okay that was close for 75 ted mustard yes it was take a look again here oh he just come out there he was going to the inside and as he turned back the back end come right around on the car [Music] he pulled out of traffic and went way over to the left and then when he turned back it just got away whether he had a problem with the tire or out i don't know well rusty wallace is not making a pit stop as well we watched this accident again back here on the back stretch that brought out this caution there goes bobby hamilton dick berger in earnhardt earnhardt is going to make a pit stop there's going to be a two-tier change most likely although they do have tires for the left side going to throw the fuel in the car four tires for dale [Music] yeah i think so bernhard gone and 19.42 with four tires and field he'll go all the way from here kenny schrader leads the chase off pit road followed by ernie irvin but i want to find out for buckinski credifis team what happened with rusty wallace and jeremy mayfield and why they did not stop ralph shane well i'm here with robin pemberton hey sneaky how can we stay down well you're just as likely to make a mistake pitting i mean the tire's been real consistent now we can uh we should be able to make it on fuel with the extra couple caution laps in there so you know i really didn't i figured that'd be half of them would pit but not all of them now knowing the fact that you've got jeremy right behind you too is that an added bonus to maybe staying out of the racetrack never heard we'll see what happens we're under caution with 25 laps to go we'll be back after this message and a word from your local cbs station in a complete wrap-up with the latest news from the buick international the final round he entered the day 15 under far he's now 17 under and leads billy ray brown by three strokes you'll see that later on cbs sports from the goodyear blip stars and stripes let's watch bobby hamilton as he spins down the back stretch eyes wide shut still was hard to tell but it looked like basically what you said he ran way down to the inside and all of a sudden just cut back across the road that's what it looks like from robert presley's car no contact [Music] now whether he blew that tire or not there was a lot of debris coming off the right rear corner there as he come by the camera and his right rear tire was flat let's go to dick bergeron well paul anders left his guy out there they didn't put any tires on it they thought they could make it with the yellow flag but paul bernhard's got fresh tires he's only an eighth how about that can you stay out there well we can stay out there you know the grass been staying fast the car has been good throughout the run we're pretty confident on this so you know we could get dusted but we'll see i'll earn hard on fresh tires the rest of it but old tires we'll see how that works out mike thanks there is dale earnhardt who came out of the pits in eighth place our thanks to the pilots and crew of the goodyear blind stars and stripes with these aerial views of 200 000 people on hand here at daytona international speedway in 1926 figure began its commercial blimp operation with the blimp pilgrim ralph shaheen my deals are already being done here as well as to who you're going to draft with as you try to work your way to the front dale learn hard is going to try to hook up with jeff gordon that deal has been made between richard childress and ray ever here rusty wallace and jeremy mayfield lead them back to the green flag 22 laps to go i was at a friend's house last night and he wouldn't know what kind of deals is it money exchange to what i said no no that's not that what you trying to do is get somebody to work with you in the draft wallace got a great restart look at mayfield and he didn't he's three car looks back yeah he needs to be up there close for the drafting to really be affected but he should catch him going into turn three three of reps back straight away now kenny straighter came out of the pits first among the drivers who stopped he took on two tires in andy petrie's chevrolet but now schrader's green car climbs the racetrack that's the one thing he didn't want to do it dropped side by side with uh with ernie irving as [Music] could happen to rusty wallace and jeremy mayfield and the worst thing can happen to bernie earth now they're going to go three wide going into the corner right down to the bottom on ernie irvin the man in black puts it to the bottom of the racetrack now remember he has the four fresh towers earnhardt does have i think that was a smart move bill stevens they are very happy down here and kenny schrader's fit as you pointed out that last pitch stop was phenomenal they put two tires on the car and everything went flawlessly and that could be a factor as we get closer to the checkered flag one of the keys for dale earnhardt is going to be that green and yellow number 97 right behind him of chad little and talking to his crew keep jeff hammond this morning in the garage he said our car runs much better as it helps to push somebody to the front it's not a good lead car it's a good following car he said i can take anybody to the front and then once we get there we might have one shot at taking the lead ourselves he's going to help push earnhardt right to the front earnhardt went from eighth to third in one lap it's dangerous to guess what these guys are going to do you see right there ernie irving