QUALIFYING: Bobby Labonte won the Bud Pole with a speed of 193.611mph and a time of 00:46.485sec. Rusty Wallace started 7th with a speed of 191.530mph and a time of 00:46.990sec. Top Ten Qualifiers: 1st-Bobby Labonte, 2nd-Jeff Burton, 3rd-Dale Jarrett, 4th-Terry Labonte, 5th-Dale Earnhardt, 6th-Mark Martin, 7th-Rusty Wallace, 8th-Jeff Gordon, 9th-Mike Skinner, 10th-Hut Stricklin. Notables in field: 16th-Ken Schrader, 25th-Jeremy Mayfield, 29th-Michael Waltrip. Starting Grid
RACE: The rap against Jeff Gordon in his two championship seasons has been his failure to win a race in the final two months. Gordon put that problem to bed winning a three-lap sprint to the finish of the Pepsi 400 at Daytona. It was Gordon's 11th victory of the season and the 40th of his career. The 160-lap race was stopped for 37 minutes by a brief rain shower with only five laps remaining and Gordon holding a tenuous lead over a pack of challengers. By staying out front to the end, Gordon only has to finish 32nd or better in each of the remaining races to win his 2nd straight title and third in four years. Gordon led three times for 49 of the 160 laps, including the final 38. This race was originally scheduled for July 4 but was postponed by the wildfires that scorched central Florida. The weather also affected Saturday night's race. The 3rd rain shower of the night prompted NASCAR to temporarily halt the race with the finish looming. When racing resumed, Gordon easily held the lead. On the final lap Mike Skinner pulled alongside 2nd-place Jeremy Mayfield allowing Gordon to pull away. Suddenly, pole-winner Labonte shot out of the pack, moving all the way from fifth to second, where he came up about 3 car-lengths short. **Daytona and Talladega, the longest and fastest ovals, are the only tracks where NASCAR uses restrictor plates to slow down the stock cars. The restricted cars tend to stay in big groups most of the race and, when trouble happens, there's usually a big crash. Saturday night's race was no exception, with two multi-car crashes an 11-car melee and a nine-car pileup.** Top Ten Finishers: 1st-Jeff Gordon, 2nd-Bobby Labonte, 3rd-Mike Skinner, 4th-Jeremy Mayfield, 5th-Rusty Wallace, 6th-Terry Labonte, 7th-Ward Burton, 8th-Ricky Craven, 9th-Ken Schrader, 10th-Dale Earnhardt. Notables in the field: 13th-Jeff Burton, 16th-Mark Martin, 23rd-Dale Jarrett, 31st-Michael Waltrip. Race Results
RACE RECAP:
After 160 Laps
Leaders: 9
Lead Changes: 16
6 Cautions for 26 Laps
Cars Out of Race: 8
Average Speed: 144.549mph
Winner: Jeff Gordon
Margin of Victory: 0.176
Time of Race: 2:46:02
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