under cav little right now it's a three-car shootout because these guys are running side by side chad pulled up oh and they get together coming down the back stretch chad pulled out to make a pass on the outside of dale earnhardt but it cost him jeff gordon must be running 200 miles an hour down that back straightaway as he closes in on the back bumper there for ernie irvin you're riding with gordon in number 24. the defending wins to come champ three wide off turn four and they put ernie irvin in the middle cox jenner comes with jeff gordon and irvin goes backwards [Music] looks at earnhardt slides across the track in front of chat you have to do that chad little is flying right now in the green car the best run out there for the ralph's racing team that they expect to win it looks like catherine's got to do it and here he goes to the outside yeah nobody to help him so he's got to fall back in line rusty wallace has his teammate jeremy mayfield in tow and we saw last year the third and fourth place car couldn't make a run on the leader without the second place cars helped you're watching from dale earnhardt back at chadwick and jeff gordon has pulled right up on the back bumper off chad little and chad little's been moving to the outside to the inside i got a feeling he made a move right now on earth that he'd have some help to get by 18 laps to go dale earnhardt has not led this race today [Music] jeremy mayfield is in his 6th 500 running in second place in his sixth 500 fred lorenzon one in his sixth 500 kale yarborough won davey allison won his sixth try at the 500. coincidence maybe not ralph shaheen i remember once again that the roush racing program had been horrible restrictive plate races four races last year with five cars they didn't get one top five that's 20 attempts in the top five right now chad little running in ford for roush racing and they've already won the bud shootout last week with mark martin it looks like they've really turned this restricted flight program around [Music] spot right now mike skinner the teammate for dale earnhardt has really don't move he's moved up into this front group skater just can't get up there to help teammate earnhardt who was sandwiched amongst the board 17 laps to go oh boy 17 years of trying rusty is second wallace if he was to look up and win this race and i'm not i don't mean look up i mean get into the win he would take over all way over two million dollars home he's one of the guy of course for that million dollar bonus today an extra million if mayfield or gordon among these leaders should win today and that's a million dollar bonus for a lucky fan as well but i don't think anybody out there is thinking about dollars here [Music] [Music] gordon actually pushed him down the back straight away and jeremy mayfield got caught out he is back to seventh place rusty wants lost his best friend right there in that situation yeah boy he'll be right up there with you here comes gordon in third place now the 97 winner and defending winston cup champ youngest driver ever to win the daytona 500 jeff gordon in third in sight of the lead yeah he's not through here today gordon led the first flap gets five more but has not bled since last 20. earnhardt has not let today at number three back behind the first three cars there's a wall going on back there side by side these guys are trying to get themselves in great position for the 500 win from the cars involved in that one flap 175 wreck have come back into the race sterling marlin joe nemechek steve park many laps down what they want to do is just make a few laps and get ahead of those other cars that are not able to get back out of the garage area let's go to the pits and bill stephen the owner of roush racing jack roush have you and jeff hammond got together here on strategy in the closing laps well we've been looking at it uh throughout the race you know the 97 john deere cars didn't really get really good mileage we'd hope that would work to our advantage they filled it up with gas at the end here to get the back end down a little bit and went ahead and put four tires on it which uh the three car did or the 24 car did i'm not sure about the cars in front i think that the 24 and the 97 have got a tire advantage we'll see if we can use it obviously they've talked strategy well now jack ross raises an interesting question rusty wallace will have a very light fuel load at the end of this race he did not make a pit stop how much a difference will that make it could make a difference but certainly they factor that in all the time on on setting race cars up but as robin pemberton the crew chief pointed out earlier the car's been pretty consistent even after the fuel up gets down so they were not that worried about it but i'm wondering too if it might not cause it mike you're actually touching there coming off the corner gordon trying to get that spot in earnhardt carlo in the outside here comes jeff gordon rusty will move down to pick up a little bit of push from gordon and mike skinner pushing jeff gordon right by his teammate dale earnhardt boy this thing is getting exciting look at gordon look to the inside of the two car now i want you to watch out folks he puts the bumper in that chevrolet right up under he did it to earnhardt on the last lap you'll try and do it on rusty while it's coming off a turn two the next time he wants to stick that bumper right up under the back end to rescue off the car try to make him loose coming off that corner and passing like to be at earnhardt the last time around let's see if he tries it yeah you know sitting right back there in third spot mike skinner he's watching him do this he's learning a lesson but look on the outside there chadwick gets cut off does it come off the car let's get her and all of those turn them around i thought it was a wreck i don't know how like skinner hung onto that race car and still just digging kenny irwin has moved up in there also in the 28th car bernhard drops under him dale earnhardt pulls up on his teammate mike skinner now they have two teammates ken schroeder is part of an alliance with that team they're 33 kenny schroeder andy petry racing dale earnhardt racing and richard childress racing look at this match oh man it did work i thought it's going to be a crash thing for the lead this is going to get exciting look at earnhardt coming up up on the back of jeff thornton down to the back straight away he'll probably make it four five but michael walker's gonna try to make it five lives ten laps to go this time 17 times the driver to lead with tim to go did not with the 500 four times that was dale earnhardt let me tell you teammates are out right now rusty wanted fighting back on the inside shows a lot of power right there by itself in the middle of the front line here chevy inside fourth in the middle chevy outside little paint traded what a skinner in against court and look at earnhardt the number three trying to push jeff gordon to the lead bernard look to the inside just for a second there they head down into turn one and they got rusty in the middle there and look at him go backwards can you hold your breath for 10 laps before this is exciting it don't get any better than this and i'm going to tell you if it comes to this clean nerve don't [Music] kenny irwin and chad little 28-97 those fours way up high they're chasing schroeder now you got five chevrolets out front boy how things changed for a long time it was forwards out front trying to get up there and change that about what a what a great shot you're looking now dale earnhardt's car down the front treadway right behind gordon as they head off and return one three wide they are once again with skinner in the middle how frustrated was dale earnhardt be that he has not let a lap today well it's not over yet you know the one that counts if you don't leave the 40 feet you want to lead to the second flag all right what does dale earnhardt do to pass jeff gordon he's gonna have to have some help he's got help look at walker up there in third you'll have to make a move and have somebody go with him and get that bumper right up and actually jeff gordon goes by him he stuck that bumper right up under earnhardt a little bit earlier got his car at least earnhardt knows how to do that better than anybody else richard childress you've been watching all this stuff what's earhart's got to do here well you know it's hard to say you know he he's going he's got the experience he's going to do his best you know i can't say nothing you know it's been a heck of a race all day and skinner's done a good job who knows what's going to happen here again is he going to move him out of the way earnhardt got to move gordon i don't know you know dale he's got some moves on him the conversation on the radio with jeff gordon be patient eight laps to go seven laps to go watch your rear view mirror they don't want him to get too far out ahead plenty of laps of racing still to go from first to seventeenth is only 17 seconds with eight laps to go mike the man that made that move that gordon put on earnhardt a while ago is a man that made that move famous and he's running a second spot right now jeff gordon won his qualifying race here as a rookie of 93 finished fifth that year in the 500 fourth the next year wasn't a contender again until 97 when he wanted i think that's 1.7 seconds thank you wow they are so close when they're running that close you can [Music] you know we got a new ball game here look at these guys in that second group they've caught those lead cars now we have about a 10 12 carbon car battle here for the lead and any one of them could win it as you've seen a driver running in the lead one lap could be back to eight place the next [Music] six laps to go when they come back and report of trouble on the 12 car of jeremy mayfield he has dropped off the lead pack and comes to pittsburgh his chance of that extra million dollar bonus wow is he out of fuel he didn't appear very far behind him i'm afraid four tires for mayfield and the answer is they did gamble our tires mike and they've got one that's going down mayfield flat tires this later the daytona 500. richard petty who won this race seven times said it best the best you can do on any given day is put yourself in a position to win and then circumstances will dictate the outcome you know i was just talking about rusty wallace did not take off he's all the way back to 10th place now yeah i think this mayfield goes out of the field i really think that was a mistake then i'm not stopping during that concert now we've got a six-car break away from the pack jeff gordon's chevrolet dale earnhardt chevy michael waltrip driving for a new team in a chevrolet kenny irwin last year's rookie of the year in a four ken schroeder third fastest qualifier in a chevy and truck champ mike skinner the 97 pole suiter in a chevrolet two guys with the 90s for first and second right behind him guys there's never one or eight here this thing's gonna get wild earnhardt had a try on jeffcourt he is keeping the pressure on bernhard last year left the closing laps nobody could get by him so he knows how to win it from in front does he know how to win it from behind he still has to have him and he can get it from that seven card michael waltrip friday in the international race of champions earnhardt fight at his time and on the last turn of the last lap after everyone had written him off being two colleagues back he made a run and won it i'm gonna give you something else to think about if they start running side by side kenny schrader is knocked out just as he's trying to make a move on kenny irvin now [Music] in dale earnhardt's pitch [Music] jeff gordon's car owner rick hendrick here earlier in the week back home in charlotte watching it on tv three abreast kevin lepage in between marcus and wallace and jerry nader that's going on back there for seven here's kenny irwin trying to make a move on michael walker here at the start finish line and coming with him is mike skinner [Music] yesterday old age and treachery randy will join you for the enthusiasm casey affleck and adam petty what about today that 28 cars got a run coming off this turn is it enough of a run to make a move on dale earnhardt gorgeous crew chief ray abraham watching kevin hamlin earnhardt's crew chief all they can do is watch the monitor and watch their car come by the front stretch bernard just loosened up jeff gordon there yes he did he went in there and moved the car around in the slipstream behind him there you could see gordon really fighting the car getting down in the turn [Music] a little bit and it's down to two laps to decide the daytona 500. [Music] mike they have just radio to jeff protects the bottom is the word from ray evernham he keeps telling them who's behind him the three the 28-31 protects the bottom irwin to the bottom skinner with him bernard holds the bottom seven daytona 500s have just been decided by a last lap pass will this be the right on his back for as they come off turn four they he started to put a move on white flag two and a half miles to history jeff gordon trying to win his second dale earnhardt trying to win his second buddy where will earnhardt make the move gordon looks awful as they come off turn two over there down the back straight away kenny irwin looks to the outside right here's where he has to make the move and he wasn't able to get that run up under jeff gordon like he wanted to but that's what we said friday he was this far behind in the international race of champion he looked this side he goes outside he looks inside again okay right now he's gotta pull right down on that back bumper and try to get him loose coming off turn four he does not have the muscle at this point but he may have some momentum he slides up the racetrack and jeff gordon will win it for the second time wow what a race [Music] yes it is congratulations ray everham you did it again you told them to protect the bottom that's exactly what he did is that where you were afraid he was going to come yeah well dale's pretty strong up off the bottom and uh you know jeff did a great job driving the car car wasn't the quickest car all day but he did a great job driving it i want to thank god first for giving us the opportunity to do this and uh dupont and quaker state pepsi everybody that supports us and i want to say hey to rick again i'm sorry i couldn't be here but god what a great day this team has been so awesome is this the beginning of a dynasty type march to another championship i don't know about that ralph we're just uh we're gonna take it one race at a time and then have a good time it's just uh man what an awesome feeling to win the daytona 500. you know you got to give up that race car now [Music] ah we'll build another one ray eminem has done it again he's won the daytona 500 as a crew chief and for the fifth time this man dale earnhardt finishes second in the great american race you saw that big crowd shot one of those fans has won a million dollars jeff gordon gets the million dollar no bull bonus and so does the lucky fan who was paired with him case gordon was the driver who went to victory lane they will repeat that promotion four more times this season he just hung around in there all day and when the time came he's done that so many times then he didn't lead a lot he led six laps in the first 20 and then came back to lead the last 11 laps [Music] he's just giving it a little smoke job coming down through there wheel spinning smoke flying out the back of jeff gordon's car second victory in three years for the pittsboro indiana driver who started at age five winning races in quarter midgets moved up to at age 14 he was driving a thousand horsepower sprint car and winning with it he went to ask for his first sponsorship the valvoline executive said how'd you get here today he said my mom drove me that was good experience for the man that forbes magazine this fall called the biggest one-man marketing machine in sports dick bergeron well dale earnhardt surrounded by media let's just jump in and hear what he has to say daily wrong you had some problems earlier on and then the car we added we had an ignition problem earlier on and uh the car just wasn't running us apart just wouldn't get up to speed and we finally switched boxes and the car and car ran a lot better but it came up in the draft there at the end and uh we were just trying to work i'd want to get with skinner try to work with him but i couldn't and he couldn't get with me and we just tried trying to do all i could do just get to get to the 24 and his car was pretty strong off the corners and if i could have just got to him off the corner i might have got under him but i just couldn't get there came close though what happened at the very tail those last couple laps when you're trying so hard jail got me got beat dale earhart fifth second for the fifth time to ken squire he is still in the car brook is right here she walked by me and says what a race indeed two million dollars richer jeff gordon as he pulls it off fending off the old warrior earnhardt those last four or five laps as earnhardt tried to turn him just a little we'll use up those rear tires he's just about ready to clamber out of car number 24 after a brilliant victory in one of the greatest daytona 500s of all time here is the champion of the 1999 daytona 500 jeff gordon having just a moment get the shoe straightened out and here he is [Music] jeff those last 10 laps what a race that is a dream come true for me to race dale earnhardt down to the final uh finish uh all the way down the line for the daytona 500 it does not get any better than that and uh i i'm the last person i think of this racetrack today i thought we were going to win a race uh i certainly didn't have many friends out there but i had one strong race car and i tell you what i'm glad ray everham and all these rainbow warriors took four tires there at the end because the car was handling great and man i want to thank dale for a great race i mean he did everything he possibly could and uh i've learned he's probably going to tell you i learned too much from him because he's taught me a lot of things the last couple years and that's the only way i kept him behind me take us through the last moments of the race coming down out of turn four well you know i saw him dropping back trying to get some momentum on me and and i got out there too far in the middle of three and four and i i had to back off to tell you the truth because i knew he was going to get me at the line if i didn't and i may have backed off a little too much he got up on my bumper and almost got underneath me i got a little sideways but i knew i was going to make it to the finish right from that point on and i'll tell you i had had a mirror full today and i want to thank dupont automotive fishes quaker state pepsi chevrolet that's awesome monte carlo today and those goodyear tires are awesome too thank you for everything you guys do for us dale he really tried to work you over in those final moments well thank god that uh you know you're racing with a guy like that and thank god for this this team and this awesome race car i i just am so blessed and so fortunate but he worked me over big time to say the least you know and that's the way he is that's how hard he is and and how bad he wants to win the state 2500 he got a taste of it last year and he wanted again this year i wanted to be able to be the one to keep him from doing that and this is a an awesome win for us got to thank rj reynolds and winston i i can't believe how much money we just wanted i cannot believe that congratulations are in order for a young champion two million dollars richer again here's mike joy thanks ken dale earnhardt second and the next three guys behind them all had career best finishes in the 500 kenny irwin mike skinner and michael waltrip we'll be back to present the harley earl trophy to the winner of the daytona 500 right after [Music] this great gumbo back at daytona international speedway everybody should have a valentine's day like jeff gordon the daytona 500 championship and 2 million dollars in prize money ken squire standing by in victory lane for the harley j earl daytona 500 trophy presentation ken yes indeed this is what it's all about two million dollars sure but your name goes on this and perpetuates your victory in the 41st annual daytona 500. john graham the president of the daytona speedway to make the presentation to rayne everham the crew chief to brooke and to jeff gordon sir jeff ray brooke mary rick and linda hendrick john and kathy hendrick the harley j earl trophy symbolic of the champion of the daytona 500. congratulations and we will also inscribe your name again on the permanent harley j earl trophy for fans to see in daytona usa along with your winning 24 car congratulations thank you thank you i want to say hi to rick and linda at home uh you know i know they're watching and i know he wanted to be here really bad today we got john and kathy here but uh thank you guys for what you do and i'll tell you what god is just blessing all of hindered motorsports and i can't say enough for all of our sponsors dupont automotive finishes quaker state chevrolet gmac kellogg's uh you know everybody that makes this happen pepsi it's just a treat to be able to get behind the wheel of that race car and this guy right here raven ham repairs and it was a great race car today and those rainbow warriors kept us in it all day it's a great feeling i can't believe it ray abraham brooke and jeff gordon here to receive the harley j earl award let's go back to greg gumbel ken squire thank you jeff gordon victorious here in the 41st running of the daytona 500 we'll have final results for you when we come back to daytona international speedway in just a moment barnhart was won by gordon you see the gordon crew reacting along pitt road their man the winner of the daytona 500 2 million dollars and jeff gordon exiting the car here in victory lane just moments ago to accept congratulations from his wife and his crew let's go to ralph shaheen well greg it was a career best finish for kenny irwin a third a tremendous run today kenny but i have to ask you what took place with you and dale jr was there contact you know i don't think so uh he was three wide in the center and uh getting into three i just tried to back off a little and i don't know if i actually hit him or if the air got off his uh his rear spoiler but uh you know is a terrible thing that happened and um at the end of the race you know we were there we put ourselves in a position to maybe win the race and uh we come up third which is um it's not bad for me dick bergeron and i'm with mike skinner who had a great run this afternoon to finish fourth you were three wide it seemed all afternoon what's it like to be in one of those deals it's pretty crazy dick i'll tell you you know our low chevy was awful strong today you know the pit crews did great they did excellent pit stops all day and the engine was awesome adam meyer and all the guys todd everybody back to the shop to put the body on that car man that thing would go through there it was really a awesome deal the car ran good the pit stops was good we did everything but win the race we just come up a little bit short dick was your heart pumping like ours was pumping those last few few laps of the race my fist was pumping and my heart was pumping and i was trying not to run my mouth on the radio and um yeah i was a little bit excited there but uh you know it's the tail end of the line is not the place you can pass from you know unless they all get sideways up there and i was kind of hoping that they'd all kind of get two or three wide and we was going to try our famous outside move that usually works for bobby labonte and he taught me well but it didn't work today good run he'll win some this year for sure to greg hearts of pumping all over daytona this afternoon skinner and gordon battling just prior to the finish of the race won by jeff gordon we remind you coming up next here on cbs final round coverage of the buick invitational we'll come back to daytona with more right after this daytona as jeff gordon and his crew continue to celebrate here in victory lane let's go back to the gentleman who just called a great race this afternoon mike joy ned jarrett buddy baker mike thanks greg ford's led 132 of the 200 laps but chevrolet is finished in five of the top six positions 11 laps to go let's show you jeff gordon's final pass for the lead he went down under the yellow line there passing rusty wallace trying to get by mike skinner in the 31 on the outside there dale earnhardt in the three just behind him and it looked like earnhardt helped push gordon into the lead well he had no choice if he was going to get to the front he needed to help the car in front of him to get on out there and you're right here they go back three wide going into turn three we'll see earnhardt come up there in a moment get right on the back bumper off jeff gordon here he comes into the picture now and he will help get jeff gordon get into the lead but if he was going to get to the front that's what he had to do but not knowing that he's pushing the man to the front it was going to stay there rusty wallace jostling there with mike skinner and ended up eighth in the final tally skinner to fourth jeff gordon the winner for the second time dale earnhardt kenny irwin career best mike skinner michael waltrip finishing up in fifth kenny schroeder kyle petty rusty wallace eighth chad little rick math 10. elena jerry knee to a career best gollum back lepage urban and musgrave all on the lead lap one lap down dave marcus benson cult presley and mayfield daryl walter brett beaudine mike wallace ford burton and bobby labonte with damaged cars ricky craven bill elliot tony stewart the outside pole sitter bobby hamilton who crashed then ricky rudd mark martin sterling marlin rich pickel steve park and jeff burton were running at the finish the rest of these cars were in the garage area certainly there's some big crashes here this afternoon that took out some some good contenders but uh jeff gordon now goes away from here with the points lead and dale earnhardt he says this is his best chair to pick up that eights championship he's second the winston cup points mirror today's race results and for the winston cup drivers it's on to rockingham north carolina next week jeff gordon for the second time in two years champion of the daytona 500. mike thank you and that wraps us from here fort ken squire mike joy buddy baker ned jarrett dick bergeron ralph shaheen and bill stevens i'm greg gumbel so long from daytona international speedway where jeff gordon has won the 1999 daytona 500. join us next saturday for men's ncaa basketball action some of you will see kentucky taking on arkansas others will see miami matching up against uconn coming up next week [Music] happy valentine's day everyone this has been a presentation of cbs sports home of the daytona 500. [Music] you

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Id: OKsUAb1Pa-Y

Length: 182min 33sec (10953 seconds)

Published: Sun Dec 18 2016